Merry Christmas everyone! The last Race in this months championship fell on Christmas day and as much as i felt everyone would definitely choose a Muckers race over Christmas day celebrations, 🥴 I also didn’t want the current Mrs Mucker ripping my head off so how do i get around it? Make it a 3 race month?? Nope, as we remove the worst months score from the world championship leader board, every month needs to have 4 races in it so they are all equal! Have it on the Wednesday? Can’t do that as it was a bit too late notice and just 1 day after our Tuesday Race night so not really any recovery time and wasn’t in the rules and regs we put out at the beginning of the year… Oh man. what to do… Ste Ludford and Farnham road club to the rescue.
Ste had mentioned to me earlier in the year that his road club (yes, a real world cycling club) had a route of there 10 mile TT on ROUVY and to maybe use it one day if the opportunity came up. As it felt a bit weird scheduling a TT route as one of our usual full-draft race on a Tuesday or even as a warm-up, i never really considered it until i was left with this predicament for the last race. I did ring Ste and asked what he thought about me using it for the last race, but as an actual TT , over 3 days so hopefully everyone found 30 minutes spare to jump on and get a time on the board and some points. He also thought it might work so i scheduled it and did my best to let as many people know as possible either through these blogs on the website or posts of Discord and Facebook. 6 different times on each 3 days so 18 races to choose from, all blended into 1 leaderboard and it didn’t matter which one you entered, as there was no draft to help you along.. just you against the clock.
We also decided we won’t implement our w/kg rule for the TT races as this really is all about you giving it your all and not watching your power. But the HR rule and No Males under 60kgs will still apply ( although the weight one hardly gets used nowadays since we kept disqualifying those 42kg males at the start of the year….. most now ride at 60kgs which is great for the championship)
Okay, its now time to see how many set a time. 248 different riders set a time! Now to implement the 2 rules and we have……. 83 riders didn’t supply HR data and 6 males were under 60kgs so we are left with 159 riders all getting points. Just heard we have a little issue with NITEOR and the GC so have to leave this here for now.
All fixed… its 23:00….. ok, lets get back on it and see where we all came shall we
I’ve left the date and time in the leaderboard below just to show all the differences that show up when no draft is involved.
wow, that took a bit longer than i thought. it’s now 1am on Saturday morning and we now know the results for this race. What a great little TT this was and looking at the MPH and w/kg figures on the leaderboard, 99.9% of you all gave it a really good go. I even saw a few riders did it more than once in an attempt to set a faster time! Well done everyone and well done to ErlendSundstrom for this months win.
This months special mentions go to Stefan793, Svard and Dave12 for finally getting a top 10 finish on the last month without any ballast. You guys don’t now have to take any into next month as this Years Event is now finished. Well played. 😉.
The final World Championship blog will be completed over the next few days where we get to find out who this years champ is. But this blog is to celebrate this last race and if this is how competitive the TTs will be next year (remember the first race every month will be a TT in 2026), that race and the mini-championship event we’ve added to our events that just takes into account the TT races, should be very interesting indeed.
Next year we kick off straight away in January and because the first Thursday falls on New Years Day, we’ve scheduled the first race to run over the 1st and 2nd just to try and help those who might be busy… or hung over on the 1st! Good news is because it’s a non-draft TT race, you won’t need to try and get to the main race for the best draft, So hopefully you find at least one time slot over the 2 days that works for you. But after the first race, we are back to normal schedule for the whole of the year. Please check out the event on NITEOR for start times and all the stats. It also has the Rouvy analyzer built into it so it can tell you the best frame and wheels to use on each race depending on your details you put in.
Remember all the rules and regs are here on our website and any updates or changed will always be there and in the blogs so it’s always worth reading them all just incase you’ve missed something.
Ok, one eye is closing now. 😂. Lets get this Published and shared to Facebook, Discord and the whatsapp chat!
Please let us know in the comments how you tackled this TT. Its always great to read how it went for you all , but can i ask a favor? please add your Rouvy name somewhere as i might be able to guess who you might be, some others who are reading it might not realize who you are.
Thanks for reading, and as always, thank you for reading 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...
Lets give a non-draft TT a go. Luckily a few times had been set on the 24th, and it actually looked like i had a window to get onto the “noon” version on Christmas day! So studied the finish times and i reckon if i can keep my average mph in the high 25s, ill do ok, and if i can creep over 26mph, i might just get this completed in under 23 minutes which would be amazing. When i got the roundabout, my average mpg was only 24.1, my average power was just over 300 watts and i was now dead lol. But its more “downhill” on the way back and it was now time to do everything i can to get the average mph at least into the 25s!!! It kinda increased, got into the mid 25s and i just had to empty the tank up that last “climb” (yes! that’s what that last tiny section or dark yellow felt like!!) and then just push all the way home down the green section to the finish line. when i saw 26mph come up on my average speed i was so thankful!! and then a few seconds later it was finished! Wow. that was intense and just mentally and physically draining! loved it and still got into the top 50 without any draft! ME! really happy with that.
Love a TT effort, great way to finish the year. Full gas, no where to hide, balls out effort. Due to family commitments was only able to get into the last scheduled race, so there was the added stress of making it count. Didn’t really pay too much attention to the course, was too busy chewing my stem, but great event and great series – thanks Neil and the rest of the Muckers crew!!
SimonJP
lol, i did say the same to Ste that i only looked up at the video when it was green! when it was yellow i was just “chewing the stem” also and just urging the green to reappear! Seems everyone enjoyed it. thanks for jumping into the comments!
I was quite worried when Neil announced he was using the Farnham Road Club TT as the final championship event. Who’s going to think a dual carriageway in the UK makes an interesting route. So relieved that it worked: a) because the format of multiple starts without draft was perfect over the Christmas holiday period, and b) it seemed to really deliver as a test of power endurance and mental willpower that suited riders of varied weight and power.
Myself? I’ve tested this route in various situations, Rouvy Bike, TT bike, Draft and no draft. First time on the Trek TT with the 4 spokes (I allow myself to use them in a TT) and very happy with my two attempts 22:27 and 22:15. I followed a consistent power strategy and emptied the tank on the long 2 mile slight descent near the end.
I have done this route over 100 times in real life (sometimes lining up against Olympic Champions and World Tour Pros, I love cycling for that) and my PB was 22:49 in 2013 when I was much fitter than today. The course generally has a strong headwind on the outward leg which will definitely explain some time difference but I do feel it is about 30-60 seconds faster on Rouvy. I do not mean any disrespect in saying that because I was so impressed watching the top guns attacking this route and seeing the effort they put into it. Big respect to everyone who clocked those 19 and 20 minute times, indeed, kudos to everyone who joined in. I hope you enjoyed the H10/8 (UK TT courses have codes rather than names because cycle racing on public roads was illegal many years ago and clubs used codes to secretly arrange events and TTs to make it look like lots of individuals just out for a bike ride 😉).
nice one Ste. yes we all know ROUVY is somewhat easier than real life, yet i was also impressed we weren’t getting loads of16/17 minute times (which was my worry beforehand) as that would have just shown how far off it is. Also it was great watching your 2nd attempt and almost feeling anxious for you that you weren’t gonna do it…. but you did…i never doubted you lol
It’s great that we have comparison of real flat ride and Rouvy. I was always thinking, how much Rouvy is. But firstly I compared VAM per hour, and realised that that the difference is not so big. But untill your words I thought, that I couldn’t be so fast IRL on flat. But now I believe you, that with proper bike, on perfect surface and without wind and cars and crossings I’ll be only 5 to 10% slower then on Rouvy. That is amazing idea 😉. Thanks for it Ste.
A TT without a draft? That sounded good to me. All that was left to do was find a suitable race date and time. The last race was the best fit, so I’d go for it (without liquor) and hope the cold didn’t get any worse. I was lucky enough to ride with several big guns in this race… Procat and Simon Hahnenbruch flew past us with incredible speed. I had resolved not to go below 4W/kg for those 20 minutes or so; that had to be achievable. After a few kilometers, Nelson passed me and I briefly lost contact, which quickly increased the gap to 53 meters. I tried to get back, but that wasn’t an option. He is and will remain strong for me on all fronts. So I tried to keep a good pace and make sure my heart rate didn’t get too high. But Karel Sousek was getting closer and closer and I could already feel him breathing down my neck. It was an ordeal until the finish, but mission accomplished and a result (6th) that I am extremely happy with. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making this a top TT. But I haven’t decided yet whether I will participate in this championship again. It was fun, but very taxing. Happy New Year to everyone. Let’s all have a good time on New Year’s Eve and see you somewhere on the starting line in 2026.
well done Ludwig, also watched your TT as well. it was a very strong and measured ride. exactly what i want to do when i grow up!!
As for the championship, it really is just there to help with getting the challenge routes done and to try and keep people motivated to train and ride. i tried adding some control with the 5.0 max and when i read how taxing or stressing it is for some, i feel the need to do a 4.0 max to help you guys chill but then i know others won’t be happy with that. It’s really hard to find a happy middle ground for everyone.
Now i have set up the relatively easy (for you top riders anyway) w/kg championship for Tuesdays next year with a gradual increase in w/kg targets as the month goes on. But will you top riders do it? the test for you guys will be can you ride at 2.0 in that first week, and 2.3 in the 2nd?
And if you still only want to go flat out once a month, just do the separate TT race only championship I’ve set up which will just count the 12 TT races we will do over the year. That really is the championship for the big hitters like yourself!
last thing i want is everyone to get stressed and i have tried to do something about it but to keep everyone happy, all around the world, its proving impossible. But i hope some of the suggestions above might be of interest mucker.
There’s no fault in organizing these races; in fact, the goal was always to only ride TD challenges. But because Rouvy expanded the 80+ categories with the required XP points, this was no longer interesting, and the races seemed like a nice alternative to me. However, I think it’s inherent in cyclists to always push their bodies to the limit. Lowering the w/kg to 4 will indeed take away the challenge for many, but there are certainly some nice new challenges, especially the TT and then trying to turn it into a group ride at the championship races, as we “try” to do on Tuesdays. Thanks again, Neil, for these new challenges!
cheers Ludwig. hope the new events take off and who knows, one of them might be a hit like the hill climb turned out to be. (i was never going to implement the 4.0 cap, that’s just a joke but 5.0 will stay even if its just as a deterrent for those with “dodgy” trainers. Also because we want to keep all the longer races for the championship night and the shorter ones for Tuesday, 5.0 average really shouldn’t be being hit. But as long as it keeps those dodgy riders away it will stay. yes it hits a few legit riders once in a blue moon, but we’ll take that.
We rushed home from a Christmas dinner, tucked in the kid just barely before 7:30 (Copenhagen time), and I was in my shoes and on the bike 30 seconds before the race – I thought I was home free! I was so happy and relieved! But I had turned off my Bluetooth on the computer – and I could not for the life of me figure out the problem until 2–3 minutes later, when I realised it. Damn it!
But it made me race like hell, trying to overtake everybody on my way to the finish line. I was racing angry, hahaha. I even got close to Sunniva (who I compete with in A6) before the finish line, but she held me back. Good on ya, Sunniva!
I saw that my effort was actually half-decent and that my time could get me somewhere close behind Mike Hagen and a little ahead of Sharky, and I just couldn’t let that thought go. This was the last race in the December championship, and I won’t be competing in January because of surgery … so of course, I had to give it another go.
Up in the morning the very next day at 6 o’clock, trying to set a new time without any Bluetooth shenanigans. My legs were a wee bit tired, but I gave it my all. I came close to the effective time from yesterday’s race, only off by about 10 seconds, so I was satisfied.
I thought for a second that I had “won” the A6’ers, but damned if Ludford hadn’t also decided to give it another go – kudos on the great time 🙂 I can also see that those 10 seconds would’ve made a big difference with my other competitors, Slyfly and douwevh.
I will always enjoy the dynamics of a race with drafting and groups more, but it was very fun to do an all-out TT, not being able to hide anywhere. I love the variation!
Thanks for letting me be a part of this, Muckers! See you all in the new year!
As for the category thing, Slyfly was running in A7 for a while so as the races go on and we relearn peoples category standings, we might see this now and again. But he isn’t A7 and in some respects, you and him are more A5 and if you weren’t going for surgery in January, i would have expected to see the jump up from you in January. Squallo’s latest results/figures saw him jump to A5 a few months back as he got faster so it does work, you just need to keep an eye on your category, plus those who are doing really well in the cat below you just incase that next race re-learn, sees them jump up!
good luck with the surgery and come back when you are ready, we aren’t going anywhere!
Not to contest or complain about categories! I’ve begun to understand them, since they are based on w/kg, and I do quite enjoy them as they give me some kind of motivation for chasing goals … instead of comparing myself to BareRemi, Hans or Erlend.
I don’t think I am quite A5 yet, as I struggle A LOT on inclines. It all makes a lot of sense, since I weigh a lot. I started out 100 kg back in October and am now down to 95 kg. Hopefully as my weight loss continues I can push more w/kg and progress through the ranks and maybe get to A5 – but you are not getting rid of me in A6 just yet, Neil, hahaha 🙂
Thank you, I was back on trying to find 10 seconds to beat teammate Mick_Michel … respect to Mick as he was giving me time splits on Whatsapp and cheering me on.
That was an expensive race for me because I had to buy a new TT bike (Trek Speed Concept) for 50,000 gold ducats 🤣 So, it was my first race with a time trial bike and, most importantly, without a draft.
I had a good start and was able to maintain 3.7 W/kg until about halfway through the race. After that, my power dropped to almost 3.6 W/kg. And my teammate Ste (S. Ludford) kept getting closer. He caught up with me and crossed the finish line about 5 seconds ahead.
Congratulations to him, well done Ste!
I was glad the event was over 🥵 In the end, though, I was very surprised by my result because I never thought I’d be able to maintain 3.6 W/kg. Before the race, I had planned to reach a maximum of 3.4 W/kg.
I’m already looking forward to the next race, but WITH a draft! 😉
A huge thank you to Neil for planning this race; it certainly took more work than usual this time!
I also want to thank him for investing so much time throughout the year planning and making these Mucker races possible. 🙏🏻 Without him, Rouvy wouldn’t be nearly as interesting!
I’m so glad I was able to participate in so many exciting races with you all Mates
I hope next year will be another exciting racing year like this one.
hopefully you don’t stay too long in A6 and move onto A5 as you are one strong rider Mucker and i can’t compete with you.! deffinitly seems to have been a great event and everyone loved this short TT. be interesting how people find the longer ones when we do them as part of the championship next year as those longer ones will take some focus and pacing!
Have always liked TTs even though I’m not exactly a powerhouse on a relatively flat route and managed to squeeze a TT in early on the 24th before we had visitors for the evening. Been doing the british CTT on Zwift this winter so know I can go full gas for the 20 minutes needed for a TT like this. Of course the upcoming longer and hillier TTs in next years championships will be completely different.
Complements to Steven for a fine route – fun to race a real life TT course. It’s amazing that you can actually feel how hard even very small inclines are when you try to keep the speed as high as possible.
In the TT I went absolutely full gas from the start. Then discovered that I couldn’t shift in the 52/11 – it could have been a potential problem on the downhill home but probably saved my ride since i completely overcooked 🤮 on the first hill home with Simon (doing his first run 😵💫) closing in around 60-100 m behind – the lower gearing forced me to spin all the way instead of turning TOO big a gear. But experience has
taught me I better get a new gearcable ASAP before it snaps in a race 🤥
Very satisfied with the average 4,63 w/kg – especially since my Royvy weight is actually a little bit too high – or at least it was BEFORE the Christmas dinner …
But Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year👋🏻🥁📢 It’s been great racing you all through 2025 and a big thanx for some really well organized races to the guys in the Muckers HQ 👍🏻
1st attempt 24/12
Final Muckers championship race. There are many slots in next three days, but my opportunity window opened right now. It’s time trial, so i choosed Specialized Shiv to be fast enough. The hardest part is to keep power in descents, in the middle i needed to tighten my shoes, but i could be happy with effort. Muckers 2025 is over, what a great year it was, thank you! Merry Christmas and happy riding! 🎄
2nd attempt 26/12
How much can i improve against Wednesday’s 291 watts? It is painful time trial, but i felt more ready today, so lets join last official Muckers championship race! After long ride yesterday where i focused on smooth pedalling, today running and warm up race, i entered time trial with goal finish over 300w. Heavier and stronger riders moved away quickly, but i stay focused on myself. 310w as a baseline, keeping it for the first half and adding few more in the final section, where i almost catched ludwig. I moved with a luck within top10 of all time trial times. Very happy with that, thank you all who joined us!
2 attempts.. you guys are mad but i’m also happy you trusted the process and wanted to have another go. I think alot of riders, although happy with there first attempt, had little niggles in the back of there minds thinking how they could have just gone faster if they did this or that! Well done for beating your time on the 2nd go and thanks for jumping into the comments.
What do you do when you’re going abroad for Christmas, your suitcase is half packed, your heart rate is already at 140… and you desperately need to finish the last job for the Muckers Championship race?
You call in the real hero.
You ask your wife to stop the bleeding, save Christmas, and basically perform logistical CPR 🙏
And oh boy, did she deliver.
By reaching out to pretty much half of the Faroe Islands, she somehow tracked down a young triathlon guy who kindly offered me access to his pain cave.
Just like that: Christmas saved. Family harmony restored. Hallelujah 🙌🙏
This Muckers thing is officially under my skin ♥️ (and possibly in my bloodstream).
Back to the TT race.
I watched the first race with Hans and instantly knew: Yeah… that time is not happening.
So the only logical game plan was: smash myself harder on every single top, just to squeeze out more speed on the slight downhill sections.
Easy plan. Brutal execution.
Holding high watts while the cadence spins at ~120 RPM is… let’s call it character building.
Legs screaming, lungs filing for divorce, brain negotiating with itself.
I crossed the line completely cooked, totally emptied, and genuinely happy with the result.
Massive hats off to everyone who did this once — I know your lungs were lying on the floor afterward. This was NOT a pleasant experience.
And to those who did it twice… you are a special kind of beautiful madness. A true torture-addicted version of yourself 🤟
Thanks for pushing me way past my limits.
And heading into 2026 non-drafting races, I already know one thing: this won’t be my last Muckers event 🥵🥵🥵
Have a great and happy New Year — and yes, you’ll definitely be seeing me at Muckers events in 2026 🤟🥳
The warmest (and sweatiest) Muckers greetings,
Mads
The planned route is a short, fast TT race. Does it look good, or is there a trap?
Oh yeah, no draft. I give it my all, I catch up with Stelviobound, we exchange thumbs up, and suddenly I don’t have a moment to rest on his wheel. I’m working to stay up, and he pulls away 😀 and other riders rush after me. It was exhausting, but fortunately, it didn’t last long. And so I have a spot in the top 50 for December. Lucky me 😀
So much stress these days, races and parties to cross without risking a divorce 🤣.
I squeezed in a session between a work break and boom… no tactics, just hard work. On the grid are two friends, Karrel and Steven… Good test without much warm-up, my benchmark becomes Big S, it seems like I can manage to maintain an advantage… but suddenly I see a nice, continuous green line… and I already know how it will end… I remain 3 seconds behind Steven, I’m a little disappointed… but afterwards, when he tells me he’s done it 100 times… it can be okay. First month in A5 and third place overall, top 40 with this test, but I didn’t want to try again… See you on Sunday 💪👋😎🦈
well done Mucker and its been great to race with you sometimes and now see how far ahead you’ve improved to. You are my target for next year and to see if i can possibly follow in your footsteps and get into A5!!
If we had a Muckers ‘Player of the season’ award you would have my vote. Your improvement has been impressive since you joined us and I also felt your ‘outside’ performance compared to Rouvy was exceptional when we met in the Black Forest, Germany. With your recent weight loss I suspect this race is the last time ever I beat you … more downhills please Neil.
Thanks a lot my friends, the compliments make me happy because I try to improve everyday, with Neil it’s always a challenge because we ride similar, and for all the year we are most competitive 💪.
Thanks a lot also a Big S for the nice worlds for me… 🫶🏻 I take a day of holiday for Sunday, I don’t miss the event this year 🫡.
2026 is very close and another year of battle is about to begin. ❤️Muckers Community ❤️
Great time trial on the last time slot, after 5 days off. I’m happy with my performance after this forced rest period. Great time with simonjp, looking Karel and Nelson flying away… Thanks a lot for all the good works for this year, thanks to all who participate to these excellent races. And finally, thousands of bravo 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 to our Sunday Hill Queen!!
Thank you Dominique, your kind words were with me during today’s struggle with such a long route. I didn’t believe I would be able to finish it, but I got so much help that I just had to do it.
So many comments! This is one of the nicest things about the Mucker community: reading all the individual perspectives of the races, and getting the flavor of how folks did or didn’t do. Great stuff! For me, I did the Christmas Eve heat that was in the morning my time, and was looking forward to doing an ITT event for the first time in a while. Started off a little too hard, saw the open road ahead, then RaTim passed me. I was into oxygen debt trying to keep up–not the best strategy for a TT–but couldn’t do it. I was holding 3.7, but had had the idea that I could do 4. Still not sure why that didn’t happen, and I was going to give it another shot on Boxing Day. But when the time came, I wimped out. No matter! I am really looking forward to the TTs scheduled for the first Thursday of every month in 2026. Kudos, Neil Rushby, for the way you keep plugging on with organizing and blogging, and coming up with things to keep it fresh. It’s awesome.
cheers Mike, and thanks as always for your continued support (apart from when you drop me after promising to take it easy lol). I do it because i love it, and i know the Muckers out there appreciate it.
I just have to tweak things in the hope to keep it fresh and interesting. I failed this year with the category top 5 championship which seemed like a good idea in my head, but it just didn’t work or sit right. But a full year of learning the categories means i now know what to do with bonus points (see the 2025 rules and regs blog) I’ve never been interested in non-draft time trials but this last race of December was a proper eye opener for me and also relieves any doubts i had about using one a month next year. So that first round (last round in December) TT race has got me quite excited and also happy to at least get one race in where it doesn’t matter what time slot you do it in. A real comparative test of all off us from around the world, at least once a month!
Thanks again MucKer… now we just have a 111mile race for the last Sunday Hill climb of the year to do tomorrow lol
I choosed the first evening slot, and it was a good idea. Now I can say I won Muckers race at 19:30 🤣🤣🤣. In serious, My crazy brain got an idea to ride 3,100 km in december, so after five days with avg over 120 km and another 100 in the morning I had not great ambitions to be in top 50 (I’m not Karel doing it just by the way). When I saw Mike on the line my aim was not lost him from view. When I passed him, the aim was stay infront him as long as possible and than finished before him. I don’t know how, but I did it. Firstly I thought that it wasn’t his day, but lately I realised that I rode well. But I hadn’t any single idea to repeat. As Neil and some others looking how Sharky did the race, I’m looking how did it Mike (I would trade all my victories over him for him not having to go through such a serious and difficult recovery).
I’m looking forward to next year TT championship, World championship, Tuesday, Sunday rides or races. Not becauce of results (I’ll again worse anyway 🤷😂) but because of all of you!
Enjoy the end of the year and have a fantastic year 2026 – much health and happiness in it, the rest will come
RaTim
great comments RaTim!! looking forward to 2026 as well and the variety of events we now have which might see different riders focusing on different events. I’m really interested to see how the bonus points come into effect on the world championship leaderboard next year which i think will put more focus on people winning there categories! But lets see and i’ll see you in 2026
Lets give a non-draft TT a go. Luckily a few times had been set on the 24th, and it actually looked like i had a window to get onto the “noon” version on Christmas day! So studied the finish times and i reckon if i can keep my average mph in the high 25s, ill do ok, and if i can creep over 26mph, i might just get this completed in under 23 minutes which would be amazing. When i got the roundabout, my average mpg was only 24.1, my average power was just over 300 watts and i was now dead lol. But its more “downhill” on the way back and it was now time to do everything i can to get the average mph at least into the 25s!!! It kinda increased, got into the mid 25s and i just had to empty the tank up that last “climb” (yes! that’s what that last tiny section or dark yellow felt like!!) and then just push all the way home down the green section to the finish line. when i saw 26mph come up on my average speed i was so thankful!! and then a few seconds later it was finished! Wow. that was intense and just mentally and physically draining! loved it and still got into the top 50 without any draft! ME! really happy with that.
That was my first TT. Really challenging but more fun than pain……..just about. Thanks to everyone who organised the event and created the route.
Better get back on the trainer now. 6am and 111 miles to much through 🙂
well done and thanks for jumping into the comments.
Love a TT effort, great way to finish the year. Full gas, no where to hide, balls out effort. Due to family commitments was only able to get into the last scheduled race, so there was the added stress of making it count. Didn’t really pay too much attention to the course, was too busy chewing my stem, but great event and great series – thanks Neil and the rest of the Muckers crew!!
SimonJP
lol, i did say the same to Ste that i only looked up at the video when it was green! when it was yellow i was just “chewing the stem” also and just urging the green to reappear! Seems everyone enjoyed it. thanks for jumping into the comments!
I was quite worried when Neil announced he was using the Farnham Road Club TT as the final championship event. Who’s going to think a dual carriageway in the UK makes an interesting route. So relieved that it worked: a) because the format of multiple starts without draft was perfect over the Christmas holiday period, and b) it seemed to really deliver as a test of power endurance and mental willpower that suited riders of varied weight and power.
Myself? I’ve tested this route in various situations, Rouvy Bike, TT bike, Draft and no draft. First time on the Trek TT with the 4 spokes (I allow myself to use them in a TT) and very happy with my two attempts 22:27 and 22:15. I followed a consistent power strategy and emptied the tank on the long 2 mile slight descent near the end.
I have done this route over 100 times in real life (sometimes lining up against Olympic Champions and World Tour Pros, I love cycling for that) and my PB was 22:49 in 2013 when I was much fitter than today. The course generally has a strong headwind on the outward leg which will definitely explain some time difference but I do feel it is about 30-60 seconds faster on Rouvy. I do not mean any disrespect in saying that because I was so impressed watching the top guns attacking this route and seeing the effort they put into it. Big respect to everyone who clocked those 19 and 20 minute times, indeed, kudos to everyone who joined in. I hope you enjoyed the H10/8 (UK TT courses have codes rather than names because cycle racing on public roads was illegal many years ago and clubs used codes to secretly arrange events and TTs to make it look like lots of individuals just out for a bike ride 😉).
nice one Ste. yes we all know ROUVY is somewhat easier than real life, yet i was also impressed we weren’t getting loads of16/17 minute times (which was my worry beforehand) as that would have just shown how far off it is. Also it was great watching your 2nd attempt and almost feeling anxious for you that you weren’t gonna do it…. but you did…i never doubted you lol
It’s great that we have comparison of real flat ride and Rouvy. I was always thinking, how much Rouvy is. But firstly I compared VAM per hour, and realised that that the difference is not so big. But untill your words I thought, that I couldn’t be so fast IRL on flat. But now I believe you, that with proper bike, on perfect surface and without wind and cars and crossings I’ll be only 5 to 10% slower then on Rouvy. That is amazing idea 😉. Thanks for it Ste.
A TT without a draft? That sounded good to me. All that was left to do was find a suitable race date and time. The last race was the best fit, so I’d go for it (without liquor) and hope the cold didn’t get any worse. I was lucky enough to ride with several big guns in this race… Procat and Simon Hahnenbruch flew past us with incredible speed. I had resolved not to go below 4W/kg for those 20 minutes or so; that had to be achievable. After a few kilometers, Nelson passed me and I briefly lost contact, which quickly increased the gap to 53 meters. I tried to get back, but that wasn’t an option. He is and will remain strong for me on all fronts. So I tried to keep a good pace and make sure my heart rate didn’t get too high. But Karel Sousek was getting closer and closer and I could already feel him breathing down my neck. It was an ordeal until the finish, but mission accomplished and a result (6th) that I am extremely happy with. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making this a top TT. But I haven’t decided yet whether I will participate in this championship again. It was fun, but very taxing. Happy New Year to everyone. Let’s all have a good time on New Year’s Eve and see you somewhere on the starting line in 2026.
Kudos on 6th place!
well done Ludwig, also watched your TT as well. it was a very strong and measured ride. exactly what i want to do when i grow up!!
As for the championship, it really is just there to help with getting the challenge routes done and to try and keep people motivated to train and ride. i tried adding some control with the 5.0 max and when i read how taxing or stressing it is for some, i feel the need to do a 4.0 max to help you guys chill but then i know others won’t be happy with that. It’s really hard to find a happy middle ground for everyone.
Now i have set up the relatively easy (for you top riders anyway) w/kg championship for Tuesdays next year with a gradual increase in w/kg targets as the month goes on. But will you top riders do it? the test for you guys will be can you ride at 2.0 in that first week, and 2.3 in the 2nd?
And if you still only want to go flat out once a month, just do the separate TT race only championship I’ve set up which will just count the 12 TT races we will do over the year. That really is the championship for the big hitters like yourself!
last thing i want is everyone to get stressed and i have tried to do something about it but to keep everyone happy, all around the world, its proving impossible. But i hope some of the suggestions above might be of interest mucker.
There’s no fault in organizing these races; in fact, the goal was always to only ride TD challenges. But because Rouvy expanded the 80+ categories with the required XP points, this was no longer interesting, and the races seemed like a nice alternative to me. However, I think it’s inherent in cyclists to always push their bodies to the limit. Lowering the w/kg to 4 will indeed take away the challenge for many, but there are certainly some nice new challenges, especially the TT and then trying to turn it into a group ride at the championship races, as we “try” to do on Tuesdays. Thanks again, Neil, for these new challenges!
cheers Ludwig. hope the new events take off and who knows, one of them might be a hit like the hill climb turned out to be. (i was never going to implement the 4.0 cap, that’s just a joke but 5.0 will stay even if its just as a deterrent for those with “dodgy” trainers. Also because we want to keep all the longer races for the championship night and the shorter ones for Tuesday, 5.0 average really shouldn’t be being hit. But as long as it keeps those dodgy riders away it will stay. yes it hits a few legit riders once in a blue moon, but we’ll take that.
We rushed home from a Christmas dinner, tucked in the kid just barely before 7:30 (Copenhagen time), and I was in my shoes and on the bike 30 seconds before the race – I thought I was home free! I was so happy and relieved! But I had turned off my Bluetooth on the computer – and I could not for the life of me figure out the problem until 2–3 minutes later, when I realised it. Damn it!
But it made me race like hell, trying to overtake everybody on my way to the finish line. I was racing angry, hahaha. I even got close to Sunniva (who I compete with in A6) before the finish line, but she held me back. Good on ya, Sunniva!
I saw that my effort was actually half-decent and that my time could get me somewhere close behind Mike Hagen and a little ahead of Sharky, and I just couldn’t let that thought go. This was the last race in the December championship, and I won’t be competing in January because of surgery … so of course, I had to give it another go.
Up in the morning the very next day at 6 o’clock, trying to set a new time without any Bluetooth shenanigans. My legs were a wee bit tired, but I gave it my all. I came close to the effective time from yesterday’s race, only off by about 10 seconds, so I was satisfied.
I thought for a second that I had “won” the A6’ers, but damned if Ludford hadn’t also decided to give it another go – kudos on the great time 🙂 I can also see that those 10 seconds would’ve made a big difference with my other competitors, Slyfly and douwevh.
I will always enjoy the dynamics of a race with drafting and groups more, but it was very fun to do an all-out TT, not being able to hide anywhere. I love the variation!
Thanks for letting me be a part of this, Muckers! See you all in the new year!
I thought I had A6 in the bag, Slyfly came out of nowhere – from the A7 I see now! Very sneaky, haha 🙂
…and I never thought I could do it 😉🙋♂️
hi, brilliant comments mucker!
As for the category thing, Slyfly was running in A7 for a while so as the races go on and we relearn peoples category standings, we might see this now and again. But he isn’t A7 and in some respects, you and him are more A5 and if you weren’t going for surgery in January, i would have expected to see the jump up from you in January. Squallo’s latest results/figures saw him jump to A5 a few months back as he got faster so it does work, you just need to keep an eye on your category, plus those who are doing really well in the cat below you just incase that next race re-learn, sees them jump up!
good luck with the surgery and come back when you are ready, we aren’t going anywhere!
Not to contest or complain about categories! I’ve begun to understand them, since they are based on w/kg, and I do quite enjoy them as they give me some kind of motivation for chasing goals … instead of comparing myself to BareRemi, Hans or Erlend.
I don’t think I am quite A5 yet, as I struggle A LOT on inclines. It all makes a lot of sense, since I weigh a lot. I started out 100 kg back in October and am now down to 95 kg. Hopefully as my weight loss continues I can push more w/kg and progress through the ranks and maybe get to A5 – but you are not getting rid of me in A6 just yet, Neil, hahaha 🙂
haha, a mucker can dream can’t he??
Thank you, I was back on trying to find 10 seconds to beat teammate Mick_Michel … respect to Mick as he was giving me time splits on Whatsapp and cheering me on.
I saw that you were chasing me with great force, you forced me to work until the end of the route.
That was an expensive race for me because I had to buy a new TT bike (Trek Speed Concept) for 50,000 gold ducats 🤣 So, it was my first race with a time trial bike and, most importantly, without a draft.
I had a good start and was able to maintain 3.7 W/kg until about halfway through the race. After that, my power dropped to almost 3.6 W/kg. And my teammate Ste (S. Ludford) kept getting closer. He caught up with me and crossed the finish line about 5 seconds ahead.
Congratulations to him, well done Ste!
I was glad the event was over 🥵 In the end, though, I was very surprised by my result because I never thought I’d be able to maintain 3.6 W/kg. Before the race, I had planned to reach a maximum of 3.4 W/kg.
I’m already looking forward to the next race, but WITH a draft! 😉
A huge thank you to Neil for planning this race; it certainly took more work than usual this time!
I also want to thank him for investing so much time throughout the year planning and making these Mucker races possible. 🙏🏻 Without him, Rouvy wouldn’t be nearly as interesting!
I’m so glad I was able to participate in so many exciting races with you all Mates
I hope next year will be another exciting racing year like this one.
Stay healthy and all the best!
Greetings, Andreas (Slyfly)
hopefully you don’t stay too long in A6 and move onto A5 as you are one strong rider Mucker and i can’t compete with you.! deffinitly seems to have been a great event and everyone loved this short TT. be interesting how people find the longer ones when we do them as part of the championship next year as those longer ones will take some focus and pacing!
Have always liked TTs even though I’m not exactly a powerhouse on a relatively flat route and managed to squeeze a TT in early on the 24th before we had visitors for the evening. Been doing the british CTT on Zwift this winter so know I can go full gas for the 20 minutes needed for a TT like this. Of course the upcoming longer and hillier TTs in next years championships will be completely different.
Complements to Steven for a fine route – fun to race a real life TT course. It’s amazing that you can actually feel how hard even very small inclines are when you try to keep the speed as high as possible.
In the TT I went absolutely full gas from the start. Then discovered that I couldn’t shift in the 52/11 – it could have been a potential problem on the downhill home but probably saved my ride since i completely overcooked 🤮 on the first hill home with Simon (doing his first run 😵💫) closing in around 60-100 m behind – the lower gearing forced me to spin all the way instead of turning TOO big a gear. But experience has
taught me I better get a new gearcable ASAP before it snaps in a race 🤥
Very satisfied with the average 4,63 w/kg – especially since my Royvy weight is actually a little bit too high – or at least it was BEFORE the Christmas dinner …
But Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year👋🏻🥁📢 It’s been great racing you all through 2025 and a big thanx for some really well organized races to the guys in the Muckers HQ 👍🏻
nice one Hans, superb comments and a great read. Hope you have a great Christmas and and even Better new year.
1st attempt 24/12
Final Muckers championship race. There are many slots in next three days, but my opportunity window opened right now. It’s time trial, so i choosed Specialized Shiv to be fast enough. The hardest part is to keep power in descents, in the middle i needed to tighten my shoes, but i could be happy with effort. Muckers 2025 is over, what a great year it was, thank you! Merry Christmas and happy riding! 🎄
2nd attempt 26/12
How much can i improve against Wednesday’s 291 watts? It is painful time trial, but i felt more ready today, so lets join last official Muckers championship race! After long ride yesterday where i focused on smooth pedalling, today running and warm up race, i entered time trial with goal finish over 300w. Heavier and stronger riders moved away quickly, but i stay focused on myself. 310w as a baseline, keeping it for the first half and adding few more in the final section, where i almost catched ludwig. I moved with a luck within top10 of all time trial times. Very happy with that, thank you all who joined us!
2 attempts.. you guys are mad but i’m also happy you trusted the process and wanted to have another go. I think alot of riders, although happy with there first attempt, had little niggles in the back of there minds thinking how they could have just gone faster if they did this or that! Well done for beating your time on the 2nd go and thanks for jumping into the comments.
What do you do when you’re going abroad for Christmas, your suitcase is half packed, your heart rate is already at 140… and you desperately need to finish the last job for the Muckers Championship race?
You call in the real hero.
You ask your wife to stop the bleeding, save Christmas, and basically perform logistical CPR 🙏
And oh boy, did she deliver.
By reaching out to pretty much half of the Faroe Islands, she somehow tracked down a young triathlon guy who kindly offered me access to his pain cave.
Just like that: Christmas saved. Family harmony restored. Hallelujah 🙌🙏
This Muckers thing is officially under my skin ♥️ (and possibly in my bloodstream).
Back to the TT race.
I watched the first race with Hans and instantly knew: Yeah… that time is not happening.
So the only logical game plan was: smash myself harder on every single top, just to squeeze out more speed on the slight downhill sections.
Easy plan. Brutal execution.
Holding high watts while the cadence spins at ~120 RPM is… let’s call it character building.
Legs screaming, lungs filing for divorce, brain negotiating with itself.
I crossed the line completely cooked, totally emptied, and genuinely happy with the result.
Massive hats off to everyone who did this once — I know your lungs were lying on the floor afterward. This was NOT a pleasant experience.
And to those who did it twice… you are a special kind of beautiful madness. A true torture-addicted version of yourself 🤟
Thanks for pushing me way past my limits.
And heading into 2026 non-drafting races, I already know one thing: this won’t be my last Muckers event 🥵🥵🥵
Have a great and happy New Year — and yes, you’ll definitely be seeing me at Muckers events in 2026 🤟🥳
The warmest (and sweatiest) Muckers greetings,
Mads
You are Crazy as all of us my Friend 💪🫶🏻👋🦈
this is insane of you (and your wife!) Epic Mads!
absolutely epic!
🤣 and I thought it was only the crazy winter swimming up north that was absolutely bonkers – nice one Mads 👍🏻
Hahaha, what a great read!
The planned route is a short, fast TT race. Does it look good, or is there a trap?
Oh yeah, no draft. I give it my all, I catch up with Stelviobound, we exchange thumbs up, and suddenly I don’t have a moment to rest on his wheel. I’m working to stay up, and he pulls away 😀 and other riders rush after me. It was exhausting, but fortunately, it didn’t last long. And so I have a spot in the top 50 for December. Lucky me 😀
well done Sunniva and thank you so much for jumping into the comments!
So much stress these days, races and parties to cross without risking a divorce 🤣.
I squeezed in a session between a work break and boom… no tactics, just hard work. On the grid are two friends, Karrel and Steven… Good test without much warm-up, my benchmark becomes Big S, it seems like I can manage to maintain an advantage… but suddenly I see a nice, continuous green line… and I already know how it will end… I remain 3 seconds behind Steven, I’m a little disappointed… but afterwards, when he tells me he’s done it 100 times… it can be okay. First month in A5 and third place overall, top 40 with this test, but I didn’t want to try again… See you on Sunday 💪👋😎🦈
well done Mucker and its been great to race with you sometimes and now see how far ahead you’ve improved to. You are my target for next year and to see if i can possibly follow in your footsteps and get into A5!!
If we had a Muckers ‘Player of the season’ award you would have my vote. Your improvement has been impressive since you joined us and I also felt your ‘outside’ performance compared to Rouvy was exceptional when we met in the Black Forest, Germany. With your recent weight loss I suspect this race is the last time ever I beat you … more downhills please Neil.
i’m all over it Ste 😂
Thanks a lot my friends, the compliments make me happy because I try to improve everyday, with Neil it’s always a challenge because we ride similar, and for all the year we are most competitive 💪.
Thanks a lot also a Big S for the nice worlds for me… 🫶🏻 I take a day of holiday for Sunday, I don’t miss the event this year 🫡.
2026 is very close and another year of battle is about to begin. ❤️Muckers Community ❤️
I can only echo what the others have said: thumbs up for your achievements! 💪And I think you’ll be my favorite 🫶opponent in 2026, my friend.🤣
First thing I checked once was across the finish line was how I compared to the shark – I can see I am not the only one 🙂 Happy new years!
Great time trial on the last time slot, after 5 days off. I’m happy with my performance after this forced rest period. Great time with simonjp, looking Karel and Nelson flying away… Thanks a lot for all the good works for this year, thanks to all who participate to these excellent races. And finally, thousands of bravo 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 to our Sunday Hill Queen!!
I agree Mucker! Sunniva will be crowned the queen tomorrow! Thanks for racing with us and sharing out the kudos, love that!
Thank you Dominique, your kind words were with me during today’s struggle with such a long route. I didn’t believe I would be able to finish it, but I got so much help that I just had to do it.
So many comments! This is one of the nicest things about the Mucker community: reading all the individual perspectives of the races, and getting the flavor of how folks did or didn’t do. Great stuff! For me, I did the Christmas Eve heat that was in the morning my time, and was looking forward to doing an ITT event for the first time in a while. Started off a little too hard, saw the open road ahead, then RaTim passed me. I was into oxygen debt trying to keep up–not the best strategy for a TT–but couldn’t do it. I was holding 3.7, but had had the idea that I could do 4. Still not sure why that didn’t happen, and I was going to give it another shot on Boxing Day. But when the time came, I wimped out. No matter! I am really looking forward to the TTs scheduled for the first Thursday of every month in 2026. Kudos, Neil Rushby, for the way you keep plugging on with organizing and blogging, and coming up with things to keep it fresh. It’s awesome.
cheers Mike, and thanks as always for your continued support (apart from when you drop me after promising to take it easy lol). I do it because i love it, and i know the Muckers out there appreciate it.
I just have to tweak things in the hope to keep it fresh and interesting. I failed this year with the category top 5 championship which seemed like a good idea in my head, but it just didn’t work or sit right. But a full year of learning the categories means i now know what to do with bonus points (see the 2025 rules and regs blog) I’ve never been interested in non-draft time trials but this last race of December was a proper eye opener for me and also relieves any doubts i had about using one a month next year. So that first round (last round in December) TT race has got me quite excited and also happy to at least get one race in where it doesn’t matter what time slot you do it in. A real comparative test of all off us from around the world, at least once a month!
Thanks again MucKer… now we just have a 111mile race for the last Sunday Hill climb of the year to do tomorrow lol
I choosed the first evening slot, and it was a good idea. Now I can say I won Muckers race at 19:30 🤣🤣🤣. In serious, My crazy brain got an idea to ride 3,100 km in december, so after five days with avg over 120 km and another 100 in the morning I had not great ambitions to be in top 50 (I’m not Karel doing it just by the way). When I saw Mike on the line my aim was not lost him from view. When I passed him, the aim was stay infront him as long as possible and than finished before him. I don’t know how, but I did it. Firstly I thought that it wasn’t his day, but lately I realised that I rode well. But I hadn’t any single idea to repeat. As Neil and some others looking how Sharky did the race, I’m looking how did it Mike (I would trade all my victories over him for him not having to go through such a serious and difficult recovery).
I’m looking forward to next year TT championship, World championship, Tuesday, Sunday rides or races. Not becauce of results (I’ll again worse anyway 🤷😂) but because of all of you!
Enjoy the end of the year and have a fantastic year 2026 – much health and happiness in it, the rest will come
RaTim
great comments RaTim!! looking forward to 2026 as well and the variety of events we now have which might see different riders focusing on different events. I’m really interested to see how the bonus points come into effect on the world championship leaderboard next year which i think will put more focus on people winning there categories! But lets see and i’ll see you in 2026