You are all condemned men. We keep you alive to serve this ship. So row well, and live .
STAGE 5: NORWAY
Norge er best! Great job on the new video, Minions! That was nasty but fun. In keeping with the spirit of the thing, I turned off all metrics but the graph (can you turn off the graph?), and listened to my DS…and proceeded to nearly blow myself up, just like back in my younger, stupider days. Sure enough, found myself matching cadence with the riders on the course, and metrics at the end showed my cadence and HR were well above the more controlled sessions.
I’m sure I’ll be doing this one again, and looking forward to it. Hopefully w/o nearly killing myself next time. Felt bad for poor Karl, but loved the teamwork (and seeing some of the dirty tricks in the peloton!)
I must admit, scenerywise I was expecting all the great tourist roads and steep climbs where 2m snow lines the road etc.
But for the workout, I loved the 30-37min high intensity bit in the climb, and I appriciate the work of syncing the video with the power.
First 30min, to me was a bit on boring side. In normal suff videos there is always something funny to keep you going. This is a simulation and it was realistic because it felt like the few road races i have competed in. But I have never truly liked road racing (as a competitor) except for the climbs, so maybe this is what’s wrong here.
They managed to make realistic road racing sim, but road racing was never the thing I loved about Sufferfest. This is good addition to the library, but certainly does not beat any of my favourites like Blender. Maybe with a different 4DP profile this would have been a different experience.
3rd time completing this workout, yet I feel like I enjoyed it this time more than the 2 previous. Definitely feels different on tired legs.
I also found it a lot better using a bluetooth connection. My first attempt was on ant+ and experienced a few ant+ erg lags. Switching to bluetooth and turning off power smoothing definitely made a difference both by eliminating the lags and making my power match up better.
Even tho GMTI turned ftp and map down to 90%, those AC efforts were still at 100%!
And I really love are all the little details that the creators included. Fantastic stage!
Now I need to find a way to recover and complete the last 2 stages.
Norway is absolutely fabulous! By the name of Gunter von Agony I will fully agree we need more videos just like Norway!!! I have never done 7 days in a row hard in my life much less only on my 5th. At 55 with an “ify” back I can safely say I finished Norway physically drained and sore BUT mentally fired up and ready for more. I was through the hour before I knew it and am truly speechless for enough accolades. Just simply EXCELLENT! Oh and yes, more please!
While I enjoyed Norway quite a bit, I echo the other dumb trainer users. I spent most my time looking for the rapid shifts in power and less time trying to stay immersed in the experience. I ended up usually doing 10-20 watts over the lower power efforts so I wouldn’t have to shift out of my big chain ring. I didn’t mind the lack of music and I think if I had a smart trainer I would love it.
Doing this nuclear and utilized the 50 hour window so I had a day off yesterday after being cobbled, hammered, beaten and pretending half (the tour) was easy…so coming into Norway on (semi)fresh legs was amazing. I had a great time and actually enjoyed it. I was surprised to see my average watts so high because it didn’t feel like I was working that hard. I was matching cadence with the other riders and really enjoying myself…maybe because I’ve never done a road race…so this was a learning experience too. Anyhow, great job SUF team! I’m amped up for these last 4 rides!
What a fun ride! Although I can see the challenges with the rapid power changes for those who don’t have a smart trainer, if you do have one this provides a good simulation of an actual ride.
The just-get-me-through-it option had me doing Norway at 90% of FTP and MAP, but since I had such a good session yesterday (even with GOAT at 100%) I threw caution to the winds and did this at 100%. Felt fantastic at the end. I think this is at least partly because of the frequent opportunities to grab just 4 or 5 seconds respite, as one does when riding outside, really helped slow down fatigue.
Great stage! Was a bit concerned of riding the nuclear option after 4 intensive stages but the time flew, and apart from some sections it was pretty much doable. Had a tough time on top of the climb though.
Loved it, and it has let me feeling even more energised to tackle the last few stages of the tour on the focused option. I also knew it would make me miss road racing more than I already had been…and it sure did!
I was very skeptical at first given I am on a dumb trainer, but the frequent gear shifting actually matched up nicely to the experience from an old crit I used to do, and kind of added to the immersion. I also really got the hang of it pretty quickly, and the hour just flew by.
Now maybe I should check my di2 battery given the amount of shifting I had to do over the last two days…
Great job on making this workout video. The no music matches well with the type of workout. I was more engaged in what’s going on in the pack. The quick change-up in power feels like you’re in a fast group ride.
Loved it, ERG mode worled like a charm with this on suito. Time went by quicly. I’ve imagined worse. I had reduced targets, but tired legs too.
It interresting to see how fast they are - for a relatively low effort. I mean sometimes I’m suffering much harder on hills outside, I’m I’m being way-way much slower
A fun session, because I like the simulation videos.
No way could I do this without erg mode though, my tacx was struggling to keep up as it was.
I’m getting worried though, the average power figures were on par with the rest of the tour, though one of the lowest figures, but my heart rate hardly got past zone 3, and was quite low overall.
Kept a good cadence throughout and didn’t miss the music, think it was better listening to the DoS.
Think next time I ride it though, I’ll do it at 110% or at least not until after my 4dp gets redone, because that’s been two relatively relaxed days.
The biggest problem for me, when did a sufferlandrian settle for top 10?
We always go for the win, surely
Only done at 90% on the get you through it plan but this was the best thing I’ve ever done on a bike indoors. Can’t wait to do it at 100% once the the Tour is done!!
Agree with a lot of the sentiments on here - that hour just flew by, that was so much fun! I took it at 100% though the yellow bits are still making me hurt, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be backing off again, plus the rain looks like it’ll drive me indoors out of the garden again for the next two days.
At least the neighbours won’t have to complain about all the groaning.
STAGE 5: NORWAY
