How it came to be
Let me take you back…. way back!
I was an apprentice motor mechanic back in the early 1990s, working at a Mazda garage in my hometown of Bolton.. We had a Service Manager who wasn’t local though, and little did I know that his constant use of the word “Mucker” would rub off on me and lead me here. To my first ever blog! To my/our first ever website!
“Are we having a brew Mucker?” would ring out through the workshop every time he walked through and caught a glimpse of me! (Translated : are YOU making some cups of tea and coffee for everyone…. friend?”) I’m sure I’d have walked away mumbling something under my breath but the brews were made, years go by, he moves on but the word “Mucker” remains.
“Mucker” becomes the word for mate/friend that me and my friends adopted and whenever we see each other its always with an ” allreet mucker?” rather than an “alright mate?”
Years and years of cycling and the next time we get questioned on the “mucker” word is when I start calling all my created Strava segments “Muckers 1 mile sprint” or “Muckers” this or that, to the point I see people commenting on posts ” who the heck is Mucker???”
Next up is “Muckers Worldwide” : in 2021 we decided to take the online training seriously and as Kyle had been doing it for a while longer than I, he recommended to use Rouvy. Another Mucker and I signed up but it wasn’t till Kyle set up a WhatsApp group to “push” us to get more active and let us know of events and routes to do together. Over the next year and a bit, I started creating races on the platform with “Muckers” in the title and the group grew as we became friends with more and more regular online racers. Then in November last year we decided to add or change our race team names to “Muckers Worldwide”
It became something of a community. An amazing experience of fellow riders from different parts of the world, all getting along and encouraging each other to keep active and look out for each other. obviously there’s Banter but its always with the best intentions. But there’s only so much a chat group can do, and as it grows, if you sleep, you might miss a whole chat about something you needed to know about.
So that leads us to here. Its with the same intentions and goals that we decided to do this and see if its the right next step for the “Muckers Worldwide” ethos. hope you come along and enjoy the ride.
Excellent story and background Mucker. Now Muckers Worldwide has a place to come and see what’s brewing. ☕
Thank you. much appreciated.
Neil, “Old Service Manager”, and Kyle,
I’m so glad to be a part of the MUCKERS WORLDWIDE on Rouvy. It is a pleasure and an honor to be mucking about on the bike with such a fun bunch. I would say having you Muckers makes the SUFFERING on a spin bike so WORTH IT!!!
I hope to “Bring the Snacks” to the race someday!🍻
Allreet Mucker & HOOYAH!!!
Sean “Shrek”
lol Sean, thank you so much..
That is really incredible you guys created here! Thank you so much. I‘m very proud because I was the first „Mucker“ outside United Kingdom (or the emire). Let’s race together and have fun. Cheers Tom
Tom, you’re like an old friend ( Mucker ) now! who’d have thought that we’d be here after reaching out to you to see if you wanted to join our little WhatsApp group! Cheers for the continued support.
As a newish Rouvy rider I have seen Muckers Worldwide races in events and been unsure if it was a closed group or not. I now realise anyone can sign up … however, having bought a Mazda from the Bolton dealership (albeit in 2014) I now feel obliged to come along.
lol, and so you should….that’s awesome! But back in 1990 the Mazda dealer was Lythgoe Motors and we were based where the Citroen dealership is now, near Halliwell Road. If you ever drive past it, remember that in that building, a long long time ago, the Muckers Worldwide seed was planted! Keep an eye on the website Steven as we will start sharing our “Real World” Sunday Socials which might be routes you never thought of, and you will be more than welcome to tag along, being a Fellow mucker now!
I lived in Astley Bridge in 1990, so yes, remember it well. My car came from the dealership nr the Greyhound Stadium on Manchester Rd. We moved to Hampshire in 2006, I was an 18st couch potato then – came to road cycling in 2009 and ride with ‘Farnham Road Club’ in real world but happy to be a ‘Mucker’ in the virtual world.
Interesting story – Always find it intriguing to hear how something starts …… from almost nothing. I was always taught, ‘do nothing and expect nothing to change’ 😉. Joined my first Rouvy based race with you guys (and a few more) last night and it was competitive and fun. Will certainly join in again at some point 👍
Thanks, Nigel!
We are really glad that you’re enjoying our races on Rouvy and look forward to seeing you on more of them. Recently, we met up with some other Muckers in Belgium to do a Muckers tour of Flanders. You can read about it here: https://www.muckersworldwide.com/getaways/muckers-worldwide-unite-by-s-ludford/
That is how far it has come since we started this website.
Cheers Nigel, appreciate the comment and also happy you enjoyed the race. Its been a crazy journey and the Muckers Worldwide community just keeps growing. Its hard work and takes up a lot of our spare time, but we love doing it and long may it continue. Cheers Again.