There’s an appropriate T-shirt for this…
Krampus on a bike, from Dark Cycles clothing
5 Likes
Yikes!
2 Likes
Oh, I see you have spotted already on of the “Commisairs” that are taking their positions at the route…
2 Likes
Details of my quest are now posted: Announcing: 1st Knighthood quest
3 Likes
Yesterday’s ride was fantastic. Was great to see such a large group! I intended to ride for maybe 30-60 minutes of zone 2. Instead I rode the whole 2 hours and fought for every KOM and Sprint line. Was my first big ride since my KOS. In fact, I’ve barely even touched my bike since, so this was a fine re-introduction to suffering. Thanks all for the awesome ride. And looking forward to @wmalexmann’s quest in 2 weeks!
6 Likes
The smoke rising thickly from Mount Sufferlandria showed clearly: This was a very strong group of Sufferlandrians in great form that had assembled. It were 15 Knights and Citizens that had picked up the gauntled the harsh road was throwing us that day.
(A few latecomers still missing, what a group already!)
The mission was clear from starting out: Beat the tough loop in less than 2 hours. A bit before the start the full number of Lasergoats, that were acting as Commisairs today, had headed out. They were watching carefully for anyone being comfortable in the bunch. Let me tell you in advance, they had a really quiet day.
(Still inside the city, but getting ready for business.)
The main topic that soon cropped up was gearing. No wonder, with close to 1.000m of elevation over to climbs, we were getting serious on that. Still there were also 50k to cover and 3 nominal sprints beside those two KOMs.
(Huge group, huge gradient, even more huge Watts from our engines.)
Soon enough after leaving the city we started our first climb. To be able to stay sub 120 minutes we had to set a brisk pace on both climbs without slacking in between.
While a few couldn’t make it today, we were stacked with powerhouses, regulars and first timers. In a number of languages, including Spanish, German, English and Painglish the chatter was flowing and the we steadily gained elevation in astounding speed.
(Climbing in the sun…)
(…and then it gets dark, or is this just my vision on this long climb?)
We meant business all the way up, just with a few breathers at some flatter parts in between.
(Power’s up! Let’s do this! What numbers…)
But after a long hard climb and a bit more than half an hour in the ride we reached the strange couchlandrian Sculpture that marked almost
the top.
(Couchlandrian Sculpture named “After eating too much doughnuts”.)
As we had assembled a pro peloton we had specialist for about everything to boast. While the climbing specialists had time to shine upwards, when going downward our CX downhill specialist Sir Rich @rrutis took over and guided us down safely in most speedy fashion.
(Catching the breath, follow Sir Rich!!)
(The Speed is on! Can you spot the Castle? No, it is not THAT Castle…)
Citizen Alex @wmalexmann was using this ride once again to get into the best possible shape for his big day, 2 weeks from then. So pictures of castles beside the road surely must have been helpful.
After the downhill came the first sprint. After going downhill a chance to give the engine and the twitch muscles a rev. We had a really great sprint with strong outings all over the bunch.
Turning left after the city we made our way beside the Motorway which is a toll street. Fittingly the road beside it on which we were riding was taking a toll on our legs as well.
Then it was time to make steady pace and get in form for the next climb. And right before the foot of the climb the Minions had thier day. Two technicals brought us to a halt and we lost a handful of minutes till we were sorted again. While we could get a breather the challenge to getting to the line on time was now a harsh one. Could we do it?
(Tired legs, but all in great mood: Here comes the climb!)
While the legs were less than fresh by now we were ready to spread Holy Water for the shared goal.
Fitting to the day soon enough there was Krampus, that is cramps, in my legs. I probably was not the only one. But I definitely was enjoing it most.
(All in: Lead by Sir Ruben @Medina81, Citizen Chris @Chris_Wright and Sir Marty)
It wa stime to show what we can do. And we comited to the climb as best as we could. The Lasergoats were pretty bored by us.
(The pain will come, still more than 200m elevation.)
We were climbing steadily, great pace. 34 minutes left, that must be easily doable for sure.
(Just a bit more! Less than 100m elevation to go.)
While the road was colorful, it was getting slightly dark. The chatter had died down significantly while we were grinding onwards.
(With cheers we arrived at the Couchlandrian Sculpture again.)
With a awesome performance we tackled the climb, but we had now only 18 minutes to go. Luckily we had Sir Rich to guide us down again. But was there enough time still to finish the road? Our resident expert Sir @Azrine for calculating was already crunching the numbers.
Touch, but doable? Let’s crush it! Only downward and then a flat TT. Or so we thought.
(OK, Minions we wanted a flat TT, not another climb…)
With one tough lump and another one our aim of 35 km/h was quite a hard one. But we kept on believing. Can you see our power? We TTTed this ride now for earnest. While time was running out, everyone gave his or her best. It was really awesome to ride together in this group.
(Last sprint inbound, but hey I’m “sprinting” already since minutes….)
The last Sprint was ignored mostly. We were running out of time and that fast.
Onwards, all the way to the line. We poured ourselves into it. And then. The line. What was the time?
(Hello Minions? Is there something wrong with this clock?)
After comparing times there was brief silence. Then the news came from the commisairs: After carefully calculating the race neutralisation through the technicals it was official. We made the time cut. And even without we were still on 2 hours. It was a real team win.
Thank you again for this memorable ride, one of the hardest and best in this Season. It was a hard say out there but even with dead legs I almost said “yes” when Chris asked for another Lap. But there is still a next time.
I hope to see you all there, when it is yet again time to join up, for having fun and a great day with
The Knight Rides!
(Invitation will be posted in the next two days.)
P.S.: Sorry for typos and grammar, really running out of time today…
8 Likes
The Knight Rides! Ramping up (on Watts of the Wild)
With this year ramping up to it’s epic conclusion, Citizen Alex @wmalexmann ramping up his preparation and the Knight Rides ramping up to another epic chapter in a bit over a week, there is hardly time to take a breather.
So this one is a very brief invitation to ramp up the Watts (of the Wild).
Even if I lack the time for inviting you all in a more fitting way, I hope to see you soon on our journey through the Wilds.
Everyone’s welcome, Knights, Citizens and friends. Even if you already finished ramping up and just join for the ride.
This ride includes many ramps but is banded.
Guaranteed 100% GvA approved and Couchlandrian free.
The Knight Rides! Every Saturday in the Off (or is it On?) Season.
3 Likes
After the hard ride last week, the route we used to ramping up was almost mellow. A small climb, some kickers and a few lines sprinkled in between to have fun with sprints.
It was a strong group of Sufferlandrians and friends of good suffering that had met for that day. It was time to head out.
(Starting out in the Civilization, but the Wilds were calling us.)
The virtual rain couldn’t stop us as. The check for weather we usually do showed clearly, inside the paincaves with virtual rain was always better than the often freezing colds outside. And there was of course the good company, too.
(The rain couldn’t scare away the late comers.)
When we reached the wilds the weather cleared up though and we had pristine conditions for our first sprint of the day. The very small KOM that followed had also a line to sprint. My legs hate me for that today…
(Downhill after the KOM-sprint - Sir Rich @rrutis is missing today though.)
We did some small last minute planning regarding Sir…uhm….no..Citizen Alex’s @wmalexmann Quest. The plan is still to join him on parts of his Quest next Sunday in Zwiftlandria. Let’s keep all thumbs squeezed the tech works out for him to dual record this epic adventure.
(Another sprintline coming up? You must be kidding…)
It was a ride on the content and quiet side, no wonder, the Ks were cliking away in the flat. When we started to think what time would be nice to do today it started to get a bit more serious though.
(All flat ahead…just rolling through.)
Of course there was another sprint, so there was always something to change the pace before it got to lulling.
(Sprinting in all kind of scenery, and that in one day.)
Besides the Knighthood-Quest some ideas of vEveresting floated around. Maybe there will be soon some more stories to be shared on the rides about those adventures, too.
(A quiet day…or rather night… in the Pack.)
(Speed up, we decided to go in under 90 minutes!)
With the snowy mountains on the horizon it was decided to stay under 90 minutes. It was time to shake up the pace a bit and plan for the rest of the ride.
(“Go faster and you will be there sooner.” Taken from Sir Glens @Glen.Coutts Book of Wisdom.)
The road got lumpy and we had some friendly bets about our arrival time. With many smaller inclinations we needed those to be paced well at the flatter parts and then of course a solid outing at the small climb was very important.
(Rolling road in the misty Wilds. Onwards to the climb.)
I’m happy to report all our initial bets were off, quite a bit. We were much faster. Now going full steam on the time critical parts, we made great way.
(Small lump done, big one ahead. How fast can we do this?)
(Last breather, time to go into Climb and then TT-Mode.)
It was a great outing on the small climb! We set a strong pace upward then, but the clock was ticking. New goal: 80 minutes, can we do it?
(Almost up, keep the pressure on! Check the Watts!)
On the crest The Sip™ was recorded at 1h 10 minutes, but there was no time to waste. Mostly downwards on the paper it was looking good. But there were still lumps and speed traps. And still 6.7k to go.
(Yay! Another speed trap, and as a bonus you get a bonus speed trap. Thank you minions!)
The clock was ticking against us. We were now in full TT mode, there was no hanging about anymore.
(This is getting cloooooose…. Even with the clock not showing the correct duration.)
It was a hard end for the ride that started pretty relaxed. We poured ourselves into it, all the way to the line. Then finally we reached it with heavy legs and deep breathing. The clock showed just some seconds shy over 80 minutes, so with some generous rounding we still called it an 80 minutes ride. A feat we all were pretty pleased with.
It was a great team effort. Thank you all for joining this (mostly) relaxing ride!
Next week we head out for a bigger one. I hope to see all of you there when it is yet again time for
The Knight Rides!
9 Likes
Great write up as usual!
2 Likes
Thank you for the kind words Sir!
See you maybe on the rides again, too, when you have your sub? The plan is to keep up the weekly schedule all out through the holidays as well.
Have a great Sunday Sir!
2 Likes
The Knight Rides conflict with Chess Club tho so…
That said, never say never 
(except for another KoS quest, that was, for me, one and done 
)
2 Likes
Now you’re talking! DM me if you fancy a game 
1 Like
Check!
I sent you a daily challenge on Chess.com. Don’t worry about ability, it’s just fun to play and to play against new people
1 Like
I’m very happy to play better players. Some better players are not happy to play me.
4 Likes
The Knight Rides! Grunter Claus (On Power to the Tower)
It’s the Season, all over Sufferlandria. It is a joyful time. A time to meet friends. To enjoy and celebrate.
All over the city you can see festively decorated Flogging Stations. Carefully groomed statues of Lasergoats. There are real ones mixed inbetween, too, for good measure. So those who cheeringly do intervals, alone or together in the freshly falling ashen snow, are very careful not to get too comfortable while doing so.
And all over the land you can also see Sufferlandrians, young and old, with burning eyes hanging out their shredded chamois. Did they do well this year, did they earn their rewards and gifts?
When the night falls over the Castle, Agonia and all the land and annexed Paincaves it is finally time.
With heavy steps, and only for this night, it is “Grunter Claus”, who mounts his Turbo Trainer powered sledge, splendidly decorated and ready to embark all throughout the realm. With him on the Turbo Trainers are his Knights, hand picked by Grunter himself. The best of the best, the most devout, the pinnacles of Suffering.
With whirring sound the sledge then climbs high up into the sky, to reach all the far places, diving low, stopping here and there at the prepared shredded chamois. With his slight grin Grunter fills them with all the Gifts a true Sufferlandrian desires. The sledge holds Misery, Agony and Pain for one whole night. And if you are very lucky maybe there is even also a bottle of Grunters finest Real Pagne or a small Stone Bread to be found in the morning. The Stone breads are a specialty, prepared, baked of the wheat from finely grinded harvest from the Amber Waves Pain.
Only those who will become Knights in the next year also find a good measure of Courage from the SUF-Mines.
Slowly the long night is falling all over Sufferlandria, and it is finally time.
This ride is banded, so the Sledge doesn’t capsize!
Everyone’s welcome, there are many open Turbo Trainer spots for the best Knights, a selected few Citizens and even some friends. Even if you don’t like gifting Agony, Misery and Pain to others and just join for the Stone Bread.
Revel in the Season, guaranteed 100% GvA approved and Couchlandrian free.
This Knight Ride! Is brought to you Sufferlandrian Ministry of National Heritage.
Take your rightful place at the Sledge HERE!
Please note! Due to the longer estimated riding time we will start out 25 minutes earlier, like on the SUF-National day. That way you can still join up normally if it is too early or “enjoy” the whole route.
6 Likes
Grunter is definitely doing his part to ensure all holiday recovery is duly earned. 
3 Likes
For those who do our banded Knights Rides, but do not live in the U.S., you might never have seen this famous and fun tv commercial for Office Max. Here’s the YouTube link. Great tune by the Spinners. Who’s going to be the rubber band man/woman on this Saturday’s ride?
3 Likes
Sad to miss today’s suffering, but I had to prep for my quest tomorrow. Announcing: 1st Knighthood quest - #14 by wmalexmann
3 Likes
