Penas to Khota Thiya Lake | Bolivia | 17.34 miles | 1,998 ft. climbing.
ROUVY SAY: Test your legs on this challenging 28km ride to the Khota Thiya Lake. Starting from Penas, you’ll gain 548m as you ascend into the high Andes. This is a classic mountain climb that rewards your effort with stunning, remote lake and mountain scenery.
WE SAY: A route with nearly 2000 feet?? not steep enough for Sundays, yet too long for Tuesday?? Gotta be a World championship race route!!
I know we are only 3 races into the year, but maybe you’ve seen we’ve gone a bit giddy with these longer routes already but it was a conscious decision taken to make the 4 races in each world championship month, the ones that don’t fit into “fast and fun Tuesdays” or “Sunday Hill Climbs”. Last year we tried to mix up the 4 routes as best as possible, so we’d have a short sprint in there somewhere but that in turn would mess up Tuesdays. And lastly, we wanted to make it almost a no brainer that if you see a challenge come out, like the new American Fondo ones, you’d know we would be arranging those routes on a Thursday at some point before the challenge ends.
Anyway, it’s 9pm and time to see what’s what! 159 riders set a time. Lets see how many stay…. 129 so lets now input todays figures into each riders profile and see if it changes any categories. If it does, it just means its getting closer to your real category based on each time you race with us.
FULL LEADERBOARD RESULTS FROM THIS RACE:
*Points before Ballast Added.
Pos.
Rider
Time
Points
w/kg
mph
Cat.
Alieno79
0:44:10.99
245.00
4.80
23.49
A1
BareRemi
0:44:21.96
242.00
4.32
23.49
ELI
breers33
0:44:26.21
239.00
4.53
23.49
ELI
4.
nelsonsnyder
0:44:28.44
237.00
4.55
23.49
ELI
5.
Andrus17
0:44:28.45
235.00
4.45
23.49
ELI
6.
luke_vin
0:44:43.62
230.00
4.37
23.26
ELI
7.
TijsV
0:45:27.92
227.00
4.02
22.82
ELI
8.
ErlendSundstrom
0:45:38.87
224.00
3.94
22.82
ELI
9.
karel_sousek
0:45:40.48
222.00
4.13
22.82
A1
10.
Tuden
0:45:40.56
220.00
4.51
22.82
A1
11.
Tim_U
0:45:50.00
215.00
4.40
22.59
A2
12.
przemokrk
0:46:58.90
212.00
4.24
22.15
A2
13.
VeloBuch
0:47:24.89
209.00
4.30
21.92
ELI
14.
MadsUnger
0:47:29.27
207.00
4.64
21.92
ELI
15.
lrollin
0:47:35.01
205.00
4.02
21.92
A1
16.
KeithOldGit
0:48:03.07
200.00
4.19
21.70
ELI
17.
nielsbrynnum
0:48:15.69
197.00
3.88
21.47
A2
18.
Badeskum
0:48:17.91
194.00
3.77
21.47
A2
19.
Hans.Holm.Moeller
0:48:32.57
192.00
4.10
21.47
A2
20.
Stefan793
0:48:33.86
190.00
3.90
21.47
A4
21.
Wyverns
0:48:39.06
185.00
4.09
21.47
A3
22.
madein1971
0:48:46.40
182.00
3.80
21.25
A2
23.
DommeNic
0:48:57.10
179.00
3.88
21.25
A2
24.
Stefan_Schmidt
0:49:41.78
177.00
3.76
21.03
A1
25.
Pablo1945
0:49:43.05
175.00
4.38
21.03
A1
26.
KarianneKanebog
0:49:46.46
170.00
3.68
20.80
A3
27.
DonMatteo_07
0:49:51.51
167.00
3.76
20.80
A2
28.
EddyDomino
0:50:08.36
164.00
3.87
20.80
A3
29.
Grochang
0:50:33.19
162.00
3.51
20.58
A3
30.
AllanMansson
0:50:47.24
160.00
4.04
20.58
A2
31.
Thomas_Lyhne
0:50:53.12
155.00
3.50
20.36
A3
32.
FlyingSkywalker
0:50:54.72
152.00
3.67
20.36
A2
33.
riku1974
0:51:15.78
149.00
4.22
20.36
A2
34.
thhmhh1
0:51:55.16
147.00
3.91
20.13
A2
35.
MikeHagen
0:52:21.10
145.00
3.69
19.91
A3
36.
Kowarzanin
0:52:33.54
140.00
3.69
19.91
A2
37.
Micken
0:52:37.80
137.00
4.08
19.69
A2
38.
Rubberburn.Marc
0:52:46.37
134.00
4.21
19.69
A3
39.
akoval
0:52:49.45
132.00
3.49
19.69
A4
40.
MartijnS1980
0:52:52.92
130.00
3.53
19.69
A3
41.
Jorgethu
0:53:04.14
125.00
3.56
19.69
A3
42.
Peater
0:53:22.34
122.00
3.86
19.46
A3
43.
KonaBleit
0:53:24.62
119.00
3.32
19.46
A4
44.
Yumile
0:53:27.64
117.00
3.27
19.46
A4
45.
Chak
0:53:34.26
115.00
3.52
19.46
A4
46.
Sublac72
0:53:36.48
110.00
3.40
19.46
A4
47.
simonjp
0:53:40.23
107.00
3.37
19.46
A4
48.
enry1963
0:53:47.81
104.00
3.61
19.24
A2
49.
Dok_PS
0:54:03.61
102.00
3.68
19.24
A2
50.
macko
0:54:09.38
100.00
3.43
19.24
A4
51.
rodamijan
0:54:17.34
95.00
4.20
19.24
A2
52.
Pan.Rorisi
0:54:20.06
94.90
3.23
19.24
A5
53.
perswe
0:54:35.95
94.80
3.36
19.01
A4
54.
RLouro
0:54:48.64
94.70
3.54
19.01
A4
55.
MatthiasHeil
0:55:07.14
94.60
3.24
18.79
A4
56.
Slyfly
0:55:19.81
94.50
3.17
18.79
A7
57.
SpindlyYack21
0:55:39.65
94.40
3.48
18.79
A3
58.
ludwigdb
0:56:14.71
94.30
3.19
18.57
A3
59.
BTK_jiri70_cz
0:56:19.02
94.20
3.58
18.57
A3
60.
Squalo_delle_Alpi
0:56:50.84
94.10
3.08
18.34
A5
61.
feolivei
0:56:53.90
94.00
3.35
18.34
A4
62.
Sat_YQM
0:57:08.47
93.90
3.45
18.12
A2
63.
ValRdz
0:57:28.61
93.80
3.16
18.12
A6
64.
wolli.d
0:57:30.97
93.70
3.33
18.12
A4
65.
Sepp1718
0:57:31.84
93.60
3.10
18.12
A5
66.
Bates1980
0:57:35.83
93.50
3.28
18.12
A5
67.
marcomartins
0:57:44.35
93.40
3.46
18.12
ELI
68.
BikeandDogTrips
0:58:09.29
93.30
3.18
17.90
A3
69.
SwissChris69
0:58:21.67
93.20
3.03
17.90
A5
70.
Krenyx
0:58:38.94
93.10
3.11
17.67
A4
71.
chorus
0:58:46.13
93.00
3.20
17.67
A4
72.
Ghostkiller
0:58:49.08
92.90
2.98
17.67
A4
73.
RaTim
0:58:52.04
92.80
3.16
17.67
A4
74.
Levi09
0:58:52.87
92.70
3.17
17.67
A5
75.
steven81
0:59:03.29
92.60
2.84
17.67
A4
76.
Omega75
0:59:04.69
92.50
3.10
17.67
A5
77.
Duckman2
0:59:17.41
92.40
3.14
17.45
A5
78.
ogee
0:59:23.76
92.30
3.03
17.45
A6
79.
mikael.n
0:59:28.43
92.20
3.28
17.45
A3
80.
LinV
0:59:33.96
92.10
3.00
17.45
A6
81.
rouvy1bryon
0:59:34.94
92.00
3.06
17.45
A4
82.
Mikeee73
0:59:47.19
91.90
2.86
17.45
A5
83.
Amos640607
0:59:47.51
91.80
3.06
17.45
A5
84.
S.Ludford
0:59:54.38
91.70
2.85
17.45
A6
85.
Robcanyon
1:00:03.44
91.60
2.94
17.22
A6
86.
nvdb
1:00:12.90
91.50
3.12
17.22
A4
87.
ma-mat
1:00:19.28
91.40
3.47
17.22
A4
88.
MNHROUVY
1:00:25.42
91.30
2.95
17.22
A4
89.
DanWren
1:00:36.43
91.20
3.00
17.22
A5
90.
JOLASHER
1:00:59.21
91.10
3.19
17.00
A5
91.
JJ_1971
1:01:10.32
91.00
3.04
17.00
A6
92.
antyradziu
1:01:31.82
90.90
2.93
17.00
A4
93.
Hugo_Nmt
1:01:36.78
90.80
2.84
16.78
A5
94.
sunniva
1:01:56.69
90.70
2.84
16.78
A6
95.
Klinthomie
1:02:16.64
90.60
2.84
16.78
A5
96.
I.CERRATO
1:02:19.70
90.50
2.99
16.78
A5
97.
Spider_Monkey
1:02:34.20
90.40
3.06
16.55
A5
98.
4WorldPeace
1:02:39.49
90.30
2.71
16.55
A6
99.
rogerstrainer
1:02:49.81
90.20
2.60
16.55
A6
100.
Mucker1974
1:03:02.67
90.10
2.56
16.55
A7
101.
LaPanthera
1:03:25.62
90.00
3.02
16.33
A6
102.
PedroPedrosa
1:03:56.03
89.90
3.10
16.33
A5
103.
anothernoone
1:04:22.44
89.80
3.08
16.11
A5
104.
etapavolta22
1:04:36.92
89.70
2.86
16.11
A6
105.
barttt
1:05:42.48
89.60
2.80
15.88
A3
106.
danie78
1:06:09.47
89.50
2.65
15.66
A5
107.
vero-r
1:06:12.89
89.40
2.64
15.66
A5
108.
Procat3
1:07:41.48
89.30
2.68
15.43
A5
109.
stelviobound
1:07:49.50
89.20
2.43
15.43
A7
110.
Lashfagin_Moko
1:08:16.05
89.10
2.61
15.21
A5
111.
Karlus
1:08:27.44
89.00
2.53
15.21
A7
112.
MarcoPantani79
1:08:31.90
88.90
2.61
15.21
A7
113.
Savo68IT
1:08:37.07
88.80
2.63
15.21
A6
114.
ale.mine
1:09:35.46
88.70
2.68
14.99
A6
115.
Cal65scot
1:09:37.20
88.60
2.43
14.99
A7
116.
StepanB
1:10:22.38
88.50
2.27
14.76
A8
117.
Danny.V
1:10:24.72
88.40
2.42
14.76
A7
118.
Gunnera
1:10:26.49
88.30
2.43
14.76
A6
119.
Cancini
1:11:09.29
88.20
2.56
14.54
A6
120.
VilemStrakos
1:11:16.39
88.10
2.39
14.54
A7
121.
Leedow73
1:12:15.82
88.00
2.56
14.32
A6
122.
DIDACLLEBRE
1:15:10.38
87.90
2.33
13.87
A6
123.
Mick_Michel
1:15:29.47
87.80
2.21
13.87
A5
124.
cdtchris
1:16:18.17
87.70
2.14
13.65
A8
125.
Johan2805
1:17:06.27
87.60
2.20
13.42
A8
126.
V.Tommaso
1:17:37.32
87.50
2.28
13.42
A5
127.
jurajchopok
1:22:04.93
87.40
2.32
12.75
A5
128.
fazzo34
1:25:01.08
87.30
1.82
12.30
A8
129.
DorianLiszcz
1:30:14.91
87.20
1.78
11.63
A7
CATEGORY ROUND UP:
Your Category is not set in stone! it is re-learned after every race you do with us so please keep this in mind when checking your results as your category might move up or down at the end of the month compared to the start of the month depending on your performances.
The top 3 in Each Category Leaderboard at the end of the Month, Get the chance to have Bonus Points Added to there World Championship Points BUT only if they managed to secure a top 50 place in the Months Championship.
TOP 3 ELITE RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: BareRemi
2: breers33
3: nelsonsnyder
ELITE LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
BareRemi
704.92
3
Andrus17
702.00
3
TijsV
699.00
3
4.
ErlendSundstrom
690.00
3
5.
VeloBuch
620.34
3
TOP 3 CAT. A1 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Alieno79
2: karel_sousek
3: Tuden
A1 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
karel_sousek
641.24
3
lrollin
612.81
3
Tuden
455.00
2
4.
Pablo1945
442.00
3
5.
Alieno79
245.00
1
TOP 3 CAT. A2 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Tim_U
2: przemokrk
3: nielsbrynnum
A2 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Tim_U
662.00
3
Hans.Holm.Moeller
601.29
3
nielsbrynnum
597.00
3
4.
DommeNic
563.00
3
5.
przemokrk
446.75
2
TOP 3 CAT. A3 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Wyverns
2: KarianneKanebog
3: EddyDomino
A3 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
EddyDomino
523.00
3
Grochang
506.29
3
MikeHagen
489.00
3
4.
KarianneKanebog
459.00
3
5.
Wyverns
392.00
2
TOP 3 CAT. A4 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Stefan793
2: akoval
3: KonaBleit
A4 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Stefan793
609.00
3
akoval
430.75
3
simonjp
394.00
3
4.
Yumile
374.00
3
5.
KonaBleit
350.80
3
TOP 3 CAT. A5 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Pan.Rorisi
2: Squalo_delle_Alpi
3: Sepp1718
A5 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Squalo_delle_Alpi
290.20
3
Sepp1718
281.50
3
Bates1980
279.90
3
4.
Klinthomie
275.70
3
5.
Pan.Rorisi
189.00
2
TOP 3 CAT. A6 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: ValRdz
2: ogee
3: LinV
A6 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
S.Ludford
277.50
3
ValRdz
276.20
3
sunniva
275.20
3
4.
4WorldPeace
273.20
3
5.
etapavolta22
270.60
3
TOP 3 CAT. A7 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: Slyfly
2: Mucker1974
3: stelviobound
A7 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Slyfly
282.20
3
Mucker1974
273.70
3
stelviobound
179.40
3
4.
Jojje76
91.90
1
5.
batbuilder
91.50
1
TOP 3 CAT. A8 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: StepanB
2: cdtchris
3: Johan2805
A8 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
StepanB
270.00
3
cdtchris
268.60
3
fazzo34
265.20
3
4.
Sille63
179.10
2
5.
DAVTUS
90.00
1
TOP 3 CAT. A9 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE:
1: n/a
2: n/a
3: n/a
A9 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Wartaal
88.90
1
Eliotrician
88.70
1
Fanarim
88.50
1
4.
Figer
88.50
1
5.
tothecuzz
0.00
1
THIS MONTHS TOP 100 LEADERBOARD SO FAR:
*Ballast added to this table
The Aim here is to get into the top 50 positions by the end of each 4 week period. If you do, you get World Championship points that are updated every month for the year.
Top 10 at the end of the Month get ballast added which is basically a percentage figure your points get deduced by.
We use your best 10 Months Out of 12 for the world championship.
Pos.
Rider
Points
Stages
Ballast
Cat.
BareRemi
704.92
3
2.50 %
ELI
Andrus17
702.00
3
0.00 %
ELI
TijsV
699.00
3
0.00 %
ELI
4.
ErlendSundstrom
690.00
3
0.00 %
ELI
5.
Tim_U
662.00
3
0.00 %
A2
6.
karel_sousek
641.24
3
2.25 %
A1
7.
VeloBuch
620.34
3
2.00 %
ELI
8.
lrollin
612.81
3
1.00 %
A1
9.
Stefan793
609.00
3
0.00 %
A4
10.
Hans.Holm.Moeller
601.29
3
1.75 %
A2
11.
nielsbrynnum
597.00
3
0.00 %
A2
12.
DommeNic
563.00
3
0.00 %
A2
13.
KeithOldGit
524.00
3
0.00 %
ELI
14.
EddyDomino
523.00
3
0.00 %
A3
15.
Grochang
506.29
3
1.50 %
A3
16.
MikeHagen
489.00
3
0.00 %
A3
17.
nelsonsnyder
482.00
2
0.00 %
ELI
18.
Adam96
474.00
2
0.00 %
ELI
19.
KarianneKanebog
459.00
3
0.00 %
A3
20.
Tuden
455.00
2
0.00 %
A1
21.
przemokrk
446.75
2
0.50 %
A2
22.
Pablo1945
442.00
3
0.00 %
A1
23.
akoval
430.75
3
0.75 %
A4
24.
riku1974
406.80
3
0.00 %
A2
25.
MadsUnger
399.00
2
0.00 %
ELI
26.
simonjp
394.00
3
0.00 %
A4
27.
Wyverns
392.00
2
0.00 %
A3
28.
Badeskum
391.00
2
0.00 %
A2
29.
Yumile
374.00
3
0.00 %
A4
30.
Dave12
354.00
2
0.00 %
A3
31.
KonaBleit
350.80
3
0.00 %
A4
32.
wolli.d
344.70
3
0.00 %
A4
33.
RaTim
343.80
3
0.00 %
A4
34.
chorus
342.70
3
0.00 %
A4
35.
m-forby
332.79
2
1.25 %
A2
36.
antyradziu
327.90
3
0.00 %
A4
37.
Rubberburn.Marc
324.00
2
0.00 %
A3
38.
Thomas_Lyhne
318.20
2
0.25 %
A3
39.
MatthiasHeil
310.30
3
0.00 %
A4
40.
Chak
303.90
3
0.00 %
A4
41.
rouvy1bryon
300.60
3
0.00 %
A4
42.
MartijnS1980
300.00
2
0.00 %
A3
43.
RLouro
297.70
3
0.00 %
A4
44.
Squalo_delle_Alpi
290.20
3
0.00 %
A5
45.
Slyfly
282.20
3
0.00 %
A7
46.
Sepp1718
281.50
3
0.00 %
A5
47.
Bates1980
279.90
3
0.00 %
A5
48.
BikeandDogTrips
279.70
3
0.00 %
A3
49.
S.Ludford
277.50
3
0.00 %
A6
50.
MNHROUVY
277.10
3
0.00 %
A4
51.
ValRdz
276.20
3
0.00 %
A6
52.
Klinthomie
275.70
3
0.00 %
A5
53.
sunniva
275.20
3
0.00 %
A6
54.
Mucker1974
273.70
3
0.00 %
A7
55.
4WorldPeace
273.20
3
0.00 %
A6
56.
etapavolta22
270.60
3
0.00 %
A6
57.
StepanB
270.00
3
0.00 %
A8
58.
cdtchris
268.60
3
0.00 %
A8
59.
fazzo34
265.20
3
0.00 %
A8
60.
macko
260.00
2
0.00 %
A4
61.
Sublac72
255.00
2
0.00 %
A4
62.
ludwigdb
254.30
2
0.00 %
A3
63.
Alieno79
245.00
1
0.00 %
A1
64.
Jorgethu
244.00
2
0.00 %
A3
65.
perswe
241.80
2
0.00 %
A4
66.
breers33
239.00
1
0.00 %
ELI
67.
Kingmagic
232.00
2
0.00 %
A4
68.
chajensen
230.00
1
0.00 %
ELI
69.
luke_vin
230.00
1
0.00 %
ELI
70.
Simon_Hahnenbruch
224.00
1
0.00 %
ELI
71.
veron10
222.00
1
0.00 %
ELI
72.
IvanSagan86
220.00
1
0.00 %
A1
73.
HelmSyerforest
197.00
1
0.00 %
A2
74.
Dok_PS
196.00
2
0.00 %
A2
75.
HalAir
195.90
2
0.00 %
A4
76.
DukeNorton
194.00
1
0.00 %
A1
77.
AlanHann
192.00
1
0.00 %
A3
78.
Pan.Rorisi
189.00
2
0.00 %
A5
79.
BTK_jiri70_cz
189.00
2
0.00 %
A3
80.
Duckman2
186.60
2
0.00 %
A5
81.
SwissChris69
185.30
2
0.00 %
A5
82.
DanWren
184.90
2
0.00 %
A5
83.
ogee
184.30
2
0.00 %
A6
84.
JJ_1971
184.20
2
0.00 %
A6
85.
madein1971
182.00
1
0.00 %
A2
86.
vero-r
180.60
2
0.00 %
A5
87.
Mick_Michel
179.60
2
0.00 %
A5
88.
stelviobound
179.40
3
0.00 %
A7
89.
Sille63
179.10
2
0.00 %
A8
90.
Brampaulussen
179.00
1
0.00 %
A2
91.
Cancini
178.10
2
0.00 %
A6
92.
Stefan_Schmidt
177.00
1
0.00 %
A1
93.
Bane71
170.00
1
0.00 %
A4
94.
DonMatteo_07
167.00
1
0.00 %
A2
95.
jan_maty_matousek
162.00
1
0.00 %
A1
96.
AllanMansson
160.00
1
0.00 %
A2
97.
FlyingSkywalker
152.00
1
0.00 %
A2
98.
Alessandro_cycl
149.00
1
0.00 %
A3
99.
Cyclist67
147.00
1
0.00 %
A3
100.
thhmhh1
147.00
1
0.00 %
A2
LINK TO NITEOR PAGE:
This is where you can find all the data, full lists, full run down of races (past and future) and if you join, which is free, you can get even better insight into your rides. Give it a go, it’s really good. Even if you just use it for the ROUTE ANALYZER that helps you pick the best wheels and frame based on your data for the actual route your looking at makes it worth a look.
Another race finished so you now know where you are and what you need to do next time out. It’s been a great start to the year with even more top riders joining us and maybe the fact we are using the longer routes on Thursdays is why the categories A8 and A9 aren’t that full? But 241 riders who complied with our rules have so far joined in this month so its been a very competitive start. Good luck next week!
quick run down of what’s coming up next:
MUCKERS SUNDAY HILL CLIMB. It’s a biggie!! “Roques de García | Tenerife | 25.37 miles | 6,801 ft. climbing | Ride deep into the heart of Teide National Park. The long climb takes you past ancient lava fields to the striking Roques de García rock formations; a unique and memorable volcanic journey. Link to NITEOR below where you can find more details and both start times
MUCKERS TUESDAY W/KG EVENT: Closest to 2.5w/kg! Espegrend | Bergen | Norway | 16.53 miles | 1,483 ft. climbing | From Fana via Blomsterdalen to Espegrend marine biology field Station and back via Hjellestad, Grimseid, Hordnes and Fanahammaren. Link to NITEOR page below which has all the links for the 6 different start time options:
Then next weeks MUCKERS JANUARY CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RACE: Yeadon to Harrogate via Almscliffe Crag | 18.54 miles | 1,657 ft. climbing | This scenic ride leaves Yeadon behind for winding lanes and open farmland, skimming past the striking Almscliffe Crag before descending through Burn Bridge and gliding into Harrogate. Gritstone drama, Yorkshire charm, and a satisfying mix of effort and ease. Link to NITEOR page below which has more info and links to all 7 different start time options:
And that’s a wrap. Thanks for popping onto the blog, please leave a comment and let us know how it was for you (please add your ROUVY name so we know who you are..) and thanks you for reading the blog, especially all those that read to the very end.
co-founder of muckersworldwide.com and race organizer! Been into cycling since a kid and spent most of the time on BMX and mountain bikes. Took me longer than most to get the road cycling bug but I was bitten around 5 years ago when I finally got a fully fledged road bike that fitted and I let the flat handled road bike go...
Took to the main race thinking we’d have a small turn out due to the nearly 2000ft but we set off and there’s 108 riders! Now i have to put it out there that i am not a fan on the change ROUVY have implemented that means when a rider quits, they are now removed fully from the race and the number of racers goes down. I quite liked seeing a rider pop up in my nearby list about a mile up the road doing 0.0w/kgs then when i passed them, I’d gain a position. But now you just see your position change so you just presume someone up the road has quit. No, i’m not a fan but its how it is now.
So back to my race. Set off up the first climb around 3.0s and over the crest I’m in high 80s/low 90s placings…. after a 3w/kg start! looks like another competitive race again lol. Luckily got into a really good group and we smashed it along the green bit and i held on for as long as i could up the main climb but soon i was dropped, but 3 other riders were near me so we all climbed together. Another draft session along the top then the final climb, which i did burn a few matches on as i could see a sun 65 minute time was do-able if i just kept it on, so idid, and i got under 65!
I have moved up to 54th in the GC!! it’s all nice and close around that position so I’ve got quite a big task on next time out so see if i can scrape into the top 50. might need a rocket start and hang on for dear life tactic.. all to maybe get 1 championship point plus what bonus i might get for top 3 in my cat! is it worth it?? well.. obvs!!! lol.
Wasn’t excited about the uphill start, but it went well. Passed MatthiusHeil before the main climb started–that was a surprise! The climb went really well, but midway I lost contact with some that I’d been with: Pablo1945 and EddyDomino among them. I could not respond when Grochang came by; I was bottoming out on my anaerobic power reserves, and/or maybe I needed some sugar. Managed to summit with srichards, but quickly dropped him on the descent and soloed toward the finish, wary eye on the group behind. Bizio75 blew by on the last climb, and Micken was gaining rapidly, but fortuneately for me I ran him out of road. I see Niteor has bumped me up to A3, meaning I now need to keep an eye on the likes of Eddy, Mads, Karianne, wyverns, Dave12. and Thomas Lyhne. It’s going to be fun!
The A3 leaderboard is truly exciting! With next week’s challenging course, the battle promises to be fierce! I’m looking forward to seeing you in great shape next thursday. Fortunatly, wyvern missed a race and Karianne was not well for the TT. How smart was it to create these category rankings, it adds more fun in the pack.
well done Mike and it’s nice to hear how the categories are adding to the experience. It’s not 100% where i’d like it, but if it helps us push more and enjoy it all a bit more as well, then it’s all good!
Pablo1945 here. When I first looked over the Thursday races for this month, I thought race #3 might best match up with my riding strengths. What I hadn’t calculated was that in January, every big dog, and little dog, and every inbetween dog would come in from the cold and line up. What a stacked field. In the end I crossed the line in 25th. How hard did I go? Well if you go to Niteor stats, table, top50, heart rate chart you will find #25 was in zone 7 96% of the time. And to back that up, he was at 290avg watts for the first 20 minutes, and NP 4.51w/kg. At the very end I drained my little tank by charging up the last series of climbs with the very strong Stefan_schmidt and the ever explosive climber and finisher KarianneKanebog. Thank you both for the race.
What now? A monster climb on Sunday, which I believe is only scored by meters climbed..I thinking of you Grochang and Mike H.
Oh, I have a question…what color is Pablo’s new time trial bike? Answer: you will have to wait until February 5, 2026 to find out.
Be well everyone and cheers.
Hey! I thought Pablo was supposed to be a more laid-back, relaxed version of The Bern. Sure doesn’t look like it! But I got my eyes on you, Sunday AND Thursday.
It was a pleasure riding with you, your great work on the first flat part allowed us to catch the Grochang-kariannek group. See you on the next race, cheers
Very good, another challenging race this evening. At 6 pm I competed in the last stage of the GWT. As always, I planned a gentle ride, but instead it turned out to be a race of suffering and watts.
Back to the Champ, a decent start, but it seems everyone is passing me, and I’m already cursing myself for the previous race… two nice, long climbs, so I try to find a good pace. My constant worry is, surely someone will get tired, right? I work for a bit with ValRdz, Ogee, Ghostkiller if I’m not mistaken, and MNHROUVY, and I’m gaining some morale. On my list, I see SwissChris69, a great battle buddy (always stronger than me), I start to recover, and before the summit, I’m there… we work well together, I try to regain energy before the second long climb… a group of four, and no one pulls in the green zone. My direct rival in A5, Sepp1718, also appears on the list behind us, so I have to pick up the pace. It’s up and up, Chris and I drop back, I chase and suck up to two others… but not much uphill… in the end, a grand finale that’s unexpected for me, I overtake them too, I have a good gap on Chris and Sepp, and in the end, even though I’m 60, I’m second in my category in the race and take first place in the monthly A5 standings.
It was tough, I hope to manage the few points I have in the final battle.
Cheers to everybody who ride with me, see you to the next 👋 Sharky
Hello everyone. This time I had to miss not only the main race, but all the draft races. It was clear that I wouldn’t miss everything and it was time to go for the first time on Wednesday’s recon. Even when I was warming up, I felt heavy and sore legs from Tuesday’s fast races. And unfortunately, it didn’t change after the start. The short part was relatively decent, but when I wanted to increase my performance on the climb, it just wasn’t possible. Even knowing that you will still be riding your own way on the flat and will definitely lose to your competitors doesn’t add motivation. I somehow overcame the flat and at the end I wanted to give it my all, but it wasn’t possible. During the whole time, my legs wouldn’t let me ride the HR Z6 for even 1 minute. Big thanks to Carlos, who, although he didn’t want to at first, always rode a bit ahead of me and thanks to him I was able to maintain at least some pace. I didn’t see the race, but I would have probably finished somewhere just outside the top 50. Thanks to the gradual drop in points, I ended up losing about two or three points (last year it would have been 100). Thanks to that, after three weeks I’m basically only one position worse than if I had ridden the main race. I think Neil, you wanted it to work this way and keep the championship more balanced even for those who are outside the top 50 and have Thursday when they can’t ride and Wednesday’s race also doesn’t compete with Thursday’s in terms of the number of riders, so: Good job to you! In the end, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. See you next Thursday for another difficult 30 kilometers.
Cheers RaTim
cheers Tomas, yes the points change was to “help” everyone who finishes outside the top 50 keep some “ok” points, especially if they have to do one of the non main race start times. Its worked, but it just means for likes of myself who is 3.4 points away from 50th, that 3.4 points is over 30 places if we all finish outside the top 50, so every place matters!
hopefully you feel more up for it next week and have a good end to this first month.🤞🤞🤞
Thanks Neil. Thursday was my first rest day after more than month and realy rest day after month and half. On Friday it was OK, and so I decided to push harder than usually on Sunday.
To put it bluntly, that was my MAX. Ave Watts 283 NP 285w (my FTP is 285). Max HR 180bpm (max in previous 2 years 181bpm). IF 0.99. Time 59:54 … good FTP test but we will never know if I could have maintained it for 6 more seconds 😉.
Very grateful to lots of riders as I desperately tried to avoid being alone on the road. LinV and Mikeee73 paced me up the long climb, on multiple occasions I was thinking of giving up but dug deep to the peak and hopefully helped them on the flat section. Nervously hoped the 3 of us could hold off another 3 riders at similar power who were within 500ft at the bottom of the final climb. Succeeded, my heart is no longer talking to me.
Another race in Bolivia with interesting profile. First half little uphill, where ~30 riders sticked together before the steepest part. It was not that steep actually, but the pace was high before. Once i noticed few strong guys got dropped, i decided to slow down and ride with Tuden, Erlend and Tim, with Premek nearby.
Balancing on the top10 edge, but we have new fresh guys in Muckers, so more competition. I hoped we can close the gap and we actually pushed nicely in next descent section. But it was 8 vs 4, so very little chance. Final up and down section and i was very lucky to finish in top10. Honest race, thank you all who joined us!
A5, I guess?! I am back to competing with the Italian sharky – I am both scared and welcome the challenge 😉
Also feels good to be grouped with Paul Bateman, altough I can only hope to get close to his numbers going uphill.
I did this race a 6:30 in the morning alone with 6 other people who did not feel like pushing. So it was basically a TT and unfortunately, I left something on the table, as was evident by my heartrate being mostly zone 4 (it is almost 99% zone 5 when I race normally). I did try my best, but there is something about trying to get draft and hanging on to names you know that give you that extra 5%.
Still, I am proud getting up “early” and getting the workout in, and that I can get some points for the January championship. There is still something worth to fight for.
I got a minor surgery today, the doc said that I will be out for 7-8 days, hopefully I can be back on the bike next thursday.
I have a long question about heart rate zones, now that I see a lot of people commenting on it – and forgive me if this is common knowledge:
When we race, I am usually in zone 5 for at least 90% of the race, and I feel like I am pushing myself to the limit. Could I go for zone 6 sometimes? Yes, and I do. But I never go to zone 7.
Now I see that Paul is talking about zone 7, and Ratim is talking about being in zone 6 (and not being motivated to push beyond that) and it makes me wonder: Am I not pushing myself hard enough, only being in zone 5? Or is it a thing that I should ignore and not compare myself to others, because we are after all different?
The doctor yesterday told me that I generally have very low blood pressure (and I have no idea if that affects my heart rate zones).
This race it was Z5 for me, and usually I´m mostly in Z6 in inclines and need to rest for a while and be in Z5. Zone 7 is exception for me (In my hardest ride I was 60%Z6 and 32% Z7 and I thought I would die at the end). Maybe (according last ride with extra tired legs) it is about personal limitation: legs, lungs, heart, only my guess. 🤷
From a lifetime of training and racing i don’t exactly have any answer. what i do think, and Sharky mentioned it, is everyone is different. When the egg and the sperms first meet, we are given our package of gifts. in my package i was not very strong or quick. but I got attitude and could go hard all day. By age 24 I was finding this and it gave me a national championship, running, at 30 km. now I have more than 60 years my legs being able to push my heart, and I am blessed with a good heart, just less heart beats, so every one needs to be used. Anyhow, we all have differences, so exploring them is a fun game. I apologize for so many words in this week’s comments, but I love discussions like this. cheers
In the last GWA race, which lasted half an hour, I was in zone 6 for 45% of the time and in zone 7 for 53%. I was surprised by that myself afterwards, but I don’t pay attention to my heart rate during races and always give it my all. My maximum heart rate is around 170. I know it’s not exactly healthy, but that’s how it always turns out during a race…🤷♂️ Luckily, I never end up in zone 8 😂
I wish you a speedy recovery and hope you will be back soon
everyone has pretty much responded as i though. Its basically not exact and different for you personally. there’s lots of different formulas and ways to set your zones up that once you go down that rabbit hole, you come out more confused. lol But my opinion is i just let ROUVY automatically sort my zones out and on the rare occasions that i am full beans sprinting, i will then see what my max hr was and if it relates to being zone 7, then i know they are kinda in the right ball park.
I’m generally in zone 5 when racing, then in 6 when I’m trying to hang on on the climbs, then 7 when I’m flat out. I know zone 4 is my comfy zone but Thursdays are never comfy……..
The constant slow climb had worn my legs out. I thought I’d be able to stay with Steven and LinV, but when they started to pull away, I decided to stay with Neil. We had a good group with 4Worldpeace and RogersTrainer. Roger kept a steady pace until we reached the final hills. Antyradziu was ahead of me, and I thought I could catch him on the last hill to finish the race in under an hour, but he was too strong, and climbing at over 4W/kg isn’t my cup of tea 🙂
It was a great time, thank you.
First, I really like the idea of making the thursday championship routes the long and hard ones, without it being the sunday climbs. It makes the races a lot more interesting and more ‘lifelike’ that there is actually time and kilometers to not only get dropped but also get back again, regroup or ride solo a long way … also great that the competetion just gets harder and harder – really fun to be part of.
But what on earth were you thinking when you decided to do that old school 40 km timetrial as the first race of february. I can do 20 km at max without 🤮 but not 40 !!!!! 🤢 So will probably treat it as a race without draft instead of a TT.
Concerning the race thursday I didn’t really feel like going all out on the first long climb, so of course – and as usual – I found myself alone in no mans land from the last km of the climb and the rest of the way. Just managed to hold off a chasing group of 6 on the very last meters between the crossing alpacas. Fun race in a really strong field nonetheless – and enjoyable to be able to give the old Banesto rider Paco Mancebo a thumbs up on the way before you DSQ’ed him Neil 😁 Thanx for another fun race guys 👍🏻
oh no! We DSQ’D a real pro? ah well, I’m sure he will be fine and i don’t think this Muckers Championship isn’t really something he’s focusing on anyway lol …..
As for the route for next months first round….. if you look at the other 3 routes we are using for February’s championship, i really feel this one was the best option. The latest “fondo nation” challenges have some quite long routes which means they all had to go into Thursday and Sunday! Treat it however you feel is best to get the best time, safe in the knowledge everyone else is in the exact same boat 👊.
Looks like you’re having a nice start to the year (top 10 in the GC and top 3 in your category) so good luck in the last race
😂 Cheers Neil – and good luck with squeezing into the top 50 in the last race – should be possible eventhough the competition is fierce – looks like a cool route 👍🏻
yeah… i think because i set the rules as you only get the category bonus points if you are top 50 in the GC, well fate will have me finish 51st! 😂😂😂. But I’ll be giving it my best shot not to let that happen!!
Took to the main race thinking we’d have a small turn out due to the nearly 2000ft but we set off and there’s 108 riders! Now i have to put it out there that i am not a fan on the change ROUVY have implemented that means when a rider quits, they are now removed fully from the race and the number of racers goes down. I quite liked seeing a rider pop up in my nearby list about a mile up the road doing 0.0w/kgs then when i passed them, I’d gain a position. But now you just see your position change so you just presume someone up the road has quit. No, i’m not a fan but its how it is now.
So back to my race. Set off up the first climb around 3.0s and over the crest I’m in high 80s/low 90s placings…. after a 3w/kg start! looks like another competitive race again lol. Luckily got into a really good group and we smashed it along the green bit and i held on for as long as i could up the main climb but soon i was dropped, but 3 other riders were near me so we all climbed together. Another draft session along the top then the final climb, which i did burn a few matches on as i could see a sun 65 minute time was do-able if i just kept it on, so idid, and i got under 65!
I have moved up to 54th in the GC!! it’s all nice and close around that position so I’ve got quite a big task on next time out so see if i can scrape into the top 50. might need a rocket start and hang on for dear life tactic.. all to maybe get 1 championship point plus what bonus i might get for top 3 in my cat! is it worth it?? well.. obvs!!! lol.
See you next week
Wasn’t excited about the uphill start, but it went well. Passed MatthiusHeil before the main climb started–that was a surprise! The climb went really well, but midway I lost contact with some that I’d been with: Pablo1945 and EddyDomino among them. I could not respond when Grochang came by; I was bottoming out on my anaerobic power reserves, and/or maybe I needed some sugar. Managed to summit with srichards, but quickly dropped him on the descent and soloed toward the finish, wary eye on the group behind. Bizio75 blew by on the last climb, and Micken was gaining rapidly, but fortuneately for me I ran him out of road. I see Niteor has bumped me up to A3, meaning I now need to keep an eye on the likes of Eddy, Mads, Karianne, wyverns, Dave12. and Thomas Lyhne. It’s going to be fun!
The A3 leaderboard is truly exciting! With next week’s challenging course, the battle promises to be fierce! I’m looking forward to seeing you in great shape next thursday. Fortunatly, wyvern missed a race and Karianne was not well for the TT. How smart was it to create these category rankings, it adds more fun in the pack.
well done Mike and it’s nice to hear how the categories are adding to the experience. It’s not 100% where i’d like it, but if it helps us push more and enjoy it all a bit more as well, then it’s all good!
You wanna say, that I really enjoy the categories a whole lot. They motivate me so much!
I* wanna say …
Pablo1945 here. When I first looked over the Thursday races for this month, I thought race #3 might best match up with my riding strengths. What I hadn’t calculated was that in January, every big dog, and little dog, and every inbetween dog would come in from the cold and line up. What a stacked field. In the end I crossed the line in 25th. How hard did I go? Well if you go to Niteor stats, table, top50, heart rate chart you will find #25 was in zone 7 96% of the time. And to back that up, he was at 290avg watts for the first 20 minutes, and NP 4.51w/kg. At the very end I drained my little tank by charging up the last series of climbs with the very strong Stefan_schmidt and the ever explosive climber and finisher KarianneKanebog. Thank you both for the race.
What now? A monster climb on Sunday, which I believe is only scored by meters climbed..I thinking of you Grochang and Mike H.
Oh, I have a question…what color is Pablo’s new time trial bike? Answer: you will have to wait until February 5, 2026 to find out.
Be well everyone and cheers.
Hey! I thought Pablo was supposed to be a more laid-back, relaxed version of The Bern. Sure doesn’t look like it! But I got my eyes on you, Sunday AND Thursday.
Game on! 😀
Zone 7 for 96% of the time? That’s crazy, Paul! Great work.
It was a pleasure riding with you, your great work on the first flat part allowed us to catch the Grochang-kariannek group. See you on the next race, cheers
Very good, another challenging race this evening. At 6 pm I competed in the last stage of the GWT. As always, I planned a gentle ride, but instead it turned out to be a race of suffering and watts.
Back to the Champ, a decent start, but it seems everyone is passing me, and I’m already cursing myself for the previous race… two nice, long climbs, so I try to find a good pace. My constant worry is, surely someone will get tired, right? I work for a bit with ValRdz, Ogee, Ghostkiller if I’m not mistaken, and MNHROUVY, and I’m gaining some morale. On my list, I see SwissChris69, a great battle buddy (always stronger than me), I start to recover, and before the summit, I’m there… we work well together, I try to regain energy before the second long climb… a group of four, and no one pulls in the green zone. My direct rival in A5, Sepp1718, also appears on the list behind us, so I have to pick up the pace. It’s up and up, Chris and I drop back, I chase and suck up to two others… but not much uphill… in the end, a grand finale that’s unexpected for me, I overtake them too, I have a good gap on Chris and Sepp, and in the end, even though I’m 60, I’m second in my category in the race and take first place in the monthly A5 standings.
It was tough, I hope to manage the few points I have in the final battle.
Cheers to everybody who ride with me, see you to the next 👋 Sharky
Hello everyone. This time I had to miss not only the main race, but all the draft races. It was clear that I wouldn’t miss everything and it was time to go for the first time on Wednesday’s recon. Even when I was warming up, I felt heavy and sore legs from Tuesday’s fast races. And unfortunately, it didn’t change after the start. The short part was relatively decent, but when I wanted to increase my performance on the climb, it just wasn’t possible. Even knowing that you will still be riding your own way on the flat and will definitely lose to your competitors doesn’t add motivation. I somehow overcame the flat and at the end I wanted to give it my all, but it wasn’t possible. During the whole time, my legs wouldn’t let me ride the HR Z6 for even 1 minute. Big thanks to Carlos, who, although he didn’t want to at first, always rode a bit ahead of me and thanks to him I was able to maintain at least some pace. I didn’t see the race, but I would have probably finished somewhere just outside the top 50. Thanks to the gradual drop in points, I ended up losing about two or three points (last year it would have been 100). Thanks to that, after three weeks I’m basically only one position worse than if I had ridden the main race. I think Neil, you wanted it to work this way and keep the championship more balanced even for those who are outside the top 50 and have Thursday when they can’t ride and Wednesday’s race also doesn’t compete with Thursday’s in terms of the number of riders, so: Good job to you! In the end, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. See you next Thursday for another difficult 30 kilometers.
Cheers RaTim
cheers Tomas, yes the points change was to “help” everyone who finishes outside the top 50 keep some “ok” points, especially if they have to do one of the non main race start times. Its worked, but it just means for likes of myself who is 3.4 points away from 50th, that 3.4 points is over 30 places if we all finish outside the top 50, so every place matters!
hopefully you feel more up for it next week and have a good end to this first month.🤞🤞🤞
Thanks Neil. Thursday was my first rest day after more than month and realy rest day after month and half. On Friday it was OK, and so I decided to push harder than usually on Sunday.
To put it bluntly, that was my MAX. Ave Watts 283 NP 285w (my FTP is 285). Max HR 180bpm (max in previous 2 years 181bpm). IF 0.99. Time 59:54 … good FTP test but we will never know if I could have maintained it for 6 more seconds 😉.
Very grateful to lots of riders as I desperately tried to avoid being alone on the road. LinV and Mikeee73 paced me up the long climb, on multiple occasions I was thinking of giving up but dug deep to the peak and hopefully helped them on the flat section. Nervously hoped the 3 of us could hold off another 3 riders at similar power who were within 500ft at the bottom of the final climb. Succeeded, my heart is no longer talking to me.
you smashed it Mucker and deserve to be winning the A6 cat. good luck next week.
Another race in Bolivia with interesting profile. First half little uphill, where ~30 riders sticked together before the steepest part. It was not that steep actually, but the pace was high before. Once i noticed few strong guys got dropped, i decided to slow down and ride with Tuden, Erlend and Tim, with Premek nearby.
Balancing on the top10 edge, but we have new fresh guys in Muckers, so more competition. I hoped we can close the gap and we actually pushed nicely in next descent section. But it was 8 vs 4, so very little chance. Final up and down section and i was very lucky to finish in top10. Honest race, thank you all who joined us!
A5, I guess?! I am back to competing with the Italian sharky – I am both scared and welcome the challenge 😉
Also feels good to be grouped with Paul Bateman, altough I can only hope to get close to his numbers going uphill.
I did this race a 6:30 in the morning alone with 6 other people who did not feel like pushing. So it was basically a TT and unfortunately, I left something on the table, as was evident by my heartrate being mostly zone 4 (it is almost 99% zone 5 when I race normally). I did try my best, but there is something about trying to get draft and hanging on to names you know that give you that extra 5%.
Still, I am proud getting up “early” and getting the workout in, and that I can get some points for the January championship. There is still something worth to fight for.
I got a minor surgery today, the doc said that I will be out for 7-8 days, hopefully I can be back on the bike next thursday.
Hope you all had a fun race thursday night!
Good luck for your surgery, and when you are ok, we will enjoy for February Champ.
It always a superb sensation when you can ride with friends 😉👍💪🦈
thanks for the comments and hope the surgery went well!
Thank you both! Surgery went well, can’t wait to race again with you all.
I have a long question about heart rate zones, now that I see a lot of people commenting on it – and forgive me if this is common knowledge:
When we race, I am usually in zone 5 for at least 90% of the race, and I feel like I am pushing myself to the limit. Could I go for zone 6 sometimes? Yes, and I do. But I never go to zone 7.
Now I see that Paul is talking about zone 7, and Ratim is talking about being in zone 6 (and not being motivated to push beyond that) and it makes me wonder: Am I not pushing myself hard enough, only being in zone 5? Or is it a thing that I should ignore and not compare myself to others, because we are after all different?
The doctor yesterday told me that I generally have very low blood pressure (and I have no idea if that affects my heart rate zones).
I think everyone have a different possibility for hr zone.
In my case I always have a range from 150 to 168 hr.
But I’m not expert in this field.
This race it was Z5 for me, and usually I´m mostly in Z6 in inclines and need to rest for a while and be in Z5. Zone 7 is exception for me (In my hardest ride I was 60%Z6 and 32% Z7 and I thought I would die at the end). Maybe (according last ride with extra tired legs) it is about personal limitation: legs, lungs, heart, only my guess. 🤷
From a lifetime of training and racing i don’t exactly have any answer. what i do think, and Sharky mentioned it, is everyone is different. When the egg and the sperms first meet, we are given our package of gifts. in my package i was not very strong or quick. but I got attitude and could go hard all day. By age 24 I was finding this and it gave me a national championship, running, at 30 km. now I have more than 60 years my legs being able to push my heart, and I am blessed with a good heart, just less heart beats, so every one needs to be used. Anyhow, we all have differences, so exploring them is a fun game. I apologize for so many words in this week’s comments, but I love discussions like this. cheers
I appreciate your response, Paul – don’t limit yourself, I find it all very interesting.
Thanks both of your takes on it.
In the last GWA race, which lasted half an hour, I was in zone 6 for 45% of the time and in zone 7 for 53%. I was surprised by that myself afterwards, but I don’t pay attention to my heart rate during races and always give it my all. My maximum heart rate is around 170. I know it’s not exactly healthy, but that’s how it always turns out during a race…🤷♂️ Luckily, I never end up in zone 8 😂
I wish you a speedy recovery and hope you will be back soon
greets Slyfly
everyone has pretty much responded as i though. Its basically not exact and different for you personally. there’s lots of different formulas and ways to set your zones up that once you go down that rabbit hole, you come out more confused. lol But my opinion is i just let ROUVY automatically sort my zones out and on the rare occasions that i am full beans sprinting, i will then see what my max hr was and if it relates to being zone 7, then i know they are kinda in the right ball park.
I’m generally in zone 5 when racing, then in 6 when I’m trying to hang on on the climbs, then 7 when I’m flat out. I know zone 4 is my comfy zone but Thursdays are never comfy……..
The constant slow climb had worn my legs out. I thought I’d be able to stay with Steven and LinV, but when they started to pull away, I decided to stay with Neil. We had a good group with 4Worldpeace and RogersTrainer. Roger kept a steady pace until we reached the final hills. Antyradziu was ahead of me, and I thought I could catch him on the last hill to finish the race in under an hour, but he was too strong, and climbing at over 4W/kg isn’t my cup of tea 🙂
It was a great time, thank you.
thanks for jumping into the comments Mucker! it was great you guys were there as it’d have been a lot harder (and slower) alone.
First, I really like the idea of making the thursday championship routes the long and hard ones, without it being the sunday climbs. It makes the races a lot more interesting and more ‘lifelike’ that there is actually time and kilometers to not only get dropped but also get back again, regroup or ride solo a long way … also great that the competetion just gets harder and harder – really fun to be part of.
But what on earth were you thinking when you decided to do that old school 40 km timetrial as the first race of february. I can do 20 km at max without 🤮 but not 40 !!!!! 🤢 So will probably treat it as a race without draft instead of a TT.
Concerning the race thursday I didn’t really feel like going all out on the first long climb, so of course – and as usual – I found myself alone in no mans land from the last km of the climb and the rest of the way. Just managed to hold off a chasing group of 6 on the very last meters between the crossing alpacas. Fun race in a really strong field nonetheless – and enjoyable to be able to give the old Banesto rider Paco Mancebo a thumbs up on the way before you DSQ’ed him Neil 😁 Thanx for another fun race guys 👍🏻
oh no! We DSQ’D a real pro? ah well, I’m sure he will be fine and i don’t think this Muckers Championship isn’t really something he’s focusing on anyway lol …..
As for the route for next months first round….. if you look at the other 3 routes we are using for February’s championship, i really feel this one was the best option. The latest “fondo nation” challenges have some quite long routes which means they all had to go into Thursday and Sunday! Treat it however you feel is best to get the best time, safe in the knowledge everyone else is in the exact same boat 👊.
Looks like you’re having a nice start to the year (top 10 in the GC and top 3 in your category) so good luck in the last race
😂 Cheers Neil – and good luck with squeezing into the top 50 in the last race – should be possible eventhough the competition is fierce – looks like a cool route 👍🏻
yeah… i think because i set the rules as you only get the category bonus points if you are top 50 in the GC, well fate will have me finish 51st! 😂😂😂. But I’ll be giving it my best shot not to let that happen!!