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Worldwide Disaster Day is the brutal workout you probably shouldn’t do

The annual community organized TrainerRoad event is sure to be a painful ride

Photo by: TrainerRoad

In 2018, two active TrainerRoad forum users, Zach Willis and Chad McNeese, were scrolling through the app’s hundreds of workouts trying to find what Willis describes as, “the most ridiculous long ride possible.” The pair stumbled upon a four-hour-long workout named simply ‘Disaster‘.

Inspired by Hunter Allen (author of Training and Racing with a Power Meter)’s “kitchen sink” workout, TrainerRoad head coach Chad Timmerman (also known as Coach Chad), says: “Disaster targets aerobic endurance, muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, and neuromuscular power – it’s ALL in there – thereby wreaking disaster on your body.”

The forum users made a plan to take on the workout together—on Dec. 15 the first WorldWide Disaster Day would take place. “At first only three or four of us were going to do it,” says Willis, but as the post gained attention the event grew. Someone even made a t-shirt, with the profits donated to World Bicycle Relief.  In the end, the first WorldWide Disaster Day saw an estimated 100 users spanning 14 time zones doing the workout.

“People said: ‘That was awful, let’s do it again next year,'” says Willis. “So 2019’s WorldWide Disaster Day was also really successful.”

He attributes the success of the event to the TrainerRoad community and the camaraderie of getting through the workout. “It’s scary for everyone,” says Willis. “It scales to your FTP, so even if you’re super fit it’s still difficult—we all experience that together.”

WorldWide Disaster Day 2020

This year’s Disaster Day is Dec. 12. “I do recommend doing Disaster,” say Willis.  “You get that fulfilling sense of accomplishment you don’t get from many other things.”

Technically the workout is 4h and 15 mins. photo: TrainerRoad

The workout also has two variants, Disaster -1 (3hrs 20mins) and Disaster -2 (2hrs 15mins). Willis says to choose one that will challenge you but you know you can accomplish.

His biggest piece of advice? “Eat! The first year I didn’t eat enough and was absolutely destroyed,” he says. The organizers of the event created an unofficial guide to Disaster. Users also share their advice on the TrainerRoad forum and through the Discord chat McNeese, Willis and Bob Machlin set up. This year, with TrainerRoad’s new group workouts option, participants are using the Discord to coordinate times to ride together on Saturday.

TrainerRoad endorsement

The Disaster Day organizers are very clear that the event was created by community and is not officially endorsed by TrainerRoad. Coach Chad, did once acknowledge it on the TrainerRoad podcast, saying: “Every year it leaves me both baffled and amazed. Baffled that anybody would want to do this workout and amazed that anyone can do this workout.”

“There are benefits to it, but a lot of ways to go about those same benefits that aren’t quite as miserable,” he said. Despite Coach Chad’s apprehension, on Dec. 12 2020 riders from all over the world will hop on their trainers for some quality type 2 fun.