Everything will be fine. You'll be fine.


Just announced today, the 2020 Tour Of Sufferlandria is going to include 9 stages, starting Feb 15 till Feb 23:






  1. ISLAGIATT (1:50 150TSS)
  2. The Bat (1:15*) + Fight Club (Remastered! 0:59 84TSS?)
  3. G.O.A.T. (0:42 49TSS)
  4. Team Scream (1:09 92TSS)
  5. Violator (1:03 63TSS)
  6. Hell Hath No Fury (1:04 92TSS)
  7. Igniter + Joyride (0:20 21TSS + 0:29 47TSS)
  8. The Tool Shed + 14 Vise Grips (1:02 96TSS + 0:55 77TSS)
  9. Grunter's Gran Fondo: Power Station + Angels + Thin Air (0:49 60TSS + 0:55 81TSS + 1:00 80TSS)

So, assuming The Bat* is going to around 30 minutes we're looking at about 12.5 hours in the saddle over 9 stages.

*[UPDATE] Version 6.8.0 of The Sufferfest App introduced new training plans to cover the ToS. These include not only the prep, but also:
1. Post Tour Recovery
2. ToS Stages
3. ToS Gran Fondo Challenge
Looking at the ToS stages, we get a sneak peek into The Bat:
1:15 of what looks to be a horrid MAP workout:
5-minute intervals [30s MAP | 4m 95% FTP | 30s AC surge]
Doesn't say how many during the 1:15, but if we give warmup and cooldown 15 minutes, and assume ~2-3-minute recoveries then we're looking at about 6-8 of these.
In total, the ToS length will be 14 hours in the saddle.

On the surface, the stages themselves aren't going to pose a big problem, for the most part, even at 100% difficulty.
There's no obligation to ride these at 100% anyway - several options outlined here: https://thesufferfest.com/pages/community-tour-of-sufferlandria-2020



Clarification:

I had my doubts about doing the ToS this year because of the dates and my training plan progress. But I'm a sucker for digital badges and a good challenge. So I'm gonna do it.
For now, I'm looking at "The Focused Option," which basically says to focus on the stages that are within my identified Strength (Repeated Efforts, Sustained Efforts) and ride the rest at 70-80% (yeah right).

How's this Tour Of Sufferlandria going to work with my current training plan?
Well, I'll be coming in tired, that's for sure, as Feb 15 is the middle of a Week 2 on the last block of the 12-week plan.
If I ride the full Tour (and I will) and stick to the Strength training as well (and I will) then substitute the Tour Stages for my scheduled workouts, I'll actually be getting a pretty solid and comprehensive 9-day stretch. Then, it will be 3 more relatively easy days and onto a rest week, then 4DP Test on Mar 3.
(I'm seriously thinking about following that with the 100/200 mile Gravel Grinder plan - simply because I want to increase volume, but that's for another post).

Ok, so with plans in action, let's talk about the more critical part of The Tour Of Sufferlandria, and that is to raise money for the Davis Phinney Foundation.
The Davis Phinney Foundation helps people with Parkinson's live well today. Learn more at www.dpf.org.
You (yes, you, the guy/gal reading this right now asking yourself "who, me?") can help by riding the Tour Of Sufferlandria yourself, but if that's too much or doesn't work for you, then you can buy your way out by making a small donation on this page:



Your donation will help the Davis Phinney Foundation and also leave you with a good feeling of having done something good for others. How often do you get a chance to do that?


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