TOS Stage 5! - Open! Official Thread

[feeny]

Hmm. I appreciate all the effort that went into designing this stage and always trying new things. Sadly, for me, this was my very least favourite stage by a long way.

I was really pumped and enthused for this stage - my pre-session goals (I write these down) included being immersed and fully in the moment, deliberate breathing etc etc.

This was in part because the description of the session includes ‘our most immersive yet’ or some such.

Well, I got my least immersive experience yet. I do not have a smart trainer (using a keiser m3i), and the gear changes were nearly impossible, even if I’d settle on a gear, I’d end up at cadences of 120 - 130 to achieve some of the rapid changes, which really, I had no hope of keeping up with at all.

The net effect was despite what is probably an awesome video, I was stuck looking only at the tiny gear change section of the screen, with no time to absorb anything else - I really couldn’t watch the video… I ended up the opposite of immersed, bored, annoyed, just wanted it to finish, not because of suffering, but because I just didn’t enjoy constant vigilance over gears (we’re talking seconds!), which for me ruined any hope of immersion.

Also, music is a big part of my experience. So the above combined with no music made the whole thing feel quite irritating.

Cobbler is immersive! Pretty much every other SUF workout I have done is immersive. This was the opposite for me.

But, that said, stage 5 down, bring on 6 and 7!

[afolpe]

I think you really need ERG mode for this. I blasted the Ramones the whole time too.

[Heretic]

You do need ERG mode.

I did not play any music, but then again I can do the Suf Drills without any music.
I was prepared, just in case, to listen to Edvard Grieg during Norway.

[Cordboard]

I thought this was absolutely fantastic!! I have a spin bike with Favero Assioma power pedals, so ended up not moving the resistance knob too much and making up for it with cadence. This had me running the recovery sections a bit hot but also forced me into a higher cadence for most of it, which meant I had legs at the end to hammer the finish. Sort of like what I should do in a race, but I guess that is the point.

I found by actually following the race video I could hit the power targets without non stop staring at the number (glancing yes, but not my only focus). My favorite part was the radio from the DS and the SOUND . Hearing those tires all rolling on the tarmac made me miss group rides and races even more.

Lastly, I realize we need to work specific systems in certain workouts, but it was great to have a ride that brought all of my training together. More of these please!

[feeny]

I haven’t used too many different trainer setups - the kesier m3i has about a 3 second lag before the cadence/power appears in the app itself. In this particular session, I couldn’t follow the app screen alone for the required output - the latency was just too great. That left me staring at the kesier console on the trainer itself (showing watts in real time), and having to look back at the app screen constantly to see if it changed.

Maybe I need a new setup for this session - but it is pretty good for nearly all other SUF sessions.

[Haba]

Norway. Like Sufferlandria. But fun?

[Stuart_B]

Awesome video, more like this please!

Dare I say it was fun!

[Stuart_B]

Sprinting on the hoods?!

[LWLondon]

Guys

That was one of the best, if not THE best, video and workout you have. Completely appreciate all of the work that went into that, it really paid off. If u wanted to show someone what sufferfest “is”, that’s what I would put them through.

Your slight problem now is how you match that…

[hackr]

For more realism and more suffering, it would only be fair to have an extended version that covers the entire race

[Gilles.T]

No “Stage 5 started” picture?

[DameLisa]

I loved it. Just don’t give us a 1 hour over threshold climb simulation using Froome’s data please.

[Itai_Katzhandel]

What a stage!!! Brilliant!! Pure joy of suffering

[Fantom]

Just ridden Norway.

I really enjoyed it, perhaps a bit too much. I was surprised that it wasn’t more demanding, especially as day 5 on Nuclear (though I was beaten down on stage 3). My max heart rate in the final sprint only reached 172, whereas I have had as high as 198 at the end of my last Team Scream.
Maybe my numbers are low. I tested at the beginning of the Tour Prep plan with a Full Frontal, but that was over 6 weeks ago now and I stuck very well to the training programme.

It was quite a novel experience compared to other SUF workouts. I only occasionally missed the music. I enjoyed being free to spin at the rate I wanted, but I understand that for a training programme the coach setting cadence targets is an advantage. I was surprised my preferred cadence turned out to be an average of 92, including the warm up and cool down - I had always thought I didn’t like high cadence.

I think I successfully immersed as I felt very nervous in the close riding in the last minutes. Certainly I felt motivated to crush the final efforts.

Definitely a great addition to the SUF and I’ll look forward to riding again, on fresh legs, with fresh numbers.

I expect the Suf team will be doing lots of analysis during the next few weeks and I hope they will be free to make changes to the workout to improve it for most riders, even if that means modifying the essential premise of mirroring Carl F Hagen’s efforts.

[Nico]

Haha! Vi är några som förstår norska…

[EmbOKJ]

Fantastic ride - congrats to SUF geniuses for putting that one together. Did anyone else find themselves trying to match your cadence with the other riders?

Looking forward to more rides like this one!

[Phantomski]

I have to say, to me Norway is absolutely brilliant, very well done indeed @Francois-Wahoo and please, more of those!

Before attempting it yesterday for the first time, I have to say, I was a bit apprehensive - what, no music?! For me, the music is very important whatever the ride. But when I really thought about it - I never listen to any outdoors. It’s just not safe. I usually only listen to podcasts or watch videos on recovery rides, so it’s something mentally engaging. So the music, basically, is just to distract from suffering when it’s intense. And only indoors.

So I thought - let’s accept it for what it is. Real race outdoors. No music. Just noise, wind, pain, scenery. And with that, it clicks into place. It becomes brilliantly captivating. It becomes real.

If I first encountered this 2 years ago, as a complete indoors structured training novice, I would possibly not enjoy it as much. I understand it might be difficult to keep up with the constant changes and all the action on the screen, especially without the necessary hardware. What is now second nature for me would have been so distracting.

But this time it’s different. I have the pleasure of KICKR ERG and CLIMB. I’m also doing ToS 2021 on the back of very busy racing season (another platform, sorry) and also another tour. And it makes me appreciate how perfect this simulation is to an experience of a real race. It just has everything.

• The lonely and tough effort in a breakaway. The buddies in the group that just don’t want to pull harder. It may be tactics, it may be that they’re shot, or maybe don’t have their skin in the game. But they just slow us all down, how do I motivate them? How do I increase the speed without sacrificing myself?
• The small kickers you just know others will push harder than you, so you can’t rest as much as you’d like.
• The short moments of rest, where you concentrate on recovering as much as possible. But still knowing you can’t be lazy, without a draft advantage of a large group. No, not now. Not a chance. Push when others are resting. Attack when others had enough.
• The charging peloton you know too well is going to catch up with you, regardless of how much you try. But you have to try. “More than you buddy.”
• When you’re finally caught, as tired as you are and as rested as they are, when you see that attack forming on the left, you know you just have to respond. In these moments, everything is decided. You have to dig deep.
• And then finally the finish. Leaving everything on the line. For yourself, for the team, for the sport.

Everything that happens on the screen becomes a second nature even without the suggested power changes. It just feels you need to do it anyway. And regardless of missing cadence targets, you just know 90-110 is a good range. It would seem impossibly fast years ago. But now it just flows. You know how to use it to your advantage in the power surges.

Oh I loved it. Give it a time if you don’t. Try a real race and then come back. Add some % to the ERG targets and you’ll see. It all comes together.

Happy bunny. Stage 5

[Gilles.T]

Really enjoyed this one. Trying not to look at the stem during the final kilo wasn’t easy! Talking about cadence, I think that most of the race workouts aim for high cadence, I tried to start at around 95 but ended above 100, HR followed this trend, and I was really out of breath at the very end. I think that riding it after 4 days of efforts really adds to the experience.
Would be even better with multi-channel spatial sound. I’ll surely come back to Norway.

[Rearviewmirror]

Beware Couchlandrian plots, I was targeted this morning before my start:

[JamesT]

Well that was fun. I ride a Wattbike Pro so no erg for me. I just stuck it in a “gear” and went with the flow. Small eye on the power and RPE target but mainly I set my effort using my legs, eyes, ears and “gut”. Ended up crossing the line at the same time as everyone else so it seemed to work. Average power came in within a Watt of the target too so happy days. Not sure when I’d do it again though.