So you bought a turbo trainer, and now you don't like it? Far too boring, staring the wall while the clock refuses to go round any faster?

Actually, I could not disagree more. I love riding the turbo. It's fun, it's safe. No complete morons aiming a deadly metal box can harm me, no traffic lights, halt signs or other impediments hold me back. And I can train hard or doss, depending on what I fancy doing. For easy sessions, I tend to watch box sets of TV shows. But for proper structured training, I use the Sufferfest videos.

Sufferfest was started in 2009 by David McQuillen, a banker and enthusiastic cyclist who taught himself to edit video footage. In his words, "We created The Sufferfest because we didn't find any cycling training videos anywhere that got us excited about being on the trainer and pounding ourselves into the ground." The resulting series of Sufferfest videos, in which you compete at home against the pros on your TV screen, has since taken on a life of its own.

The Sufferfest concept is that you ride along with pro riders at the big races from the (dis)comfort of your home rollers or turbo trainer. Music plays, and the screen tells you the effort required and the cadence. An on-screen timer counts down when certain parts of the set are either about to start or finish along with sound effects. The team behind Sufferfest are obviously huge cycling fans, and really know their races and riders. The videos include footage from all the big one day races including the World Championships, and of course the Grand Tours.

Most of the Sufferfest videos are based around short, hard intervals. Some are around an hour in length, including warm up and cool down. Some are longer, focusing more on endurance. They all play music, give the perceived effort required, on the modified Borg scale 1-10, the cadence and the time intervals. Be warned however that these videos are pitched at an intense level of training, and anyone in any doubt should seek medical approval before any form of hard interval training of any nature.

However, it seems that suffering appeals to more people than you might expect. The Sufferfest concept has quickly found a large and appreciative audience around the world. An active - some might say obsessive - Sufferfest community on social media suggests footage and performances for inclusion in the next videos, while a little digging on the Sufferfest Facebook page reveals the quirky subculture of what devotees call "Sufferlandria", a land of pain complete with its own flag, "bike torture chambers', a Knights of Sufferlandria merit system, and even a Tour of Sufferlandria.

On the technical side, the good news is that suffering is kept to a minimum. All videos are purchased via the Sufferfest website as MP4 downloads. They can be used on PCs, Macs, tablets and smartphones. I can even transfer them to my video recorder and play them from there. The downloads can even be converted to DVD format and burned onto a disc and then played just like a film.

There are currently 17 videos, including such oddities as a triathlon run/ride video, a Functional Threshold Performance (FTP) video (called, rather disturbingly 'Rubber Glove') and a two hour endurance epic starring the 2013 Giro in the snow called 'It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time, or 'ISLAGIATT' for short. Most of the videos are around the hour in length, although some, like the amazing 'Local Hero' are more like an hour and a half. First time I did 'Local Hero' I had to have a lie down afterwards, good job my turbo is by my bed!

So, ride in Boonen's wheel while the Lion of Flanders flags fly as he rides an epic breakaway across the cobbles, sprint against Thor Hushovd at Geelong, Australia in 2010, ride on the aerobars against Cancellera, Wiggins el al in the World Championship time trial. This is fun; music plays, pro riders race, epic performances inspire you. It is hard, even nasty at times, but it will make you ride faster. Much faster. What's not to like?

www.thesufferfest.com

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