MUCKERS 2026 ITALY MEET UP!
FRIDAY THE 12TH TO MONDAY THE 15TH OF JUNE
What an amazing trip we had this year!
26 People turned up in Maunel’s village (i want to say Rango but you walk 5 mins and you are in another village) , coming from all over Europe! A quick tally up and i think we covered 10 different nationalities, bringing the “worldwide” part home, big style!! On the Friday evening we were finally all together for Pizza and to meet old and new Friends. This evening i just watched in complete amazement all these people chatting and laughing together, remembering some of these guys have only ever known each other as Avatars on a screen!
We even managed to get a photo of us all. See below:
20 of the above are on ROUVY! You might have ridden with one or two of them, or definitely more if you’ve ever joined in on a Muckers event! here are the ROUVY names in no particular order: (and probably spelt wrong lol)
jnovak74, chorus, Denny44, karel_sousek, Mucker1974, Squalo-delle-alpi, m-forby, Kingmagic, robinagy, Fazzo34, Mick_Michel, nielsbrynnum, Justadg, SillySilNL Sunniva, Ludwigdb, Ra-Tim, Andy-UP, Terry84, Levi09, Grochang
As you can see from the above photos, many bought along partners as well for the experience, and lastly we also had Manuels Friend Alessandro_Carboni join us for the rides, who wasn’t in the photo above.
After dinner we all said our good nights and got ourselves ready for Saturday’s ride. Here’s some photos from the many that everyone took!
SATURDAY:
67 miles and 5400ft elevation.
The evening was spent having some local food at this fine looking establishment:
SUNDAY:
Another ride out to explore more of the local wonders! 50 miles and 4700ft elevation.
Then another evening at a local restaurant to taste local dishes:
MONDAY. STELVIO DAY FOR THOSE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!
39 miles and 6400ft elevation.
SEEMS FITTING TO END THE PHOTOS HERE, WITH OUR AMAZING HOST, MANUEL. WELL DONE MUCKER, THIS WAS AN AMAZING WEEKEND.
feel i should leave the blog here and if you want to comment on how it was for yourselves then please do so.
Also if you would like a few photos adding then please send them to me and i will add them to the blog. It was really hard trying to choose the right ones and i don’t have access to them all.
Hope to see you all when we go to Czech next year, hosted by RaTim! Can’t wait!!
Mucker1974
My Wife and i had an amazing time, and what a fantastic group of people we had again! and i just want to quickly thank everyone who made her feel welcome, i really appreciate it.
The ride on Saturday was tough in that heat for me, felt ok till the last climb. That was a killer but if i wanted to eat that night, i needed to get to the end lol. Lake Garda was outstanding! But I’m not gonna be rushing back to ride those tunnels as it can get a bit frantic inside them with cars and bikes all passing quite close, are super noisy and the constant change from light to dark, all whilst trying not to get dropped… but it didn’t last too long…. phew! We then had a long climb to the restaurant with the amazing look out which was totally worth it, then a tough downhill back to the lake. Yep, tough! tough to keep on the brakes for so long!! It’s so steep around here!!! Then the climb home and it was long, hot and uncomfortable. But we got it done and had a great meal that night but i have to admit it, i was falling asleep at the meal as i was that worn out!
Sunday was a rest day to go sight seeing with the wife. Lovely day down on the lake! what a place!!
Monday, i attempted the stelvio and after a long Mini-bus trip, it was time to ride. I was kinda ok over the first 1000ft elevation, but the next 1000 was already taking the hr over 150 and i was struggling already. WTF!! So as it ramped up more, and i just couldn’t get a nice cadence going and honestly felt like i had nothing in the legs and was out of the saddle most of the time already and hr at 160bpms…. and we’ve not even hit the steepest bit….. and and and lol…. lets just say this was doomed! Fazzo tried to keep me going but as my back and my groin were now starting to feel the pull from being out the saddle so much, i reluctantly called it a day at 3300ft. Absolutely devastated but also just didn’t want to get another 500ft and pull something so bad i couldn’t ride back down. So off i rolled back down and although i was gutted, the downhill was epic!
waited for the others to come back and they all did it! So proud of them all, especially those that did it for the first time! Just amazing commitment!
But what a weekend. I’ve been blown away by the scenic views, the roads, the people, the food and the weather.
Manuel did an amazing job all weekend and this is exactly what these Muckers Meet ups are about. Getting a “local” to show us where they ride and what to see, rather than the typical “tourist” attractions. Just amazing!!
I’ve also learned that if i hire/borrow a bike again, i need my saddle as well as my pedals, plus if its hilly, i need my usual 32 on the back, or even a 34 as i definitely can’t get a 30 spinning how i need it to. But these are the usual ifs/buts/maybes and who knows if i’ll ever be riding in such mountainous conditions again. But if i do, i now know!
Neil, I don’t know what’d happen if we started together on Stelvio, but I was also struggling, no question, I was amazed how weak I am, but I decided not to push at all Stayed at 135-145Bpm zone. Okay I had a 34×32 gear that helped also at those very low speeds maybe that is some kind of a key, but still I have a suspiction, if you were following me you could have do that. I’m a little bit sorry about it, maybe joining to Andy’s car too, having a 1/2 hour adventage.. But okay not everything can be perfect.
Matathonists say it is not the miles that kills you but the pace, it is true for the elevation gain too.
But, I know no sense to moan afterwards, and the Stelvio day was perfect anyways 😀 (except deleting the uphill activity from my Garmin… but okay 😀 )
Hey Robi, thanks for that, maybe if me, you, Gosia and fazzo had tried as a group i might have gotten further but i doubt it and i’d have felt even worse leaving 3 of you rather than just 1 😂😏. But when we climbed together on the Saturday, i struggled on that last climb on the steeper parts because the cadence was so low. I now know that no matter how strong i think i am, i am a spinner and in no way a grinder!
Its very true about the pace thing, and i also believe it translates to elevation as well. Hey, it is what it is and i’d have been even more gutted had i deleted my climb as well!! i’ve heard if it isn’t on strava, it never really happened lol… only joking mucker, well proud of you all for getting over that mountain!
:))) Mine is on strava, I made a “manual Stelvio ride, lol”!! But next time maybe.
I checked my 4 year old real stelvio, and I see, my cadence never went above 60rpm on the steep, so there is no chance when being a spinner, unless you go with MTB gears. But, I think on indoor trainers there is no real chances to be on those low rpms. Maybe your machine is better so you can train for lower cadences, but on mine it always feels like I’d try to go through half-melted asphalt 😀
But anyway the meeting was really so great, all in all, no matter who was stronger or weaker (okay, maybe I should have asked for some bidons with a singning from some danish or czech guys, as they we som much fater, but 3 weeks from now we’ll be at Alpe’dHuez watching the Tour, so I’ll make a complement there!! :)))
I wish I was there! I’m absolutely gutted I missed out on it all. Looking through the photos, it’s so great to see such a massive turnout—an amazing mix of both new and familiar faces, and 26 people turning up in Manuel’s village is just brilliant.
To be honest, my fitness is way out at the moment, so I wouldn’t have been able to keep up on the rides even if I did turn up!
A massive thank you to Sharky for hosting this year’s “Muckers Worldwide” European tour and setting up such an unforgettable trip. It makes me so proud to be a part of such a welcoming group.
I will definitely see you all next year!
It was absolutely amazing event with all that wonderfull friends. It will be very difficult to be at least close to Sharky’s level. But I promise, that I will do everything what will be possible next year. Every Mucker will be welcome in Czechia.
I am very interested in the next trip. How and when do people sign up for it? Awesome that you are hosting, Tomas!
I will create chat group in whatsapp about this event. In a few days/weeks 😉 will be announced 3 possible terms, also here on Mucker’s web.
Send me your phone number here, or via Strava and I’ll add you to the chat.
Same here, seems like a lot of fun and nice to meet all muckers. Czech is an amazing place as well 😎
I can’t wait to drink those Czech beers!!! Vom faß – of course! 😉
As Kyle I wasnt able to commit to this one, missed out on a great event for sure…
Hoping for an opportunity to join in 2027 🙌
In the mean time, see you all on Rouvy 👌
We usually leave it up to the organizer to determine how far out he wants to cast the net….lol….But we basically want Muckers to come who want to meet the other muckers they race with on ROUVY, but if that means you need to bring a riding buddy with you to help with costs etc etc then that’s generally fine and totally understandable. So i think once Tomas decides what he thinks he can take on, then we will know!
When I read the blog notes from Muckers meetings in previous years, I thought it would be a really cool idea to meet up in real life, see each other face-to-face, chat, and ride. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever be able to join the group and participate in such a meeting. But I did this year, and it was a truly huge Italian adventure for me. Firstly, because I’m an indoor cyclist and don’t ride my road bike on the streets. I came to Rouvy after breaking my leg during the pandemic lockdown, and I treated all the rides as rehabilitation. After a few years, I’ve gotten used to long and hard training sessions, but I still struggle with balance and stability on the bike, and I’m also afraid of high speeds and cars passing me. So, I had to adapt my rides with Muckers to my abilities and overcome some of my fears. But it worked out 🙂
Meeting all of you in Italy was amazing. It’s incredible how you can spend quality time with someone you’ve never met in person before, someone you only know from the training platform. It’s also great that the group is growing, and people are bringing their wives or husbands along. Not everyone is a competitive cyclist, so we can spend time together in other ways as well 🙂
Thank you all for the time we spent together, and I hope to see you again. I’m sure it will be great 🙂
thanks for the comment Gosia! I had no idea you’d only started riding as rehabilitation ….. then a few years later, you conquer the famous Stelvio Pass!!! That’s amazing!!
When we did the first real-world meet up 4 years ago, we all were amazed at how we all kinda knew each other, but hadn’t ever met in real life before. The Banter on whatsapp and the dialogue on Strava and on here, must help develop these connections in a way you only realize when you finally sit across a table from each other and just chat and laugh, like old friends.
This year we had some really strong riders and was worried it was going to loose its magic, but it didn’t, even if Italy’s gradients tried to split us all up lol. Everyone’s around for encouragement more than anything and for us to see the riding scene and roads from a locals perspective.
I feel Tomas is worried about next year, but he really doesn’t need to be as whoever goes to next years meet up, is going because they want to see and experience what Tomas see’s and experiences when he rides his bike in Chech. And for those that don’t ride, they are there to experience the culture, food and scenery, non-tourist style as well as meet new and old friends. Hopefully see you and new best mate next year!
What an amazing looking event. I’ve never been to Europe but, would love to visit one day. Especially after seeing all the great photos. I to am strictly an indoor rider and think I would have really struggled with the elevation more than anything else but, kudos to all that met the challenges. I used to ride the Sierra’s in central California and would get up to about 10,000 ft but, that was over 12 years ago. I know what you mean Neil and Gosia about the decent being the hardest part. Used to really freak me out. I hated riding the brakes for so long. Now I just play it safe in my cozy little loft and the wife is happy!! Thanks for sharing your experiences with all of us. 😊