La Vuelta 2023 | Stage 14 – Larra-Belagua | 13.3 miles | 2,556 ft. climbing
And another Month starts! Tried and trusted Hill Climb for our first race means we can confidently re set the categories for this month as no one really took that nice and easy did they?? Looking at the IF scores for the top 50, all of them are over .8 and we only have 2 or 3 below that! And finally, only 2 riders in A9 category this race. Proper efforts this week!!
84 riders set a time. lets get the riders removed that didn’t comply to our rules and then get the ballasts added! 69. Well done riders, not as may removed as before. No one smashing over 5.0w/kg and no Males under 60kgs. Thank you
I’ve left the column in below just showing the race time attended. Just thought it was interesting the 18:30 didn’t take all the top 20 places as per usual due to the draft not being as important here.
FULL LEADERBOARD RESULTS FROM THIS RACE:
*: before any ballast added
Pos.
Rider
Time
Points*
w/kg
mph
Cat.
Race
BareRemi
0:44:42.75
245.00
4.62
17.90
EL.
18:30
przemokrk
0:44:54.79
242.00
4.51
17.67
A1
18:30
danrocky
0:45:07.96
239.00
4.73
17.67
EL.
18:30
4.
breers33
0:46:08.13
237.00
4.42
17.22
A1
18:30
5.
nelsonsnyder
0:46:16.50
235.00
4.38
17.22
A1
18:30
6.
Andrus17
0:47:18.87
230.00
4.30
16.78
A2
18:30
7.
karel_sousek
0:47:20.19
227.00
4.17
16.78
A2
18:30
8.
RLouro
0:47:35.52
224.00
4.42
16.78
A2
18:30
9.
TijsV
0:49:08.11
222.00
4.23
16.33
A2
18:30
10.
Hans.Holm.Moeller
0:49:16.56
220.00
4.07
16.11
A3
18:30
11.
Stefan_Schmidt
0:50:05.84
215.00
3.96
15.88
A3
18:30
12.
madein1971
0:50:17.99
212.00
4.02
15.88
A3
18:30
13.
Badeskum
0:50:27.87
209.00
3.95
15.88
A3
15:30
14.
Pfeffer
0:50:53.37
207.00
4.33
15.66
A2
19:30
15.
VeloBuch
0:51:00.20
205.00
3.95
15.66
A2
18:30
16.
DonMatteo_07
0:51:26.53
200.00
3.80
15.43
A4
18:30
17.
Grochang
0:51:26.79
197.00
3.68
15.43
A4
18:30
18.
Brampaulussen
0:51:27.45
194.00
3.85
15.43
A4
18:30
19.
Alex79WestFR
0:51:32.37
192.00
3.79
15.43
A4
18:30
20.
kazik22
0:52:07.70
190.00
4.23
15.21
A2
19:30
21.
szczypek
0:52:35.34
185.00
3.62
15.21
A4
18:30
22.
akoval
0:52:37.58
182.00
3.65
15.21
A4
18:30
23.
RJL1925
0:53:26.46
179.00
3.77
14.99
A4
15:30
24.
Bebbi1983
0:53:29.65
177.00
3.74
14.99
A2
18:30
25.
Dave12
0:54:09.79
175.00
3.68
14.76
A4
18:30
26.
EddyDomino
0:54:42.27
170.00
3.60
14.54
A4
18:30
27.
Thomas_Lyhne
0:54:44.02
167.00
3.49
14.54
A4
18:30
28.
wolli.d
0:55:27.98
164.00
3.61
14.32
A5
15:30
29.
Yumile
0:55:48.10
162.00
3.35
14.32
A5
18:30
30.
MNHROUVY
0:56:16.41
160.00
3.33
14.09
A5
18:30
31.
RaTim
0:56:16.83
155.00
3.32
14.09
A5
18:30
32.
Andy_UP
0:56:17.13
152.00
3.40
14.09
A5
18:30
33.
stfmgr_65
0:56:24.07
149.00
3.39
14.09
A5
18:30
34.
MikeHagen
0:56:31.53
147.00
3.40
14.09
A5
18:30
35.
simonjp
0:57:31.13
145.00
3.35
13.87
A5
18:30
36.
FrankyBDKteam
0:58:11.13
140.00
3.35
13.65
A5
18:30
37.
ludwigdb
0:58:17.91
137.00
3.26
13.65
A5
18:30
38.
rouvy1bryon
0:58:24.81
134.00
3.33
13.65
A5
18:30
39.
Fotochic
0:58:31.66
132.00
3.38
13.65
A5
18:30
40.
MatthiasHeil
0:59:11.43
130.00
3.23
13.42
A5
18:30
41.
bikeanddogtrips
1:00:01.81
125.00
3.43
13.20
A5
18:30
42.
Skepticism93
1:00:03.29
122.00
3.23
13.20
A6
18:30
43.
Craig-prickett
1:00:23.47
119.00
3.20
13.20
A6
19:30
44.
robbiedoo
1:00:26.29
117.00
3.33
13.20
A5
19:30
45.
Duckman2
1:01:12.07
115.00
3.17
12.97
A6
18:30
46.
Nelson.T
1:01:29.83
110.00
3.28
12.97
A5
23:30
47.
GILMCO
1:01:32.24
107.00
3.28
12.97
A5
19:30
48.
Malanoel
1:03:04.41
104.00
3.01
12.75
A6
18:30
49.
Gianni_Motta
1:03:45.84
102.00
2.97
12.53
A5
15:30
50.
Fastdirk81
1:04:08.88
100.00
3.06
12.53
A6
18:30
51.
LinV
1:04:50.85
95.00
2.86
12.30
A7
18:30
52.
4WorldPeace
1:06:19.82
94.75
2.78
12.08
A7
18:30
53.
Bates1980
1:06:28.13
94.50
2.83
12.08
A6
18:30
54.
stelviobound
1:06:46.52
94.25
2.71
11.86
A7
18:30
55.
sunniva
1:08:04.06
94.00
2.77
11.63
A7
18:30
56.
E.Pia
1:09:28.39
93.75
2.98
11.41
A5
06:30
57.
Squalo_delle_Alpi
1:09:45.07
93.50
2.60
11.41
A8
09:30
58.
_Mika
1:10:18.26
93.25
2.68
11.41
A7
18:30
59.
Mucker1974
1:10:26.84
93.00
2.53
11.41
A8
18:30
60.
Tcr-Peter
1:10:38.26
92.75
2.78
11.18
A6
23:30
61.
S.Ludford
1:11:18.22
92.50
2.56
11.18
A7
18:30
62.
Birkholm
1:13:16.10
92.25
2.56
10.96
A7
19:30
63.
guidok
1:14:15.41
92.00
2.44
10.74
A8
15:30
64.
isaaclopez_Gure
1:14:26.44
91.75
2.42
10.74
A8
18:30
65.
A.Errazu
1:16:24.53
91.50
2.54
10.51
A7
18:30
66.
bart73
1:17:57.72
91.25
2.35
10.29
A8
18:30
67.
David1951
1:20:03.37
91.00
2.31
10.07
A8
18:30
68.
EatmorCake
1:22:41.17
90.75
2.19
9.62
A9
18:30
69.
SebTca
1:33:07.08
90.50
1.84
8.50
A9
09:30
TOP 3 ELITE RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (OVER 4.7 W/KG)
1: BareRemi
2: danrocky
3:
ELITE LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A1 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (4.4 – 4.6 W/KG)
1: przemokrk
2: breers33
3: nelsonsnyder
A1 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A2 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (4.1 – 4.3 W/KG)
1: Andrus17
2: karel_sousek
3: RLouro
A2 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A3 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (3.8 – 4.0 W/KG)
1: Hans.Holm.Moeller
2: Stefan_Schmidt
3: madein1971
A3 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A4 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (3.5 – 3.7 W/KG)
1: DonMatteo_07
2: Grochang
3: Brampaulussen
A4 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A5 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (3.2 – 3.4 W/KG)
1: wolli.d
2: Yumile
3: MNHROUVY
A5 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A6 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: 2.9 – 3.1 W/KG
1: Skepticism93
2: Craig-prickett
3: Duckman2
A6 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A7 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: (2.6 – 2.8 W/KG)
1: LinV
2: 4WorldPeace
3: stelviobound
A7 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A8 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: 2.3 – 2.5 W/KG
1: Squalo_delle_Alpi
2: Mucker1974
3: guidok
A8 LEADERBOARD SO FAR THIS MONTH:
n/a
TOP 3 CAT. A9 RIDERS FROM THIS RACE: UNDER 2.3 W/KG
What a great race. Something about racing up a climb which is just torture when you are doing it but the satisfaction afterwards is great. Ballast is now hitting those top-top riders, but it always looks it’s worst after the first race but after 4 it all closes up again, but at least for now 20 riders out of the 30 who are carrying ballast turned up for this first race so it can’t be putting them off too much. Also, like we’ve said before, if the ballast part isn’t for you, then just enjoy the Race and the official Rouvy results and carry on with your life. It’s all good.
Another 2 tough routes coming up, including another climb for race 3, but we do have a nice easy one for race 4. We do try and vary the routes as best we can, but sometimes the time constraints with the challenges means we have to schedule certain races on certain days so they fit in before the official challenge end date.
Please keep the comments coming on the blog. I definitely notice a drop off in comments if i leave the blog too long. for example, spent a good 3 to 4 hours doing the one last week that was after my vacation so i did it on my very first day back, and covered the last 2 races of the August championship. Not 1 comment. I get it, people move on. But next year, with the proposed introduction of a back up race on a Friday, this will mean the blog won’t be done until the Saturday morning. So that raises the question will anyone be bothered by then? Should i just leave it to one blog at the end of the month? I’m more than happy to just nip on NITEOR at the end of a Thursday night and apply the 3 rules then leave it alone. could be an option.
Let me know what you think?
as per usual, thanks to all that help keep this thing running with purchases from the store, we have a few new items coming just in time for xmas but please keep having alook as any purchase really does help us keep going.
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...
I’m just not right yet after my vacation. HR is really high and need to spin really fast to get anything like a decent power figure. It normally takes a few weeks so ill plod on.. But gotta’ say it was superb pack ride along the lower part with some very fast riders. Then the pain of the slow slog climb. Just outside the top 50, so hopefully consistency gets me a few places up the leaderboard week in week out this month.
After racing every round of the Muckers Championship since it kicked off last year, I’m now out after a bad crash three weeks ago. That’s my season done — recovery will take me past 2025 before I’m back at full strength. Wishing everyone a strong finish, and hopefully I’ll be back for the 2026 championship or some Rouvy races along the way. 👋
Best wishes, Laurent. Three months almost since my bad crash and I’m still recovering fitness, but feeling normal. The first month was the hardest. Stay patient and let nature take her course, you will get there!
Don’t believe him! He’s not “still recovering” (or I hope he isn’t) — he’s already back to his monstrous former self. Hope you’ll soon reach this blissful state too.
fingers crossed for a speedy recovery Laurent. keep positive dude as if your experiencing anything like me, time is flying by the older i get so you’ll soon be back on the bike!
@Mike @Matthias @Neil
Thanks guys for your support. I hesitated to try the race on Thursday but my wife talked me out of it. After 20 days since the crash I thought it would be less bad than this, but my left arm is pretty much unusable, my left psoas shot, and my overall condition really crappy.
Hopefully this will be a good reason to reset the ballast for next season🤗.🫰
yeah, it’s really hard to not ride isn’t it! i was laid up on holiday with a knackered back and all i wanted to do was make sure it ok for Tuesdays first race. I jumped on even though i was in some discomfort and really should have waited…. i even then tried to catch up with the Mallorca challenge routes id missed whilst away so with a stiff back and even stiffer legs, i’ve been jumping on the bike by totally convincing myself i am fine! today is my first rest day since coming back. But that voice in your head telling you “you can ride, just take it easy” is probably what we cyclist have that no one else does.
just had a look at the world championship leaderboard and your 6th with 266 points. i know it probably doesn’t ease any of the pain, but even with 4 more months of points, i am still not going to beat that lol. But yeah, i think you will loose top 10 so a clean slate for next year.
You can just ride with us, the slower cyclists, we’d be delighted 🙂 We will do our best and you will have a recovery ride.
Keeping my fingers crossed for your recovery 🙂
Re if it’s worth you writing stuff about the races: YES! I don’t usually contribute here (trying to keep my “social media” in one place, and strava got there first) but I do keep an eye on this page and am usually amused. It adds an extra dimension to just turning up to race and looking at the outcome on some league table. One also tends to stumble across people one may not see on strava, so it’s a good thing. I suspect many others use the page in the same way so it (and your writing!) may be more useful than you realise, so keep it up.
Thanks for the comment Mucker. Do you think my plan for next year of adding the extra “catch-up” race on a Friday and doing the Blog on Saturday morning will still be ok or do you think i still need to get it done on Thursday nights to Keep it fresh?
Agree with what somebody else said below: Have the extra races prior to the main one and then write things up a.s.a.p afterwards. I think the Thu 6.30pm (Central Manchester Time) slot is and will always be understood to be the main event. The other races give people a chance to harvest a few points if they can’t make this slot, but the lack of drafting (and, possibly more importantly, the lack of the “big group experience”) is enough of a disincentive.
I know life has this annoying way of getting in the way (of cycling and the post-cycling banter) but I always find that the fresher things are the better, so write it up before having a shower! 🙂
cheers Matthias. i reckon day before for the extra day. Same time or an hour later? quick look at what’s running at that time on a Wednesday and the only official event is the Geraint Thomas group/social at 19:30 which only seems to have 3 or 4 riders finish it. I’m think 19:30 is a great time for it for those who find the 18:30 too early no matter what day it is.
Then its blog time Thursday night but without having to wait for the 19:30 race to finally finish and finalize. could have the blog out before 11 that night if i did this.
We can’t have that you think nobody reads your blog-posts Neil, so here are my Strava notes for the race – FYI the Muckers Races are almost the only races where I take the time to post more than small training notes on Strava since everyone does it and it’s great fun reading the different race experiences 😁
Experimented with the climbing wheels and ignored Remi’s warning that the 4 Spokes was by far the fastest on this route 🫣 – he definitely had a point since I averaged more than 4.2 w/kg just to hang on the front group on the flat part before the climb even began – but I managed to hang on and only let go of the group just before the climb started – basically did my own tempo from there – catching some on the way and getting painfully caught by Tijs just 500 m from the finish line – couldn’t go faster so have to be satisfied – thanx for a fun race everyone 👍🏻🚵🏼♂️😉
Cheers Hans, luckily i hadn’t gone as worried as thinking no one read it, i just feel after a few days no one really cares about commenting. This is why the strava posts are great and “instant” as you are sometimes updating them once you’re showered and just having 2 minutes before getting ready.. or is that just me lol.
I like our blog, specially when many riders comment the race or more one of us comment a work group but with different point of views. I don’t know why many of us don’t write, but of sure everybody wait this blog for all the information about the race.
Return to the race, I rode unfortunately in the morning and for me was a long nightmare 🤣, I work always alone but don’t want to miss the event.
As ever the long hills are not my favourite race but at the end I find a good result for my Cat.
👋 to all 🦈🇮🇹
Heart Rate was 10bpm higher than I expected during the warm up, not looking good 🤔, enjoyed working (hanging on) with 6 other riders to the climb, suddenly felt terrible and dropped down to 2w/kg for 15 minutes ready to solo to the top. After this ‘reset’ I got a 2nd wind of energy and felt much better but this one goes in the ‘bad night’ box.
Regards the blog. My personal opinion is that every day delayed in publishing the blog puts it further into ‘history’ and less likely to receive interaction and comments. Like others have said, I enjoy sharing details about ‘my race’ and reading about the thoughts nearer the sharp end of the race.
I’m not a fan of ‘merged’ results, it just feels like a leaderboard, not a race result … but I do understand how it enables inclusivity across time zones. I also don’t like catagory results, I know who my rivals are, categories look like a time consuming minor interest to me. These are just my thoughts on the elements that take up your time after the events.
My last thought, if you want to add extra event slots to help people who can’t ride on Thursday, you could make it the previous day (Wednesday) not the following day (Friday). If you ensure the main 18:30 race is the ‘Final’ event then you increase your ability to publish the results/blog as early as possible and generate increased interaction and comments.
Either way, I personally treat every Muckers race as a ‘single race’ result and I appreciate being able to race with familiar names with a level of trust developed over time.
yeah, it was nice riding with you mucker on that first bit, but that 2nd wind you got blew all the way up that climb in form of unwanted pressure just as i hit the wall!
i agree with you that everyday the blog is left, the more it gets resigned to history and you don’t get that raw up to date feeling from the comments. Strava is great for that as many a time I’ve had to wait to calm down before doing my strava comments lol….
I think you are in the minority for not liking the merged results, and luckily i really like them and love being able to include all the time zones. Sometimes i feel sorry for them being placed so low for some of the efforts they produce but have missed out on the draft, but then on the other hand, on a totally selfish level i want as much participation in the main race at 18:30 which has been the main race for years now so my ideas of wanting to make those other time zones get some kind of help with some calculation based on draft factor won’t happen as i don’t want to start manipulating finish times. It’d be amazing to make everyone on the Main race have to do it on the standard bike and wheels, and the other slots can use what they like but there’s no option for that! That would be my ideal way.
I also think you are in the minority for disliking the categories. Again, i love them and really use them as extra motivation. It won’t stop me trying as hard as possible in the race, but for example, this month, i know that squallo is my main category challenger ( he will win though lol) and i don’t have to worry too much about where you, Linv, sunniva, stelvio, 4world are as you are all in the cat above me this month. And considering how tough the next 2 races look, i am more than happy not to have to worry about you guys lol .
Very good point about the extra race. Maybe remove the 19:30 version from Thursday and have that on the Wednesday night? And then say if we have any kind of glitch on the Thursday race, i will arrange an “emergency” Friday night race at 18:30 but only in an emergency.
as per usual, thanks for your input mucker. you know i appreciate it.
Yes, I do recognise and witness the majority like the current process. Luckily, it doesn’t stop me enjoying my ‘single’ race experience. I definitely prefer my races to finish on the finish line rather than on a spreadsheet.
It’s an interesting part of my psychology, I always compare myself to everyone. When I look at Strava segments for outside rides I would never check the ‘age catagory’ ‘weight catagory’ segment results, I’ve no interest how I compare to the ‘other’ fat old people 😂.
i’ll be honest, i will always look at the whole strava segment as well ( on those rare occasions i go outside lol) but after that, i do like to see where i am compared to others like me, rather than the 45kg 20 year old.
But a race isn’t a strava segment Mucker and you’re not weird… oh crap… you didn’t say that did you lol x
I like the blog comments too, and I’m usually one of the regular contributors. I don’t plan to stop, though I did miss last week (and most Thursdays for the past while, recovering from my crash). Like Matthias said, Strava is also the place to go for comments, and I also do that. As for yesterday’s race, three things stand out for me: first was dithering over which wheels to use. I finally went with the 4-spokes rather than the 800s, and I think that was the right choice. I suffered on the climb, but it was easier to stick with my group and conserve energy for the first 10 km. Second is that I had a great start for me. I know that is true when I get to see MatthiasHeil doing his thing off the front! The front pack eased away, but I was in a great second group and we reeled in a few folk along the way. The climb itself was a sufferfest with Andy_UP, RaTim, and MNHROUVY. I needed my best 20-minute W and FTP for the past three months to stay with them, and then they dump me at the top anyway. Thanks, guys. We caught a few on the climb, but stfmgr_65 was the only one to stick with us. Kudos to all that finished that tough route!
From another world to virtual world. After conquering Campo Imperatore i jumped to the sea for a minute and then put together Kickr. This time we have air conditioning, will it help? Tough course, all top riders presented. Luckily first part was only little uphill, but my friends cooking dinner distracted me few times.
Real deal started in second half with tough climb. Top riders obviously left soon, but i followed Andrus17 and we were riding within top10. I still missed big fan, but air conditioning helped. Rlouro was nearby, but we kept him distanced. I did not spurt as Andrus did most of the job in the climb. Awesome race, i could feel very good legs since morning. Thank you all who joined us!
After three intense months I decided to skip the September month championships. But if I use to be young and stupid, now I am old and stupid. Thought I would just do last Tuesday warm up to top off form for Cyclocross. Did the warm up at 3.9 watts/kg, my best. OK enough. Don’t be stupid. But I am hard wired stupid. Started the regular race. And wow, there I am with a lot of my new favorite friends…RaTi, Mike, Chak, LinV, Sunnyvale, and others…and then I had a genuine cardiac event. Could hardly coast down hill. Even the rather mature French lady with the Grey pleated skirt on the coaster bike, and the front basket with her tiny dog went past me. I hardly could get up the basement steps after, but I didn’t quit ( probably should have). What happened i don’t know…maybe advanced dehydration, legs too strong for the number of heart beats god gives me at this age, the medicine for the auto immune disease i continue to enjoy. So I took a day off, drank a lot of water. Today putting the wet grippy tyres on the outdoor bike. I don’t know why I have just written all of these words, but it feels good to me to be part of this group. cheers
Just want to thank Neil again for all the work – and for doing this blog. I didn’t ride this week, but I still came here to see how things turned out and what people had to say. Paul – take care of yourself. Matthias – don’t try to come back to hard too soon and wishing you a full recovery.
And this comment appeared 🙂 That’s strange.
Apparently the system thought there was something wrong with the one I’ve been trying to add since Saturday.
Anyway, keep writing your blog, Neil. I don’t always have time to write something, but I always read. Maybe consider adding a thumbs-up button so you know we’re here and read? 🙂
your original message must have just been too nice! lol i was never thinking of just leaving it all, i was just wondering if it would make a massive difference if i just did one at the end of the month or if we added a Friday race, would that kill off the comments completely? I love reading them and also i really try to reply to them all as well as i feel if someone’s took the time to comment, then i should at least do the same.
But ive had some really constructive feedback and i think i will go with adding a Wednesday race at 19:30 UK and removing the Thursday “Later-on” version so i can get started on the blog earlier. But if we have a horrible Thursday glitch, then i will put on a emergency Friday version. Thats kinda what i feel i should go with next year.
I’m just not right yet after my vacation. HR is really high and need to spin really fast to get anything like a decent power figure. It normally takes a few weeks so ill plod on.. But gotta’ say it was superb pack ride along the lower part with some very fast riders. Then the pain of the slow slog climb. Just outside the top 50, so hopefully consistency gets me a few places up the leaderboard week in week out this month.
After racing every round of the Muckers Championship since it kicked off last year, I’m now out after a bad crash three weeks ago. That’s my season done — recovery will take me past 2025 before I’m back at full strength. Wishing everyone a strong finish, and hopefully I’ll be back for the 2026 championship or some Rouvy races along the way. 👋
Best wishes, Laurent. Three months almost since my bad crash and I’m still recovering fitness, but feeling normal. The first month was the hardest. Stay patient and let nature take her course, you will get there!
Don’t believe him! He’s not “still recovering” (or I hope he isn’t) — he’s already back to his monstrous former self. Hope you’ll soon reach this blissful state too.
fingers crossed for a speedy recovery Laurent. keep positive dude as if your experiencing anything like me, time is flying by the older i get so you’ll soon be back on the bike!
@Mike @Matthias @Neil
Thanks guys for your support. I hesitated to try the race on Thursday but my wife talked me out of it. After 20 days since the crash I thought it would be less bad than this, but my left arm is pretty much unusable, my left psoas shot, and my overall condition really crappy.
Hopefully this will be a good reason to reset the ballast for next season🤗.🫰
yeah, it’s really hard to not ride isn’t it! i was laid up on holiday with a knackered back and all i wanted to do was make sure it ok for Tuesdays first race. I jumped on even though i was in some discomfort and really should have waited…. i even then tried to catch up with the Mallorca challenge routes id missed whilst away so with a stiff back and even stiffer legs, i’ve been jumping on the bike by totally convincing myself i am fine! today is my first rest day since coming back. But that voice in your head telling you “you can ride, just take it easy” is probably what we cyclist have that no one else does.
just had a look at the world championship leaderboard and your 6th with 266 points. i know it probably doesn’t ease any of the pain, but even with 4 more months of points, i am still not going to beat that lol. But yeah, i think you will loose top 10 so a clean slate for next year.
You can just ride with us, the slower cyclists, we’d be delighted 🙂 We will do our best and you will have a recovery ride.
Keeping my fingers crossed for your recovery 🙂
Re if it’s worth you writing stuff about the races: YES! I don’t usually contribute here (trying to keep my “social media” in one place, and strava got there first) but I do keep an eye on this page and am usually amused. It adds an extra dimension to just turning up to race and looking at the outcome on some league table. One also tends to stumble across people one may not see on strava, so it’s a good thing. I suspect many others use the page in the same way so it (and your writing!) may be more useful than you realise, so keep it up.
Thanks for the comment Mucker. Do you think my plan for next year of adding the extra “catch-up” race on a Friday and doing the Blog on Saturday morning will still be ok or do you think i still need to get it done on Thursday nights to Keep it fresh?
Agree with what somebody else said below: Have the extra races prior to the main one and then write things up a.s.a.p afterwards. I think the Thu 6.30pm (Central Manchester Time) slot is and will always be understood to be the main event. The other races give people a chance to harvest a few points if they can’t make this slot, but the lack of drafting (and, possibly more importantly, the lack of the “big group experience”) is enough of a disincentive.
I know life has this annoying way of getting in the way (of cycling and the post-cycling banter) but I always find that the fresher things are the better, so write it up before having a shower! 🙂
cheers Matthias. i reckon day before for the extra day. Same time or an hour later? quick look at what’s running at that time on a Wednesday and the only official event is the Geraint Thomas group/social at 19:30 which only seems to have 3 or 4 riders finish it. I’m think 19:30 is a great time for it for those who find the 18:30 too early no matter what day it is.
Then its blog time Thursday night but without having to wait for the 19:30 race to finally finish and finalize. could have the blog out before 11 that night if i did this.
We can’t have that you think nobody reads your blog-posts Neil, so here are my Strava notes for the race – FYI the Muckers Races are almost the only races where I take the time to post more than small training notes on Strava since everyone does it and it’s great fun reading the different race experiences 😁
Experimented with the climbing wheels and ignored Remi’s warning that the 4 Spokes was by far the fastest on this route 🫣 – he definitely had a point since I averaged more than 4.2 w/kg just to hang on the front group on the flat part before the climb even began – but I managed to hang on and only let go of the group just before the climb started – basically did my own tempo from there – catching some on the way and getting painfully caught by Tijs just 500 m from the finish line – couldn’t go faster so have to be satisfied – thanx for a fun race everyone 👍🏻🚵🏼♂️😉
Cheers Hans, luckily i hadn’t gone as worried as thinking no one read it, i just feel after a few days no one really cares about commenting. This is why the strava posts are great and “instant” as you are sometimes updating them once you’re showered and just having 2 minutes before getting ready.. or is that just me lol.
I like our blog, specially when many riders comment the race or more one of us comment a work group but with different point of views. I don’t know why many of us don’t write, but of sure everybody wait this blog for all the information about the race.
Return to the race, I rode unfortunately in the morning and for me was a long nightmare 🤣, I work always alone but don’t want to miss the event.
As ever the long hills are not my favourite race but at the end I find a good result for my Cat.
👋 to all 🦈🇮🇹
cheers sharky! looks like we are in the same Category again… so well done on the win lol.
Heart Rate was 10bpm higher than I expected during the warm up, not looking good 🤔, enjoyed working (hanging on) with 6 other riders to the climb, suddenly felt terrible and dropped down to 2w/kg for 15 minutes ready to solo to the top. After this ‘reset’ I got a 2nd wind of energy and felt much better but this one goes in the ‘bad night’ box.
Regards the blog. My personal opinion is that every day delayed in publishing the blog puts it further into ‘history’ and less likely to receive interaction and comments. Like others have said, I enjoy sharing details about ‘my race’ and reading about the thoughts nearer the sharp end of the race.
I’m not a fan of ‘merged’ results, it just feels like a leaderboard, not a race result … but I do understand how it enables inclusivity across time zones. I also don’t like catagory results, I know who my rivals are, categories look like a time consuming minor interest to me. These are just my thoughts on the elements that take up your time after the events.
My last thought, if you want to add extra event slots to help people who can’t ride on Thursday, you could make it the previous day (Wednesday) not the following day (Friday). If you ensure the main 18:30 race is the ‘Final’ event then you increase your ability to publish the results/blog as early as possible and generate increased interaction and comments.
Either way, I personally treat every Muckers race as a ‘single race’ result and I appreciate being able to race with familiar names with a level of trust developed over time.
yeah, it was nice riding with you mucker on that first bit, but that 2nd wind you got blew all the way up that climb in form of unwanted pressure just as i hit the wall!
i agree with you that everyday the blog is left, the more it gets resigned to history and you don’t get that raw up to date feeling from the comments. Strava is great for that as many a time I’ve had to wait to calm down before doing my strava comments lol….
I think you are in the minority for not liking the merged results, and luckily i really like them and love being able to include all the time zones. Sometimes i feel sorry for them being placed so low for some of the efforts they produce but have missed out on the draft, but then on the other hand, on a totally selfish level i want as much participation in the main race at 18:30 which has been the main race for years now so my ideas of wanting to make those other time zones get some kind of help with some calculation based on draft factor won’t happen as i don’t want to start manipulating finish times. It’d be amazing to make everyone on the Main race have to do it on the standard bike and wheels, and the other slots can use what they like but there’s no option for that! That would be my ideal way.
I also think you are in the minority for disliking the categories. Again, i love them and really use them as extra motivation. It won’t stop me trying as hard as possible in the race, but for example, this month, i know that squallo is my main category challenger ( he will win though lol) and i don’t have to worry too much about where you, Linv, sunniva, stelvio, 4world are as you are all in the cat above me this month. And considering how tough the next 2 races look, i am more than happy not to have to worry about you guys lol .
Very good point about the extra race. Maybe remove the 19:30 version from Thursday and have that on the Wednesday night? And then say if we have any kind of glitch on the Thursday race, i will arrange an “emergency” Friday night race at 18:30 but only in an emergency.
as per usual, thanks for your input mucker. you know i appreciate it.
Yes, I do recognise and witness the majority like the current process. Luckily, it doesn’t stop me enjoying my ‘single’ race experience. I definitely prefer my races to finish on the finish line rather than on a spreadsheet.
It’s an interesting part of my psychology, I always compare myself to everyone. When I look at Strava segments for outside rides I would never check the ‘age catagory’ ‘weight catagory’ segment results, I’ve no interest how I compare to the ‘other’ fat old people 😂.
i’ll be honest, i will always look at the whole strava segment as well ( on those rare occasions i go outside lol) but after that, i do like to see where i am compared to others like me, rather than the 45kg 20 year old.
But a race isn’t a strava segment Mucker and you’re not weird… oh crap… you didn’t say that did you lol x
I like the blog comments too, and I’m usually one of the regular contributors. I don’t plan to stop, though I did miss last week (and most Thursdays for the past while, recovering from my crash). Like Matthias said, Strava is also the place to go for comments, and I also do that. As for yesterday’s race, three things stand out for me: first was dithering over which wheels to use. I finally went with the 4-spokes rather than the 800s, and I think that was the right choice. I suffered on the climb, but it was easier to stick with my group and conserve energy for the first 10 km. Second is that I had a great start for me. I know that is true when I get to see MatthiasHeil doing his thing off the front! The front pack eased away, but I was in a great second group and we reeled in a few folk along the way. The climb itself was a sufferfest with Andy_UP, RaTim, and MNHROUVY. I needed my best 20-minute W and FTP for the past three months to stay with them, and then they dump me at the top anyway. Thanks, guys. We caught a few on the climb, but stfmgr_65 was the only one to stick with us. Kudos to all that finished that tough route!
thanks for commenting Mike. great race and also great seeing the recovery in action.
From another world to virtual world. After conquering Campo Imperatore i jumped to the sea for a minute and then put together Kickr. This time we have air conditioning, will it help? Tough course, all top riders presented. Luckily first part was only little uphill, but my friends cooking dinner distracted me few times.
Real deal started in second half with tough climb. Top riders obviously left soon, but i followed Andrus17 and we were riding within top10. I still missed big fan, but air conditioning helped. Rlouro was nearby, but we kept him distanced. I did not spurt as Andrus did most of the job in the climb. Awesome race, i could feel very good legs since morning. Thank you all who joined us!
Now that’s commitment! And thanks for commenting Karel.
After three intense months I decided to skip the September month championships. But if I use to be young and stupid, now I am old and stupid. Thought I would just do last Tuesday warm up to top off form for Cyclocross. Did the warm up at 3.9 watts/kg, my best. OK enough. Don’t be stupid. But I am hard wired stupid. Started the regular race. And wow, there I am with a lot of my new favorite friends…RaTi, Mike, Chak, LinV, Sunnyvale, and others…and then I had a genuine cardiac event. Could hardly coast down hill. Even the rather mature French lady with the Grey pleated skirt on the coaster bike, and the front basket with her tiny dog went past me. I hardly could get up the basement steps after, but I didn’t quit ( probably should have). What happened i don’t know…maybe advanced dehydration, legs too strong for the number of heart beats god gives me at this age, the medicine for the auto immune disease i continue to enjoy. So I took a day off, drank a lot of water. Today putting the wet grippy tyres on the outdoor bike. I don’t know why I have just written all of these words, but it feels good to me to be part of this group. cheers
I hope you feel better, Paul!
Just want to thank Neil again for all the work – and for doing this blog. I didn’t ride this week, but I still came here to see how things turned out and what people had to say. Paul – take care of yourself. Matthias – don’t try to come back to hard too soon and wishing you a full recovery.
Thanks for the good wishes, but I’m feeling fine. I suspect you meant @paul bernstein and/or @lrollin — in which case I agree. Get better soon, guys!
m.
cheers Mucker, kinda overwhelmed with the replies and i’ve taken them all on board.
I wrote a nice comment about the blog and I can’t post it.
I’m getting a 403 error and it’s been like this for three days.
Oh well.
And this comment appeared 🙂 That’s strange.
Apparently the system thought there was something wrong with the one I’ve been trying to add since Saturday.
Anyway, keep writing your blog, Neil. I don’t always have time to write something, but I always read. Maybe consider adding a thumbs-up button so you know we’re here and read? 🙂
your original message must have just been too nice! lol i was never thinking of just leaving it all, i was just wondering if it would make a massive difference if i just did one at the end of the month or if we added a Friday race, would that kill off the comments completely? I love reading them and also i really try to reply to them all as well as i feel if someone’s took the time to comment, then i should at least do the same.
But ive had some really constructive feedback and i think i will go with adding a Wednesday race at 19:30 UK and removing the Thursday “Later-on” version so i can get started on the blog earlier. But if we have a horrible Thursday glitch, then i will put on a emergency Friday version. Thats kinda what i feel i should go with next year.
thanks for commenting,