MUCKERS 2026 ITALY MEET UP!
FRIDAY THE 12TH TO MONDAY THE 15TH OF JUNE
What an amazing trip we had this year!
26 People turned up in Maunel’s village (i want to say Rango but you walk 5 mins and you are in another village) , coming from all over Europe! A quick tally up and i think we covered 10 different nationalities, bringing the “worldwide” part home, big style!! On the Friday evening we were finally all together for Pizza and to meet old and new Friends. This evening i just watched in complete amazement all these people chatting and laughing together, remembering some of these guys have only ever known each other as Avatars on a screen!
We even managed to get a photo of us all. See below:
20 of the above are on ROUVY! You might have ridden with one or two of them, or definitely more if you’ve ever joined in on a Muckers event! here are the ROUVY names in no particular order: (and probably spelt wrong lol)
jnovak74, chorus, Denny44, karel_sousek, Mucker1974, Squalo-delle-alpi, m-forby, Kingmagic, robinagy, Fazzo34, Mick_Michel, nielsbrynnum, Justadg, SillySilNL Sunniva, Ludwigdb, Ra-Tim, Andy-UP, Terry84, Levi09, Grochang
As you can see from the above photos, many bought along partners as well for the experience, and lastly we also had Manuels Friend Alessandro_Carboni join us for the rides, who wasn’t in the photo above.
After dinner we all said our good nights and got ourselves ready for Saturday’s ride. Here’s some photos from the many that everyone took!
SATURDAY:
67 miles and 5400ft elevation.
The evening was spent having some local food at this fine looking establishment:
SUNDAY:
Another ride out to explore more of the local wonders! 50 miles and 4700ft elevation.
Then another evening at a local restaurant to taste local dishes:
MONDAY. STELVIO DAY FOR THOSE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!
39 miles and 6400ft elevation.
SEEMS FITTING TO END THE PHOTOS HERE, WITH OUR AMAZING HOST, MANUEL. WELL DONE MUCKER, THIS WAS AN AMAZING WEEKEND.
feel i should leave the blog here and if you want to comment on how it was for yourselves then please do so.
Also if you would like a few photos adding then please send them to me and i will add them to the blog. It was really hard trying to choose the right ones and i don’t have access to them all.
Hope to see you all when we go to Czech next year, hosted by RaTim! Can’t wait!!
Mucker1974
My Wife and i had an amazing time, and what a fantastic group of people we had again! and i just want to quickly thank everyone who made her feel welcome, i really appreciate it.
The ride on Saturday was tough in that heat for me, felt ok till the last climb. That was a killer but if i wanted to eat that night, i needed to get to the end lol. Lake Garda was outstanding! But I’m not gonna be rushing back to ride those tunnels as it can get a bit frantic inside them with cars and bikes all passing quite close, are super noisy and the constant change from light to dark, all whilst trying not to get dropped… but it didn’t last too long…. phew! We then had a long climb to the restaurant with the amazing look out which was totally worth it, then a tough downhill back to the lake. Yep, tough! tough to keep on the brakes for so long!! It’s so steep around here!!! Then the climb home and it was long, hot and uncomfortable. But we got it done and had a great meal that night but i have to admit it, i was falling asleep at the meal as i was that worn out!
Sunday was a rest day to go sight seeing with the wife. Lovely day down on the lake! what a place!!
Monday, i attempted the stelvio and after a long Mini-bus trip, it was time to ride. I was kinda ok over the first 1000ft elevation, but the next 1000 was already taking the hr over 150 and i was struggling already. WTF!! So as it ramped up more, and i just couldn’t get a nice cadence going and honestly felt like i had nothing in the legs and was out of the saddle most of the time already and hr at 160bpms…. and we’ve not even hit the steepest bit! Fazzo tried to keep me going but as my back and my groin were now starting to feel the pull from being out the saddle so much, i reluctantly called it a day at 3300ft. Absolutely devastated but also just didn’t want to get another 500ft and pull something so bad i couldn’t ride back down. So off i rolled back down and although i was gutted, the downhill was epic!
waited for the others to come back and they all did it! So proud of them all, especially those that did it for the first time! Just amazing commitment!
But what a weekend. I’ve been blown away by the scenic views, the roads, the people, the food and the weather.
Manuel did an amazing job all weekend and this is exactly what these Muckers Meet ups are about. Getting a “local” to show us where they ride and what to see, rather than the typical “tourist” attractions. Just amazing!!
I’ve also learned that if i hire/borrow a bike again, i need my saddle as well as my pedals, plus if its hilly, i need my usual 32 on the back, or even a 34 as i definitely can’t get a 30 spinning how i need it to. But these are the usual ifs/buts/maybes and who knows if i’ll lever be riding in such mountainous conditions again. But if i do, i now know!