Day 2 of the Tour (January 26) called for It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time. (I love the titles that The Sufferfest comes up with but seriously, did a two hour bike ride ever seem like a good idea to anyone??)
ISLAGIATT is a two hour ride. Through the mountains. And a
blizzard. And...lava??!! Yup, Sufferlandria is a special kind of hell where
fire and ice meet in an orgy of pain, agony and suffering.
Length: 2 hours (well, ok, just under two hours at 116
minutes), But 2 hours sounds more bada**.
Format: the warm-up alone is 15 minutes, which should be a
hint of what you're in for. The ride consists of four climbs--one is 15
minutes, two are 20 minutes each and the final one is 8 minutes. (There's a
short recovery/descent after each climb.) Then there's a 7 minute sprint (over
flats) to the finish line and a 5 minute cool-down.
Music: the music in this one is awesome! It's mostly
dance/electronica, which I don't normally listen to but the driving beats are
really motivating and really do help you push harder.
Footage: the Giro d'Italia
Difficulty: 8.5/10. It's tough because it's soooo long but
the pacing really keeps you from killing yourself. There are some intervals
where you're working at a 10/10 RPE (rate of perceived exertion) but usually
you're around a 6-8/10.
Other random thoughts: believe it or not, ISLAGIATT didn't
feel nearly as long as it is. It has a fun "story line" where you're
a member of the National Sufferlandrian Team competing in the race. Your
opponents all have wussy nicknames like Bluebell and Gloworm and you keep pace
with them throughout the race. Sometimes they take the offensive and attack,
sometimes you do. Your goal is to win the "Agressive Rider" award.
You get an update and see where you fall in the standings after each stage. (Do
you win?? I'm not telling...that would be a spoiler!) This story line, the
music and the humour really do make the ride fly by. (Well, as much as a two
hour ride can fly by.) I mentioned that I found the humour lacking a bit in
Rubber Glove but it was back in spades for ISLAGIATT. I also complained
yesterday about the over-abundance of omelette-chick. There was a similar
cut-away in ISLAGIATT but I liked this one much better. Occasionally it would
cut away from the race footage to show "you" as a young, carefree
Sufferlandrian, riding her bike through the beautiful foothills of Mt. Sufferlandria, back before you knew what suffering was. As it shows this
vintage footage, euphoric music plays in the backgound. But this only lasts for
about 10-15 seconds at a time, so I enjoyed it. (Unlike the minutes-long
omelette footage of yesterday. I really have to let that go.)
Overall: 9/10. I really love ISLAGIATT. The only reason it
didn't get a 10 is because of its impractical length. I don't see myself doing the
ride in its entirety very often (ok, probably never, ever again) but I will
definitely use it in 30/45/60 minute segments.
On a personal note, this may be my proudest fitness
achievement ever :) A lot of you know that I could barely even move this time
last year due to my back injury. So to be able to do a two hour "ride"
through the mountains makes my very happy :)
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