This is a thrice annual event here in Las Vegas. It's not widely known outside the fairly tight knit local cycling scene. It's been put on by two local riders, Jeff Jonas and Vic Miera, who have been doing this for nearly two decades, if I have it right. I first heard about it shortly after returning to active cycling in 2008. I showed up for the usual Starbuck's Saturday ride one weekend and I was surprised at how low the turn out was. I asked someone about it, and he said the rest were off doing Sufferfest, which he characterized as a crazy hard event that no one in their right mind would do, or at least words to that effect. When he described what it entailed, at the time I didn't think I could do such a thing at all, and at that time, I was right. By the fall of 2008 my longest weekly ride was averaging about 50 miles. This was described as being well over a 100 miles with several significant climbs. I stowed the information away and went about the business of continuing getting into shape to train. In 2009 I bumped my "long" ride up to about 60 miles, and that was as good as it got for that year (see racing results for 2009). In 2010 I tried one of the three Sufferfests, and unfortunately chose the hardest of the three. It's held in the summer, this time in July, where temperatures are often over 100 degrees Fahrenheit by mid morning. Even though we started at five a.m., it was very hot fairly early. I completed around 85 miles of what would have been a 135 mile ride, and it was uncomfortably hot by the time I got home. The good news was that I now made my "long" ride at least 70 miles from that time onward. Moving ahead to 2011, I rode the first of the three Sufferfests in early February. It included two trips around the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop, which has a 4.5 mile Category 1 climb, and two very steep "Walls" on the descent. After the second loop, there's a long, down slope to the intersection of the 159 and the 160, which puts one at the base of Mt. Potosi, an approximately 9.5 mile climb with an elevation gain of approximately 2500' from that point. Back down the mountain you go and back up the road to the Red Rock Canyon entrance for one more trip around the Loop, before finally riding back down a gradual downhill to Starbucks for a total of 93 miles, give or take (plus the distance to and from Starbucks if you rode to the start). There are three very well supported feed stations along the way, and t-shirts to the finishers. All of this is through the generosity of Vic, Jeff, and a variety of volunteers. I finished this one, and have the t-shirt to prove it. The other two I've missed so far due to conflicts with my racing schedule, but each one gets progressively longer and harder as the result of adding on more trips around the Loop and/or trips up Mt. Potosi. Tough stuff.
This year it was held on February 25, and instead of the predicted wind we had nearly perfect weather conditions. Cool, but sunny and only the lightest of breezes. The only bad news was the tremendous amount of traffic through Red Rock in the later part of the morning. I've never seen so many cars in one place, and I have to say the Loop traffic should be controlled to avoid having so many cars going the same direction on a narrow road at the same time. There was an accident involving a motorcycle (and more than one narrowly avoided accident involving cars and bicycles), and the resulting mess in trying to get rescue vehicles up there is a story unto itself. Since it happened after I passed through, I only have second hand information about that particular event. All in all, though I rode 97 miles and climbed... well, here's where it gets interesting. By now I'm sure you know I have a quarq power meter coupled with a Garmin 500. Depending on which piece of software takes the data, the elevation gain, power data, and some other variables, ...well, they vary. I climbed anywhere from 7700'+ to somewhere well over 8,000'+, and others who did the identical ride had even higher numbers. Weird. I'm using Strava, Plus3 Network, the Garmin software, Training Peaks' software (not the WKO+, just the online site that my coach uses to get access to my training), and now I'm using GoldenCheetah. GoldenCheetah is a really cool full purpose open source software system to download and analyze your power data. It was recommended by the authors of Training and Racing With a Power Meter, and is completely free. All of them have slightly different results in some areas, but the Golden Cheetah gives me the best analytical tools to parse out my training rides myself. I know some of my readers train with power meters and use WKO+. I'm curious to hear about any comparisons of the two, or other comments regarding the Golden Cheetah software in particular, since I'm using it now.
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