Welcome to the SufferCell.

As those of you who follow me on Twitter with keen eyes would have seen, I tweeted last week about a pleasant surprise I got from a Twitter cycling buddy, Jason Brown. For those who aren’t part of the Twitterati, this is what I had to say.

Thanks to @thecrankset @thesufferfest and @cellbikes I am about to become a Sufferlandrian. I think I just threw up a bit thinking about it!

— norbs (@norbs) March 8, 2013

This all came about when I Tweeted this…

Intervals are the Dementors of the cycling world. They drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them!app.strava.com/activities/431…

— norbs (@norbs) March 5, 2013

Jason Brown got the good people at The Sufferfest involved in the conversation and before I knew it, he had arranged with David McQuillen at The Sufferfest to get me a copy of all 13 of their apparently awesome videos. As well as that, he spoke with Mark McTamany at CellBikes and arranged for me to loan a home trainer for an extended period! A brief email exchange with Mark and he has organised a JetBlack fluid trainer for me to loan.

To say I was dumbstruck is a slight under statement. I have never met Jason, although we do chat a bit on Twitter and I follow his blog, The Crankset, so we are virtual buddies I suppose. For him to organise such a terrific surprise is testament to the kinds of people you can meet online.

Since all this happened, Mark has shipped the trainer, which I expect tomorrow or Friday, and I have downloaded 26G of Sufferfest videos. I have had a look at a few of them, and have had my passport stamped, having arrived in Sufferlandria!

Not knowing a real lot about home trainers, I will be taking it easy the first couple of times I use it, just to make sure all is good in the land of Suffer.

Now, most people will know I am not a fan of the chest beating crew that seem to revel in the “hurt box” or “pain cave” or many other descriptors used to pump themselves up. Self harm isn’t something I go for. I have done a few interval sessions over the past few weeks and found them in no way pleasurable. That said, I can see why people do it. I have learned a lot about myself in the 15 or 20 minutes of 100+ cadence that I have done. I can see how it could make me a better cyclist, so I am going to give it a red hot go.

As a way of saying thanks to The Sufferfest and CellBikes, I am going to call the little area of the garage where I set up the home trainer, The SufferCell. I hope to spend many hours in there, making myself stronger and fitter.

So once again, I would like to thank Jason Brown, David McQuillen from The Sufferfest and Mark McTamany from CellBikes for their generosity.

I will do regular updates from the SufferCell and you can all laugh at me as I curse and whimper whilst going no where fast on my bike.