yep. it’s because in Sufferlandria we speak Painglish
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Today’s remaster/re-remaster™ review is A Very Dark Place
AVDP will always have a soft place in my heart. It was one of the very first SUF vids I ever bought, before the SUF app, well over 10 years ago. And, it featured as the opener in my Knighthood quest. Cancellara! Cobbles! 
Now credit where credit is due. This might just be the Holy Water Standard in re-remastered™ SUF classics. If I had never done a SUF vid before and I had never done AVDP before I’d just say this is one great SUF vid. Fantastic job!! 
From the black screen text at the opening taunting what’s to come to the near perfect Climb integration and all the wonderful SUF elements. References to GvA, the evil laugh, Couchlandrian temptations, humour and well timed music. SUF style encouragement and praise for a job well done.
I really loved how each of the 5 Dark Places has a name and a subtitle. All so very SUF.
The footage is pretty decent and the efforts mostly match what’s on screen.
Loved the little bump out text of what’s in a Sufferlandrian musette, as well as the little nod to the wahoominati with the hashtag #twaaw (the wahoominati are always watching)
Here’s a nit-pick: with about 10:16 remaining in the workout, screen text says “wait a second”. In SUF we’d say “Waitaminnit!”
Chapeau for this one. I’ll look forward to the next time it comes up. Good job!!
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Second your review sir. Did remastered AVDP for a second time tonight and really enjoyed it. Properly hard but the video seemed to make it pass pretty quickly.
I’m also sad that cobbles Cancellara is gone, but Pinot is a fitting replacement and I love the bit about him arriving, like we knew he would. Spot on.
The new SUF references are great too, and love the 5 dark places as a story line.
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I have to agree. AVDP is probably the best of the re-remasters. If the rest of the remasters could be brought to this level it would make a lot people (and Fluffy) very happy.
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Today’s Sufferfest remaster/re-remaster™ on my menu was Angels.
This was another one I really dreaded. My dread wasn’t so much about the quality or SUFness of the remaster as it was of the workout itself. I have a very strong dislike of sustained efforts and anything longer than 4-5 minutes is a mental minefield for me. It’s one of the reasons I genuinely HATED Defender and was not at all sorry to see it downgraded to an OL type ride in Phil Wins the Tour (that I will also not do 
). Angels starts with a too-short warmup then heads right into a 10 minute block of 1 minute over/unders. Then, 3 x 8 minute climbs at or near threshold and often higher. Those are some loooooong 8 minutes. At least they weren’t 9 
Here is my review:
First, I understand that the OG Angels was a special special vid for a LOT of people and there are things from it that I and many others will ALWAYS miss. One thing is that line about riding with Nibali, not your chubby riding buddy. That line always made me smile/smirk, mostly because I related so much with me being the chubby riding buddy, but also as a reminder of how important being active is at ANY size. I have a horrible family history of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, and lost many family members earlier than I should have and, in large part, that was due to their inactivity. Another thing that I’ll miss are the Couchlandrian Training Videos (I screen recorded those prior to them being removed when it was edited last (they are still available on Vimeo I believe) I also know that Angels was often ridden in tribute to Sufferlandrians and others lost too soon but it was always one I tended to avoid cuz, well, those sustained efforts… I’ve done it about a dozen times in total but hadn’t ridden it for over 3 years.
So, with that preamble aside, the re-remaster™ is actually pretty darn good. Not AVDP re-remaster™ good but still pretty pretty good. Yes, it’s missing some opportunities for thought bubbles, pop-out tidbits of interesting info, irreverent/irrelevant off-bike footage during recoveries…all things that make up the special sauce that is a truly great SUF vid.
But the music is the same (I think) and is well suited for the video. Some of the cycling footage is just plain fantastic and the women’s peloton are an inspiring group of badasses. Some of the footage during the recovery sections is SPECTACULARLY beautiful, I’m thinking in particular of the bulk of the final recovery interval before the Final Act. Clouds and mountains, then a section of road of the peloton snaking its way up the ascent through a forest of conical trees then a remarkable image of a town in the forefront, clouds in the sky, and the peak of a mountain at the top. Jawdropping. Then BOOM, the final climb.
I like the 4 Chapters (sorta like AVDP and the named dark places). GREAT Climb integration! Footage mostly matches the efforts and the SUF text was truly spot on. Top marks for the SUF text and intro setting the stage for the whole thing. Same for the motivational stuff and the SUF style tongue-in-cheek smack talk. So while this is obviously not the classic Angels, it’s a VERY good job at keeping the very tough workout intact while keeping many of the SUF elements, particularly from the text/motivation/prompt perspective. It would def benefit from more of the more nuanced stuff. Eg. There was one bit where fans were waving the Swiss flag from their window or their balcony and the text on screen said something to the effect that your fans really want to see you Suffer more. It’s THIS kind of thing that adds engagement for me and always makes me smile (that is, IF I see it between bouts of stem chewing). There’s a bit at the end where the winning rider is petting a dog (another opportunity for some SUF type thought bubble (maybe from the dog, maybe from the dog’s owner)
Notes:
15:23 remaining text says “Don’t let then catch you” this line was used previously so changing it to Do.Not.Get.Caught. or some other such thing like “you know what NOT to do right now…do NOT get caught”.
0:54 remaining Honour is missing the “u”.
0:46 remaining should be You leave with Victory. There is no need for the “a”.
I won’t dread this one so much if it pops up in the plan again and is absolutely 100% repeatable.
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I like this new version of Angels a lot more than the previous one that replaced the original Angels a long time ago. the original version of Angels was my first ever SUF video, a download single purchase way back in 19 - erm - 2013 and it got me hooked immediately. the track warm up, Alpe d’Huez, the legendary cycling class vs. SUF cartoon at the end… all gone after the first remaster in 2015, and I was extremely disappointed. so now, roughly 10 years later, I’m happy to see something completely new and a lot more acceptable because it’s no longer just a “bad” copy of the original I never quite liked
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Nice! Dame @IsiSchneider_KoS, I never washed up on the shores of The Great Lactic Acid Sea until 2015 so I guess I’d never seen the OG OG of Angels. I was hooked during some clandestine group sessions in the early winter of 2015.
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I’ve never seen the original Angels. I’ve only seen the replacement for all these years. Would love to see more of the original.
I don’t know if I’ve ridden the new remaster. I thought I did and was disapointed. But maybe it was re-remastered since. Guess I’ll have to take a remaster tour a-la-Sir @Glen.Coutts
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Is there a screen shot you don’t have, Sir?
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Way too many, unfortunately. 
I always somehow manage to think of one I wish I had.
I keep trying to clear space to make room for more, but don’t have the time. Yet.
And I wish I had a bunch from the videos that are now gone.
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well…
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Sir @Rupert,
Just so we can keep track, are you able to provide us with an updated list of the re-remasters™ ? That is, the ones that have had a redo and been re-SUFfed after the initial remasters, like AVDP, Angels, Attacker, Recharger, The Downward Spiral, Do As You’re Told and Who Dares?
As you know, I’ve been re-reviewing™ them in another thread and would like to do the same for the following:
- Cash Register
- Clobber
- Joyride
- Power Station
- Primers
- Rue The Day
- The Model
- The Wretched
- Thin Air
TIA
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Based on comments and feedback that has come through here, we have made tweaks to the workouts, videos & storylines so there is no set list 
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Sweet! So, to be super duper clear then, ALL of them have now been tweaked? Will have to head back down to the BTC to check 'em out.
Just watching Cash Reguster I think the sprints or the 4 Primes part would look better or more suited if the footage featured the Sprint Points of the race rather just ordinary race footage, if there was then 2 or 3 riders sprinting for the points it would suit the workout and video a lot better.
hey have all had minor tweaks. And we are open to making more based on feedback and suggestions.
Workout and storyline edits are very straightforward, footage and music edits are a little more complex.
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here’s my latest feedback/review of the tweaked Joyride:
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