Tour of Sufferlandria 2014: The Final Stage (Day 9)

Today (February 2) was the ninth and final stage of the Tour!! I felt really strong today...maybe it was just the psychological aspect of knowing I was almost to the finish line :p The final ride of the Tour of Sufferlandria 2014 was Violator.

Length: 70 minutes

Format: Violator is all about sprints. 64 sprints in total. The sprints are 5, 10 and 15 seconds in length and during Stage 1 you get a good amount of recovery time after each sprint (30-90 seconds). This felt too easy and I was wishing for less recovery time. Well, be careful what you wish for. The recovery times are lessened during Stage 2 and almost non-existent during Stage 3.

Music: a real mixed bag--including opera. Loved the music!

Footage: the footage in Violator is absolutely breathtaking. The footage during the sprints is from the Giro d'Italia but during the recovery intervals you ride to footage that looks like it was filmed from a helicopter and it takes you along the Italian coast and over castles, ruins, cliffs and famous landmarks like the Duomo. Stunning.

Difficulty: 8.5/10. As I stated above, the first stage feels almost too easy with the long recovery intervals but the last stage balances it out.

Other Random Thoughts: I loved, loved, loved Violator. It meets all my criteria for a great Sufferfest workout: a good storyline (you're the Speed Demon of Sufferlandria, competing for a spot in the 2016 Olympics in Rio), great music, stunning footage and a good length. It's also one of the two newest Sufferfest workouts (the other newest is It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time) so it's really polished. There was also a handy counter that counted down the total number of sprints remaining as well as the number of sprints remaining at the current length. The only negative is that I found the 5 second sprints too short. By the time I got to my all-out speed the interval was over. Oh, and it also features a shark, a leopard and a hamster. 'Nuff said. 9/10.