No no no. That’s a very bad idea 
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KoS v2 Review/Debrief
Menu d’Suffering
| Order | Ride | Duration | Est. Start | Act. Start | Est. End | Act. End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Violator | 1h 2m | 0700 | 0652 | 0802 | 0757 |
| 2 | Team Scream | 1h 10m | 0812 | 0804 | 0922 | 0914 |
| 3 | A Very Dark Place | 49m | 0932 | 0920 | 1021 | 1010 |
| 4 | The Shovel | 1h 14m | 1031 | 1018 | 1145 | 1134 |
| 5 | There is No Try | 49m | 1155 | 1140 | 1244 | 1230 |
| 6 | Fight Club | 56m | 1254 | 1238 | 1350 | 1340 |
| 7 | Cobbler | 1h 46m | 1400 | 1348 | 1546 | 1539 |
| 8 | 14 Vise Grips | 55m | 1556 | 1547 | 1651 | 1644 |
| 9 | Rue the Day* | 58m | 1701 | 1755 | 1746 | 1843 |
| 10 | Butter* | 45m | 1756 | 1648 | 1854 | 1749 |
** Decided to do Butter as #9 and Rue the Day as #10 upon completing 14 Vise Grips*
Ride-by-ride review
#1 Violator
Started the day 10 minute earlier as I was already ready to be on the bike. Intensity set for 75% and overall the ride went well. After a night’s rest, I started to think starting the day off with Violator at 75% probably wasn’t the best idea. Perhaps maybe at a much lower 60% might have done me good for the rest of the day. But anyhow, the last set of intervals was expected to sting, and it surely did. Fueling plan was already not going according to what I planned as I decided to munch on the chocolate bun even before the second break. The intention was to keep the salts and sugars topped up throughout to avoid cramps.
#2 Team Scream
One of my personal nemesis besides the one above and Team Scream was supposed to be on the playlist during my first Knighthood but chickened out due to the relentless pace with little to no recovery sections throughout the session. It is no different this time around but have been better prepared. Again 75% wasn’t probably the best after completing Violator at 75%. But I do think, if the preceding one was done at 60%, Team Scream could be done at 75%.
#3 A Very Dark Place
A slightly shorter duration ride after the first two being more than an hour. Overall nothing much to report for AVDP and the ride was as per expectation, with the interval session being long and not too engaging. It was toward the middle of the session, my significant other arrived to give a mental boost and helped with refilling some bottles.
#4 The Shovel
Next long ride after a short reprieve. This was the start of the remaining rides which intensity would to be at 70% until the end of the day. Power application in the first set was kind of erratic, I was supposed to ease it in and try to hold it as close to the power guide but it wasn’t to be. Only during the second set of intervals, I was able to ease the power in but not as smoothly. Overall, at 70% intensity, it did feel a lot tougher than I would have expected.
#5 There is No Try
Another shorter duration ride after a long one. This too, at 75% intensity, it was starting to feel kind of tough. I was however able to ease into the power targets a little better than the previous ride and I think, it has to do with the slightly longer duration in each set in the interval where I could have focused more on the power stroke. As the afternoon started to set in, the day was starting to get hotter.
#6 Fight Club
Despite being only slightly longer than TINT, this ride was really bad from the start. Started at 70% with the wrong setting on the trainer and the gearing at the rear cassette. It was also during this ride in the middle of the second interval, I had a really bad right calf muscle cramp which was then followed the right quads and then the left sides as well. I had to quickly hit the pause button as I really couldn’t pedal at all let alone. After getting some analgesic spray on both legs, I decided to soldier on at a 60% and only hoping to hit the cadence figures more than the power figure. As soon as I tried to up the power to hit the power target, the cramps started to come in again. I had to quickly swallow two gels, two magnesium tablets, half a bottle of homemade electrolyte drink and a salt tablet. Oh I found out at the end of this ride, the seat post slipped again.
By the way, I was on the verge of giving up during the third interval. But I chose to fight on. Was it the best idea? Probably not because of what’s to come.
One lesson to learn is to get proper electrolyte tablets instead of concocting homemade electrolyte mix.
#7 Cobbler
The mental half-way point. I don’t know what made me put Cobbler as #7 because it’s a long long ride, almost two hours. My thought of putting this as #7 was because it was a steady effort with little to no ramps up to MAP kind of efforts. Each interval felt like an eternity and it nothing really helped because of the occasional cramps at each of the three cobbled sections. The plan was to do this ride at a varied intensity depending on how I felt after being on the bike for that many hours by now, but I ended up doing the entire ride at about 68% only hitting cadence targets as much as possible.
Oh, it was in this ride, the computer went into sleep mode all of a sudden due to critically low battery charge and that caused a blip in the first cobbled section. But I kept pedaling while trying to get the computer back on again. I wonder I this would invalidate the quest attempt or not?
#8 14 Vise Grip
This ride although being 55 minutes long at 60% seems to have gone by in a brisk and I believe it was due to the steady MAP efforts throughout the two intervals. IT band pain is there but still bearable now, so it’s on to number nine after this.
I have been mulling the idea of switching Rue the Day with Butter for the last ride and decided it was better if I did Rue the Day last for this expedition will bring me some morale boost and true enough it was a splendid idea.
#9 Butter
This was a last-minute switch with Rue the Day for the penultimate ride and it did prove to be a switch worthwhile. Did Butter at 60% as this was the only intensity I would be able to hold to complete the Quest.
Although each of the intervals was the same in duration, these intervals did feel much longer as it went on. Knowing that this is penultimate lap, I was determined to make it through and finish this entire Quest and not give it up despite the pain.
#10 Rue the Day
The final push to the castle at 60% and at all costs, I am going to have to finish it. Half the gel before the ride, another half just before the second recovery, and the entire sachet of gel just after the last interval.
I noticed since the number nine, I am unable to apply a smooth pedal stroke when being on the drops without having pain on the IT band, thus I am only able to ride on the tops and on the hoods with minor IT band pain. As with the previous three or four rides, I have only mainly been hitting cadence targets as much as possible.
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Inspiring, informative, and just a wee bit scary; thank you for that Sir @DarrenWCKam !
I feel that pushing me closer to my (long) overdue first attempt…
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Hey! It’s always a pleasure to share the experience and some lessons learn. You know sharing is caring 
.
I often asked myself from the 6th ride onwards why am I doing this to myself. Admittedly, my mental game wasn’t at its strongest yesterday.
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Congratulations Sir Darren. Your recall of this second quest brings back (painful) memories … Chapeau!
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Thank you Sir,
I am pretty sure those terribly horrible memories especially Fight Club 
will undoubtedly withstand the test of time.
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Nice recap Sir @DarrenWCKam!
Congrats 
once again!
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Riding through cramps and IT band pain, yet persevering! Sounds like amazing mental strength to me! Impressive, indeed!
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That’s means it’s a good idea. 
That’s how all my crazy challenges start out. Bad idea…. Good idea! 
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Congrats Sir Darren! A well-deserved second knighthood. Your detailed debrief was both inspiring and frightening. I’ve been trying to convince myself to take the plunge and commit to a knighthood attempt and have appreciated your detailed posts on planning and the experience.
Congrats again!
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Not as long as your first debrief but definitely worth the read!
Good grief! I am shocked that you managed to soldier on to complete this whole quest! That is some serious mental toughness right there. Not to mention serious suffering. Serious props to you for gutting it out! I hope you recover quickly. I was out for 2-3 months with knee pain after my first. Get yourself some good rest and recovery!
I just remember the eternity of Cobbler. Thinking a long low intensity would feel good, but instead finding it unbearable and only barely being able to hold a cadence of 68rpms at 60/55% intensity. But that was when I did it at number 11 while you were only on 7 with 3 more to go!!
Now I know why you can’t contemplate a third quest right now.
But…. Just hear me out. With some recovery and rest and some times and some better preparation and all the lessons you learned… just think about how you could smash that third quest and wash the taste of this one right out! Am I right? Am I right? I can tell you’re thinking about it… 
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Comparing this time to the first Quest, I was definitely weaker because I was doubting myself from the second interval of Fight Club. I was even considering giving up due to the cramp which kept coming.
Nope nope nope, I saw nothing, heard of nothing and thought of nothing.
Come to think of it, this plan was truly horrible
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Soooo…… what if you tried a different playlist??? 
Seriously, tho, that was a scary looking playlist.
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Right!! I mean Violator on its own, is terrifying. But to follow it up with 9 more back to back rides is next level!!
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Probably redo the playlist from the first quest in reverse?
Oh wait, GOAT has been taken out so that would have to be replaced with something else.
I dare not imagine in all honest
The first two sets of Violator is quite OK, the last one is really the killer.
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That describes most SUF vids.
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Maybe redo the entire thing with a fresh list of videos.
With the removal of GOAT, The Hunted, and Local Hero there are now 31 eligible videos. But that’s still enough for 3 full KOS attempts without repeating any of them (that’s what I did for my first 3, then made sure to include the remaining couple in my fifth (my fourth was a repeat of my first)). So you could do a third attempt with either a completely new set of videos, or keep the ones you like and switch out a few for some fresh suffering.
I need to go over all my notes, but I’m trying to compile my full list of favorites from each attempt so I can try them all together for my next attempt (yes, I’ve already succumbed to planning my “next time”). It’s been pointed out many times before, but favorite videos hit a lot different during a KOS than they do during a single session. And it also matters when in the KOS they fall, along with what you ride before and after and how you’re feeling and your overall fitness in general.
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Did you mean to suggest you would do 3 KoS attempts in one shot?
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No. lol.
Some have done a double knighthood (20 in one shot). But I’ve never seen anyone do 3.
But I would definitely cheer you on when you decided to become the first!
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Good reply… but no.
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