A VERY DARK PLACE FEATURED RACE

A VERY DARK PLACE FEATURED RACE

02 LENGTH 51 minutes TYPE Speed WHAT IT S ABOUT 5 x 4 minute high-intensity intervals, featuring a mix of solid solo efforts, short climbs and attacks. This workout will improve top speed and power over short distances. FEATURED RACES Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, La Fleche Wallonne, Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphine FEATURED RIDERS Philippe Gilbert Fabian Cancellara Thor Hushovd Bradley Wiggins Frank Schleck Andy Schleck Cadel Evans

03 STRUCTURE 5:00 Warm-up 2 :30 Sprints 1:30 Rest 5 x 4:00 Intervals with 3:00 rest between each interval. Each interval has its own aggressive personality: 1. Solo breakaway in Paris-Nice 2. Small group breakaway in Fleche-Wallonne 3. Joining Gilbert and the Schlecks as they attack in Liege-Bastogne- Liege 4. Taking on Cancellara on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix 5. Holding on to Wiggins and crew in the Criterium du Dauphine 4:00 Cool-Down PEOPLE HAVE TO REALLY SUFFER BEFORE THEY CAN RISK DOING WHAT THEY LOVE CHUCK PALAHNIUK

04 EFFORT SCALE All Sufferfest videos work off perceived effort. We use a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is lying on the couch and 10 is a flat out sprint. This table has more detail on each effort level so you can describe effectively to your class: 10 Flat out sprint. Something you could only hold for 5-15 seconds. 09 Nearly a sprint, but could be held for 15 seconds to 1 minute. 08 Very uncomfortable, with very high heart rate and breathing. Speaking isn t possible, but effort can be maintained for 3 to 8 minutes. 07 A base effort, this is just slightly below what s called a rider s threshold. Threshold is a strong, uncomfortable effort where speaking isn t pleasant but where the effort could be held for up to an hour certainly no more. 06 A steady effort that requires some concentration, but where speaking is easy(ish). 05 Moderate effort that requires little concentration. 04 Extremely easy range with little to no effort on 02 TO the pedals. 01 Couch, beer, pizza.

05 MAIN STORY We re not going to lie. This is a seriously hard session. This is all about taking your group to a very, very dark place five times. Conquering AVDP is a rite of passage for any true Sufferlandrian. Featuring 5 x 4 minute intervals, this workout is anything but repetitive. Each 4 minute hard interval serves up its own special flavour of pain, combining to create a delectable feast of agony what s your taste? Would you prefer to join Cancellara as he blasts across the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix? Or perhaps climbing attacks with Wiggins and Evans? Or maybe you prefer a solo breakaway? Whatever your appetite for suffering, AVDP is guaranteed to satisfy. POINTS TO NOTE There are no short cuts in A Very Dark Place. The temptation with a session like this is to hold out a bit and save energy for the remaining intervals; but with three minutes between each effort, there s plenty of time for recovery. Use the on-screen action to motivate and encourage your riders to stay with the leaders these guys are the best in the world! Make sure your group really make the most of the recoveries between efforts. This is the time to take in fluids, and take the resistance right off; they should continue turning their legs over at a good cadence. THERE S NOTHING WRONG IN SUFFERING, IF YOU SUFFER FOR A PURPOSE H. G. WELLS

06 A VERY DARK PLACE Section Time Duration RPE Story Instructor Cues Start 0 4m 7s 3 The opening credits include footage of Fabian Cancellara exhausted after winning the 2011 Paris-Roubaix one of the world s oldest and most iconic one day races, famous for its long stretches of deep cobblestones, and sometimes referred to as the Hell of the North. That s how your riders should be looking at the end of today s session! Let your riders get comfortable on their bikes and start to roll their legs over during the onscreen credits. There is plenty of recovery time built into the workout; use it wisely so you can put 110% into every interval. Warm Up 0:04:07 2m 9s 5 A nice tropical start to the workout, your class are riding in the Tour of Singkarak - Indonesia s UCI Asia tour event in West Sumatra. More Pressure 0:06:16 58s 5.5 The Asia Tour events are a great place for emerging professionals but can be dangerous with relatively inexperienced riders. Your class should move to the front to avoid crashes! We ll start to build the intensity by gradually increasing resistance and cadence. Whilst the workout is still easy it s good to remind your class to relax their arms and shoulders and limit upper body movement. Try to model the form of the riders on screen. More Pressure 0:07:14 1m 1s 6 We're starting to work our way up towards the front of the peloton. The best way to conserve energy is to ride through the middle of the pack; your class will waste valuable energy going around the side in the wind. How are your class looking under a bit more pressure? Have their positions changed? Are they remaining relaxed? Now is the time to lock in perfect form, to maximise efficiency and power once things get a bit harder. Harder 0:08:15 1m 32s 6.5 Almost there. Let s go a little bit harder to get right to the front. Jump 0:09:47 32s 10 Your class are lining up for the OCBC Singapore Criterium on Singapore s famous F1 track. Getting a good start is critical here. THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD IS IN MAN S SUFFERING WILLIAM FAULKNER Time for the hard work to begin we re going to test our legs with 2 x 30 second ALL OUT sprints! They re only short, but they should be done at absolute maximum effort this is the first test of the legs and will really wake everything up in preparation for the main interval set. Get your riders to focus on the initial jump (standing start) out of the blocks so be sure to have them tighten down the resistance and almost come to a complete stop. It s going to hurt, but they ll have around two minutes to recover between sprints. Recover 0:10:19 1m 41s 6 Back in with the peloton, your class should just sit behind the other riders and spin their legs. Your class shouldn t completely shut down in this recovery segment. Keep the legs turning over as they will want to flush out the lactic acid! Drop into a big gear and a really slow cadence for the last 30 seconds in preparation to power off the start line in the next sprint. Jump 0:12:00 32s 10 Your class are up against riders like multiple Tour de France stage winner Robbie McEwen and his Orica-GreenEDGE team mates. REALLY REALLY push your class here - get them to sprint against each other! They ll have some recovery time before we enter the main set. Make sure they stay standing up until the video tells them to sit down. Recover 0:12:32 1m 13s 6 Back in the peloton. Remember, 6/10 isn t complete recovery - your class should be able to talk but not sing. We don t like singing at the Sufferfest! After around a minute of easy recovery, start to prepare the class for what s to come; they re about to enter a very dark place, five times. Each interval has a different focus, so they should just take each one as it comes and give it everything they have. Let s get into it! Interval 1 0:13:45 4m 8 Paris-Nice - the Race to the Sun. Held in early spring, this event is often held in freezing conditions, and is widely regarded as the first true form indicator for the Tour de France contenders. NO PERSON CAN REFORM THEMSELVES WITHOUT SUFFERING AND HARD WORK THOMAS CARLYLE French ASTANA rider Remy DeGregorio rarely gets to steal the limelight from team leaders like Vincenzo Nibali, but this time he has been given some freedom. The Movistar team are chasing hard and will want to set up the win for their team leader Alejandro Valverde, so your class will need to put in a big effort to stay away. Interval 1: solo breakaway This effort is all about maintaining a steady, solid, maximum effort for 4 minutes. It s a great way for your class to get a feel of where their threshold is, setting a baseline for the coming intervals. A countdown clock is provided for each minute, and the final 30 seconds. Really focus and maintain that effort. If riders start to bog down, get them to slightly reduce resistance and keep pushing - don t let anyone blow up and find themselves unable to finish the interval. Recover 0:17:45 3m 2s 3 Beautiful scenic ride through the Spanish countryside. Reduce resistance and cadence, and allow the legs to recover for a few minutes. Towards the end of the recovery, let the riders know that the next interval will be very different this time they ll be in a small group breakaway, so they ll need to work hard with the other riders to stay ahead of the chasing pack of riders. Interval 2 0:20:47 36s 8 Fleche-Wallonne - this Belgian midweek classic features winding roads and plenty of short sharp climbs. Perfect for a breakaway group to sneak away and not be seen again until the finish line. Held in April, Fleche-Wallone is one of three Spring Classics held within a week in the Belgian Ardennes. Interval 2: small group break This is an undulating course it s going to get progressively steeper, so we ll be playing with the resistance and cadence quite a bit. We start out at the same RPE we used for Interval 1. Small Climb 0:21:23 37s 8.25 This is a pretty strong breakaway so your class will need to hang onto them up this climb. But save some energy for the steep section coming up. It's only stepped up one RPE here - don t let your class up the pace too much - they will need to finish this interval strongly. False Flat 0:22:00 33s 8.25 VERY slight reduction in resistance (one gear), and increase cadence by 10 RPM. Back on the Flat! 0:22:33 28s 8.25 That s Marc Madiot hanging out of the car. Directeur Sportif Grunter Von Agony makes him look like a puppy dog in comparison - your class don t want Grunter s wrath. Suffer! Reduce another gear, and fast pedal at 110 RPM as we head towards the next steep section. Climb 0:23:01 18s 8.5 Big increase in resistance here. Dial it right up and slow the legs to 80 RPM at 8/10, this is a HARD effort. PUSH! Steeper 0:23:19 46s 8.75 The gaps are starting to open now, as riders start to get tired. Stay with the leaders! Cadence is down even lower now so make sure your class are keeping a solid upper body - no swaying. Stand 0:24:05 40s 9 The final steep pinch. Drop the other riders here! Cadence is very low here (60 RPM) and your class will need to get out of the saddle to finish off the climb. Get them to focus on a strong core - tense abs and straight back - no hunching over the bars. They want to use that powerhouse of a core to get everything down into the pedals. Recover 0:24:45 3m 2s 3 Your class are about to line up for Liege- Bastogne-Liege, the grand finale of a sacred week in Belgian cycling. Philippe Gilbert, a former world champion and winner of this race, doubts your class has what it takes to beat him today. 2 down, 3 to go! The next interval features a lot of attacks - this is where you have some options depending on your riders experience and fitness levels. Beginners should focus on maintaining resistance and cadence as per the on-screen instructions, however they may choose to sit out the attacks. As you challenge your class to respond to Gilbert s attacks, get them ready to hit their maximum from the start of the interval by starting to tighten down their resistance. Interval 3 0:27:47 20s 9 An attack out of the blocks from the Schleck brothers. Go with it! Interval 3: climbing attacks This interval is varied this is the first of many standing attacks! Your class will be riding with some of the best climbers in the world, so they ll need to be on their guard right from the outset. Steady Climb 0:28:07 1m 45s 8.25 Your class are with some of the favorites here; Philippe Gilbert is sitting behind saving energy so make sure your class keep an eye on him. Let your class settle into a rhythm. They will need to take deep breaths to slow their heart rate after that first attack. This segment alternates between sitting and standing. Sprint 0:29:52 18s 9 There it is. He questioned your class's commitment to suffer earlier, so they need to show him what they can do! Right back up to a very solid tempo. If your class are struggling with the pace at this stage they might want to skip this acceleration and focus on saving something for the big sprint at the end. Steady Climb 0:30:10 42s 8.5 He s not letting up and has put a gap between himself and your class. Get back up there! It s a slow build up from now until the finish so this is the last chance for your riders to catch their breath - as much as they can while still pushing! Bigger Gear 0:30:52 43s 8.75 This is the final climb to the finish. Get ready for the final sprint to the line - nobody questions a Sufferlandrian s will to suffer. Your class should be in a big gear here - make sure their upper bodies are still and arms relaxed. Sprint 0:31:35 15s 10 SPRINT!! Your class should be giving it everything in this final sprint. They will be very tired as this is the most difficult interval. Recover 0:31:50 3m 1s 3 We're over half way! A few members of the class will begin to doubt that they can do more of these - reassure them that they will feel better at the end of this recovery section and be ready for the next intervals. They are Sufferlandrians, after all! Interval 4 0:34:51 23s 8 Now that the hilly classics are over we will move over the border into France for the Paris-Roubaix. Paris-Roubaix is the Queen of the Classics covering over 250kms of narrow French farm roads and cobbled paths, and Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara is the master Interval 4: speed and power There are a lot of accelerations in this interval - and the pace rarely offers any chance to recover - so your class will need to prepare for all the pace changes. In general, they won t have to change resistance too much, they ll just have to adjust cadence as required by the video. Attack 0:35:14 19s 9 There he goes! Your class need to jump on that move immediately. There s that first acceleration. It s only short, so don't hold back! 0:35:33 15s 8 The carnage has started, your class have obviously been caught too far back. Time to push up to the front. Your class will need to use this slight easing of the pace to get their breath back and heart rate under control. 0:35:48 19s 8.5 Thor Hushovd has also managed to come across - he s world champion and packs a big sprint. As the pace picks up again, pay particular attention to how your class are reacting to the pressure. Are they hunching their shoulders or bobbing? 0:36:07 12s 8 The bunch is bigger now. Riders like Allesandro Ballan and Juan Antonio Flecha are back in the mix. 0:36:19 22s 9 It's Cancellara again! He doesn t like having any company. Take a look at Cancellara's position - he s going all out over cobbles and his upper body is perfectly still and relaxed. Your class should be trying to imitate this as they desperately try to hold his wheel. 0:36:41 12s 8 Back together again but this is an elite group and the winner will likely come from here. 0:36:53 27s 9 Cancellara again! He loves these cobbles. 0:37:20 13s 8 Gee, we can't seem to shake these sprinters. Your class shouldn t be easing off at all now. Remember, this is still an 8/10 effort and they should really be hurting. 0:37:33 15s 9 Time to drop these other pretenders. Let s commit this time and lend Cancellara a helping hand. Break 0:37:48 15s 7 No-one is working with Cancellara. They all know he s the strongest and don't want to lend him any help. Your class should sit on and wait for the next attack. It backs off quite a lot here so make sure your class use these 15 seconds to prepare for the upcoming minute long effort. A minute at 9/10 will have them close to breaking point by the end. 0:38:03 53s 9 There are the leaders up ahead. Watch as Cancellara (and your class) simply ride past them. This is a long time at 9/10 and can seem to last forever - make sure your class have enough reserves to finish the interval strongly. Recover 0:38:56 3m 3 Wow, your class can probably see why Cancellara is the king of the classics - he was incredibly strong in this edition of the Paris-Roubaix. Really set them up in this recovery interval for a HUGE finale Interval 5 0:41:56 18s 8 Your class are in the high mountains of the Criterium du Dauphine here with the likes of Tour de France stars Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans, Joaquim Rodriguez and the Schleck brothers. Interval 5: mountain climb This interval is all about STRENGTH big gear, low cadence. Watch out for the attacks in the final half of the interval! More Resistance 0:42:14 1m 54s 8.5 It s getting steep here and it looks like Dutch rider Robert Gesink from RaboBank is feeling good! This is the longest segment of the interval and lasts for almost 2 minutes. Your class should be riding at a difficult tempo, but prepared for even further pressure ahead! Attack 0:44:08 1m 19s 8.75 First attack! That's Chris Ankar-Sorenson and your class need to follow. He s a serious threat for the stage win. As the pressure increases and the cadence drops, make sure your class are keeping their upper body still and relaxed. Sprint 0:45:37 20s 10 The top of the climb and the finish line. Joaquim Rodriguez hits out early. SPRINT AND FIND A VERY DARK PLACE! This is the final effort of the workout. Make sure your class give it EVERYTHING! Cool Down 0:45:57 4m 50s 3 Well, I bet your class indeed found A Very Dark Place during that session - if not, they need to repeat the entire work out! Grunter Von Agony will be very happy that your class got that final stage win. He will be equally happy that they did it in the true Sufferlandrian way - by suffering more than all others! DONE! Now is the time to congratulate your class, give them a pat on their sweaty backs and let them reflect and compare stories of the suffering that was. Finish 0:50:47

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