It’s “gouda” 
I think the other piece I would add to all the pieces above (which I agree with), is that as someone who has been heavily into all forms of competitive sports my entire life I really really appreciate the lack of bro-y-ness in the Sufferfest.
I have played with and competed against phenomenal athletes, and one constant I have found is that high levels of sporting achievement and competition tend to correlate with hyper self-congratulatory and “dominating the other team” narratives.
It’s precisely the lack of ego and hubris that I find so refreshing in The Sufferfest. Creating a narrative based almost entirely around self-suffering, self-improvement, and “doing it for the nation” is very very different than the “crush the other person” approach that all my least favorite coaches took.
As a mid-thirties pretty casual biker (never raced, might never race, love exploring gravel roads and windy roads through natural beauty on my bike) I am constantly humbled and awed by the range of athlete types on Sufferfest. I find it inspirational (from a “I could keep doing this for 40 more years and not be as good as some of the Legend riders on Sufferfest” perspective), and also that it creates a very different type of community vibe here. I think the 4DP concept that “this is as hard as it can be for me, and that everyone else feels it just as hard because of their 4DP” makes a training equity here that I love. It is the great leveller. Every other ToS or KoS finisher felt the same as me, regardless of their numbers.
Humor to me is a huge cornerstone of what makes that possible. The core focus here is IWBMATTKYT - not “I am better than you”.Sufferfest’s ability to push you to your absolute max, and then also make you laugh because shark’s can’t use a screwdriver. I never want this platform to change, and I hope that I’ll still be here boring newbies about the time Sir @David.McQuillen.KoS wore a goat suit ten years from now.
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Whether he knows it yet or not, sir David should be wearing that same goat suit every year for the next 10 years. (No one else would ever put it on after that sweat fest.)
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The cheesy jokes are part of the Sufferfest culture. I love them and it wouldn’t be the same without them.
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I’m French so, really, there’s never enough cheese…
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There is no such thing as too much money or too much cheese !
I love SUF humor and the whole details on the great nation of Sufferlandria !!
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Comme l’a dit Charles de Gaulle: << Comment voulez-vous gouverner un pays où il existe 258 variétés de fromage ? >>
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I wondered if there’s some old bloke in dodgy cardigan somewhere making up all the puns. I think they’re more dad jokes than high school humour. But whilst I inwardly die when I see them I do look forward to seeing them and like that Sufferfest doesn’t take itself too seriously.
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Taste is a very specific thing. I have been using the videos since the very start, I love the humor. I think you will find that is what draws most of us here.
Fortunately there are many options out there and this is a free market.
Can I hear a big round of applause for Laser Goals, Shredded Chamois, Lactic acid lakes and holy water
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Yes, there is cheese. Occasionally I find it mildly amusing. Other times I ignore it. Depends on my mood, I guess.
Valid point. The jokes have a tendency to wear down over time. “Norway” could be a prototype of an additional class of video (next to the ones with Cotty) with less cheese and more immersion from the video itself. So far it’s quite a good mixture though there is room for a bit more of what you are suggesting.
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Yes. There’s a good mix of “really cheesy”, “somewhat cheesy”, and “not cheesy” videos on SUF. For all the people worried that Norway-type videos are going to replace all the SUF-themed videos: don’t worry. It’s not a replacement - only extra variety with a cool new twist.
I love the Norway video, but I wouldn’t want to ride it or a similar video every day, either. It’s a racing simulation, but if you are doing structured training you can’t do race-sim videos every day.
Some people love the No-Vid workouts while others hate them, too. But they won’t be taking over SUF, either, tho they also add good variety to those that want to use them. And not everyone likes every Inspiration video, either. Some are great while others aren’t - and not everyone agrees on which ones are which. Such is life and the varied opinions of the masses. I’m happy to see SUF doing a mix of videos and still willing to try new things, too.
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I am only attached to results. The journey is personal.
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I’m a bit late to this party but my 2c is that I don’t particularly like the overly cheesy aspects. I did Attacker yesterday and that has an awful lot of it. Previously with that workout I’ve had no video, and I’ll be going back to no vid the next time. That’s saying something as the only other workouts I switch the video off for are the “Inspiration” ones (I find that tag a misnomer. Just personal opinion).
I do like the Sufferlandria back story though. Videos like HHNF, Defender, Fight Club which combine the Sufferlandrian spirit with the video content and the workout goals are for me the real sweet spot that keep me here and doing these videos (not that I can ever leave anyway, nor do I want to). There is nothing in any SUF video I have seen that gets me primed mid-session as much as this:
The cheese, though, not particulary for me. BUT, I also like the fact that SUF have such a variety of things, and that the app is flexible enough to allow me to stick the rugby on instead. It’s pretty rare for a brand to offer a range of different styles of product whilst still staying true to its values and but I think they manage that well. As someone pointed out, Norway was a bit different in that respect and that style of workout is a great arrow for the quiver.
All that said, I do like GvA’s interview in HHNF
IWBMATTKYT. That’s all you need to know. Keep up the good work SUF.
L
P.S. I do love ACTUAL cheese. Obviously.
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My fav Suf humour is when a captions suggests you want to stop, followed by the minions laughing
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Funny you should say that. Suffered Defender on relatively new numbers last night, and found myself not really wanting to do the last interval. Then that exact thing happened, and I started laughing myself, and made the last interval the best of them all.
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