Tour of Sufferlandria 2014: Day 8

Despite fighting a cold, I felt pretty strong during today's (February 1) ride :) I can't believe it's Day 8 already!! Today's ride was Blender.

Length: 100 minutes

Format: as its name implies, Blender is a bit of everything. The workout is divided into 4 "courses". The "Appetizer" is the warm-up. The "first course" is Acid Soup (10 minutes of a tempo ride followed by 6 minutes alternating attacks and recovery before a road race finale. And then a second road race finale). The "second course" is Pain Shakes (descending pyramids of attacks and recovery). The "main course" is "Minion Grinders" (time trials).

Music: like the workout itself, the music is an awesome mix of everything.

Footage: a blend of a bunch of different races, both men's and women's :) Road racing, mountain biking, cyclocross, some track cycling and even some snow riding.

Difficulty: 8/10, mostly due to its length.

Other Random Thoughts: I loved this one! It's a great mix of all the things I love in a Sufferfest workout: a variety of stages, great footage, fun music and a (bit of) storyline (you're riding in the Sufferlandrian National Championships and you're favoured to win). I loved that the footage cut back and forth between urban road racing and muddy mountain biking/ cyclocross. The only thing I missed was a great mountain stage. I also loved the cool-down. The first half of the cool-down is vintage footage from 1939 telling you all about the rules for cycling (make sure your hair looks neat and tidy! Adjust your hat until it's at a jaunty angle! OK, I made the hat one up but the hair one is true). The second half of the cool-down is about Davis Phinney. Phinney is a former cyclist who has Parkinson's and The Sufferfest supports his foundation. (Phinney's son, Tyler, actually features heavily during the time trial stage in Blender.) I'm giving Blender a 9/10 (and the only reason it's not getting a 9.5 is because of it's length. My ideal length for a ride is between 60-75 minutes).