A VERY DARK PLACE FEATURED RACE A Very Dark Place – Instructor Notes 02 LENGTH FEATURED RACES 51 minutes Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, La Fleche Wallonne, Paris-Nice and TYPE Criterium du Dauphine Speed FEATURED RIDERS WHAT IT’S ABOUT Philippe Gilbert 5 x 4 minute high-intensity intervals, Fabian Cancellara featuring a mix of solid solo efforts, Thor Hushovd short climbs and attacks. This Bradley Wiggins workout will improve top speed Frank Schleck and power over short distances. Andy Schleck Cadel Evans © The Sufferfest 2014 A Very Dark Place – Instructor Notes 03 STRUCTURE 5:00 Warm-up 3. Joining Gilbert and the Schlecks 2 x :30 Sprints as they attack in Liege-Bastogne- Liege 1:30 Rest 4. Taking on Cancellara on the 5 x 4:00 Intervals with 3:00 rest cobbles of Paris-Roubaix between each interval. Each interval has its own aggressive personality: 5. Holding on to Wiggins and crew in the Criterium du Dauphine 1. Solo breakaway in Paris-Nice 4:00 Cool-Down 2. Small group breakaway in Fleche-Wallonne “PEOPLE HAVE TO REALLY SUFFER BEFORE THEY CAN RISK DOING WHAT THEY LOVE” CHUCK PALAHNIUK © The Sufferfest 2014 A Very Dark Place – Instructor Notes 04 10 — Flat out sprint. Something you could only hold for EFFORT SCALE 5-15 seconds. All Sufferfest videos work 09 — Nearly a sprint, but could be held for 15 seconds off ‘perceived effort’. to 1 minute. 08 — Very uncomfortable, with very high heart rate We use a scale from 1 to and breathing. Speaking isn’t possible, but effort 10, where 1 is lying on can be maintained for 3 to 8 minutes. 07 — A ‘base’ effort, this is just slightly below what’s the couch and 10 is a flat called a rider’s ‘threshold.’ Threshold is a strong, out sprint. This table has uncomfortable effort where speaking isn’t pleasant but where the effort could be held more detail on each effort for up to an hour – certainly no more. level so you can describe 06 — A steady effort that requires some concentration, effectively to your class: but where speaking is easy(ish). 05 — Moderate effort that requires little concentration. 04 — Extremely easy range with little to no effort on TO 02 the pedals. 01 — Couch, beer, pizza. © The Sufferfest 2014 A Very Dark Place – Instructor Notes 05 MAIN STORY POINTS TO NOTE We’re not going to lie. This is There are no short cuts in A Very Dark Place. The temptation with a session like this is to hold out a a seriously hard session. This is bit and save energy for the remaining intervals; but with all about taking your group to a three minutes between each effort, there’s plenty of time for recovery. Use the on-screen action to motivate very, very dark place – five times. and encourage your riders to stay with the leaders – Conquering ‘AVDP’ is a rite of these guys are the best in the world! passage for any true Sufferlandrian. Make sure your group really make the most of the Featuring 5 x 4 minute intervals, this workout is recoveries between efforts. This is the time to take in anything but repetitive. Each 4 minute hard interval fluids, and take the resistance right off; they should serves up its own special flavour of pain, combining continue turning their legs over at a good cadence. 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 “THERE’S NOTHING WRONG IN SUFFERING, climbing attacks with Wiggins and Evans? Or maybe you prefer a solo breakaway? Whatever your appetite IF YOU SUFFER FOR A PURPOSE” for suffering, AVDP is guaranteed to satisfy. H. G. WELLS © The Sufferfest 2014 A Very Dark Place – Instructor Notes 06 A VERY DARK PLACE Section Time Duration RPE Story Instructor Cues Start 0 4m 7s 3 The opening credits include footage of Let your riders get comfortable on their bikes Fabian Cancellara exhausted after winning and start to roll their legs over during the on- the 2011 Paris-Roubaix – one of the world’s screen credits. oldest and most iconic one day races, famous for its long stretches of deep There is plenty of recovery time built into the cobblestones, and sometimes referred to workout; use it wisely so you can put 110% into as the Hell of the North. That’s how your every interval. riders should be looking at the end of today’s session! 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 0:06:16 58s 5.5 The Asia Tour events are a great place We’ll start to build the intensity by gradually Pressure for emerging professionals but can be increasing resistance and cadence. dangerous with relatively inexperienced riders. Your class should move to the front Whilst the workout is still easy it’s good to to avoid crashes! 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 0:07:14 1m 1s 6 We're starting to work our way up towards How are your class looking under a bit more Pressure the front of the peloton. The best way to pressure? Have their positions changed? Are conserve energy is to ride through the they remaining relaxed? Now is the time to lock middle of the pack; your class will waste in perfect form, to maximise efficiency and valuable energy going around the side in power once things get a bit harder. the wind. 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 Time for the hard work to begin – we’re going Singapore Criterium on Singapore’s to test our legs with 2 x 30 second ALL OUT famous F1 track. Getting a good start is sprints! They’re only short, but they should critical here. 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. “THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD IS IN MAN’S SUFFERING” Get your riders to focus on the initial jump (standing start) out of the blocks so be sure WILLIAM FAULKNER 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 Your class shouldn’t completely shut down in just sit behind the other riders and spin this recovery segment. Keep the legs turning their legs. 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 REALLY REALLY push your class here - get them multiple Tour de France stage winner to sprint against each other! They’ll have some Robbie McEwen and his Orica-GreenEDGE recovery time before we enter the main set. team mates. 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 Interval 1: solo breakaway in early spring, this event is often held This effort is all about maintaining a steady, in freezing conditions, and is widely solid, maximum effort for 4 minutes. It’s a great regarded as the first true form indicator way for your class to get a feel of where their for the Tour de France contenders. threshold is, setting a baseline for the coming French ASTANA rider Remy DeGregorio intervals. “NO PERSON CAN rarely gets to steal the limelight from A countdown clock is provided for each minute, team leaders like Vincenzo Nibali, but this and the final 30 seconds. REFORM THEMSELVES time he has been given some freedom. The Movistar team are chasing hard and WITHOUT SUFFERING Really focus and maintain that effort. If riders will want to set up the win for their team start to bog down, get them to slightly reduce AND HARD WORK” leader Alejandro Valverde, so your class resistance and keep pushing - don’t let anyone will need to put in a big effort to stay THOMAS CARLYLE blow up and find themselves unable to finish the away. interval. Recover 0:17:45 3m 2s 3 Beautiful scenic ride through the Spanish Reduce resistance and cadence, and allow the countryside. 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.