The Sufferfest

Yesterday morning I suffered.

I woke at my usual time (way too early) and headed downstairs to the torture chamber to spend some time on the bike. Today, however, was going to be different. Instead of watching an episode of Lost, I was going to try my new Sufferfest video "The Downward Spiral"

The Sufferfest's slogan is "I will beat my ass today to kick yours tomorrow" and they live up to this promise. It was possibly the most tiring, grueling, painful hour I've spent on the bike. It was also the fastest and most rewarding. Before I knew it, the hour was up.

"The Downward Spiral" is the first video offered by The Sufferfest. It takes you through an aggressive interval training program; starting with a easy warmup, you quickly ramp up your effort to near-maximum for 2:00, then back to an easy spin for 2:00. Before you know it, you are back up for another 1:45 all out, then down again for 1:45. It repeats like this until you get down to 0:15 and rewards you for your efforts with a 5 minute rest at easy intensity. That's not it, however, it then takes on a second downward spiral from 2:00 down to 0:15 before it releases you from it's clutches.

All of this is done to the beat of some high-intensity techno music and videos ranging from a downhill mountain bike race seen through the perspective of a helmet-cam to mid-pack riding from such classics as Paris-Roubaix and Fleche-Wallone. Through an agreement with ASO, David at the Sufferefest was able to get the rights to the race footage taken from the media cycles along some of the more famous European classics. Words of encouragement (and sometimes taunts) are flashed across the screen to help motivate you.

at a cost of $9.49 for the video, it's well worth it. I can't say you won't be sorry if you get it - I was certainly feeling sorry as I was crawling out of the torture chamber this morning - but you will be glad that you did. Go to http://www.thesufferfest.com/ for more information.