MUCKERS SUNDAY HILL CLIMB. 07/01/24
ROUVY Route Used: La Vuelta 2023 | Stage 13 – Tourmalet | 11.49 miles | 4557 ft climbing |
From the BEST OF LA VUELTA 2023 – ASCIENDE challenge.
96 REGISTERED | 62 STARTERS | 55 FINISHERS | 7 DNF | 34 DNS
We knew it wasn’t going to be long before we had to get on with some climbing if you are on ROUVY and want to complete challenges 😉! So the first one this year is a trip up the Tourmalet and how weird is it that after the routes that have been coming up over the last few months, that, 4557ft doesn’t seem too bad 😂🙄.. I’m sure it will be once we set off
A top 3 all under 60 minutes is what we got this morning! “Gil.Mas.io” getting the win, 8 seconds in front of the chasing pair of “kaihu” and a NED😥 which is a shame. “TOR68” in a bit of no-mans-land in 4th, As is the strong British rider “MARK_J” in 5th, 2 NEDS, then we seem to have a challenge for 8th which was won by “BareRemi”, just 9 seconds up the road from “RocketRoy” in 9th. Rounding out the top 10 is the strong Dane (are there any that aren’t!!) “m-forby”
I do love it when we have over 50 riders on the start line (so I mention the top 20 rather than top 10) on a Sunday as usually this next group of 10 riders have the potential for a first mention! Only seems to happen on a Sunday so lets see if any of these guys mention in the comments that its the first time or not?? I’m not even going to promote our “mention” T-Shirt as we will soon be releasing the 2024 version of it so if you do get a mention and want the T-Shirt and proudly show off this achievement, then hang fire for a few weeks and get the 2024 version!!
Not the best start for new mentions with 11th to 14th all being a NEDs even though Friends requests were sent as they registered for the event and even straight after which was well over 4 hours ago, so our first mention is to 15th place which is one of our regulars in the guise of “Stefan_Schmidt” in front of another pair of regulars “CerveloKevin” in 16th and “HalAir” in 17th! (I’m kind wondering if I should delete the previous paragraph now…. but no, it might make for funny reading!)
Hopefully “Kozubik_Roman73” is the new mention rider I’m hoping for in 18th , or even “EddyDomino” with his strong ride to 19th?? I can dream can’t I!!?? 🙄🙄🤞🤞🤞. So, last mention goes to regular rider “boogybill70” with a nice strong ride to 20th place.
Well done to all 55 riders who finished this non-stop climb today, its a long slog but a great feeling when you cross the line so I hope the nice number of riders on the “hill” kept you motivated and pushing on!
It’s been a while since I mentioned these 2 things so if you have raced with us a few times now and like what we do, we’d love it if you’d add Muckers Worldwide as your team name! The more we can spread the word when you guys jump on other events, the more chance we have of attracting the larger amount of entries that want to ride with a group of like minded riders who just want to ride these routes as a big group and let the kids race up front if they want 😉
Second thing is we do have a WhatsApp group for the guys who really love the whole Muckers Worldwide ethos of Banter and Encouragement! We have nearly 30 regular riders on there now from all around the world so it can get a bit busy sometimes (usually when you are asleep or working) so if you are one of those that can’t stand going to WhatsApp and seeing 50+ unread messages, its probably not for you. But if you think it is, drop me a message and we will get the ball rolling. Alternatively we are on Strava, Instagram, Discord and Facebook so there’s plenty of ways to get involved and either myself, Kyle, or one of the Muckers will always help you out with anything you ask.
And lastly, I always mention the shop, but its the only way we keep the lights on so for all you new guys, we have a shop!! Take a look and hopefully you see something you like as any purchase really does help us keep this thing going. Also check out our 2024 Cycling gear which we designed in conjunction with the superb sports brand Owayo @ Owayo/MuckersWorldwide. We’ve already had jerseys go to the USA, Denmark and Germany to name but a few so we expect to see them feature on Strava, Facebook and insta posts as soon as we get out into the real world!!
Keep scrolling for different categories race results and please pop a comment in the comments section so we know how the race went for yourselves.
Next Muckers race is on Tuesday. 3 start times for the same route, main 7pm(GMT) link below:
https://my.rouvy.com/onlinerace/live/140155
FULL RESULTS TABLE:
| # | Cat. | User | Age | Team | time | GAP | MPH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men |  Gil.Mad.io | 40-49 | 0:59:45.3 | 11.54 | ||
| 2 | Men |  Kaihu | 50-59 | Team Ponsse | 0:59:54.9 | 0:00:08.8 | 11.51 |
| 3 | Men |  Rubberburn.Marc | 50-59 | 0:59:54.3 | 0:00:08.10 | 11.51 | |
| 4 | Men |  TOR68 | 50-59 | VAL RENDENA RUNNING | 1:01:01.7 | 0:01:15.8 | 11.3 |
| 5 | Men |  MARK_J | 40-49 | Wrexham Roads Club | 1:02:52.2 | 0:03:06.9 | 10.96 |
| 6 | Men | saintsteven72 | 50-59 | Paisley Brazilians | 1:03:36.2 | 0:03:50.9 | 10.84 |
| 7 | Men |  Tomich | 30-39 | 1:04:30.2 | 0:04:44.9 | 10.69 | |
| 8 | Men |  BareRemi | 30-39 | Narvik | 1:05:12.6 | 0:05:27.3 | 10.57 |
| 9 | Men | RocketRoy | 50-59 | Moon Riders | 1:05:21.6 | 0:05:36.3 | 10.55 |
| 10 | Men |  m-forby | 40-49 | 1:05:45.9 | 0:05:59.8 | 10.48 | |
| 11 | Men |  -Kulis | 30-39 | 1:07:04.2 | 0:07:18.9 | 10.28 | |
| 12 | Men | Siggen69 | 50-59 | Bømlo Sk | 1:07:25.8 | 0:07:40.5 | 10.22 |
| 13 | Men |  Bartlomiej_Rzeznik | 17-29 | Decathlon Rzeszów | 1:08:03.6 | 0:08:17.8 | 10.13 |
| 14 | Men |  schraddel1 | 50-59 | 1:09:03.8 | 0:09:18.5 | 9.98 | |
| 15 | Men | Stefan_Schmidt | 40-49 | 1:13:21.9 | 0:13:36.6 | 9.4 | |
| 16 | Men | CerveloKevin | 50-59 | Moon Riders | 1:15:28.6 | 0:15:43.3 | 9.13 |
| 17 | Men | HalAir | 40-49 | M49 | 1:15:32.3 | 0:15:47.1 | 9.13 |
| 18 | Men | Kozubik_Roman73 | 50-59 | Zlín – Masters | 1:15:41.7 | 0:15:56.4 | 9.11 |
| 19 | Men |  EddyDomino | 50-59 | LPDA Pro Team – Organicoach.fr | 1:15:56.9 | 0:16:11.6 | 9.08 |
| 20 | Men | boogybill70 | 50-59 | 1:16:59.3 | 0:17:14.3 | 8.95 | |
| 21 | Men | CameronLees | 60+ | 1:18:08.5 | 0:18:23.2 | 8.82 | |
| 22 | Men | nvdb | 50-59 | 1:18:26.9 | 0:18:41.5 | 8.79 | |
| 23 | Women | HeikeHardt | 60+ | 1:18:38.1 | 0:18:52.8 | 8.77 | |
| 24 | Men | Tonda103 | 50-59 | 1:19:18.6 | 0:19:33.3 | 8.69 | |
| 25 | Men | teamojo | 40-49 | 1:22:37.8 | 0:22:52.5 | 8.34 | |
| 26 | Men |  SwissChris69 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:22:53.5 | 0:23:08.2 | 8.32 |
| 27 | Men |  BMC1 | 60+ | 1:23:13.2 | 0:23:27.9 | 8.28 | |
| 28 | Men | Tonyfilipp86 | 30-39 | 1:23:31.1 | 0:23:45.8 | 8.25 | |
| 29 | Men | uffzynda | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:24:48.7 | 0:25:03.4 | 8.13 |
| 30 | Men |  dmitrygrib | 40-49 | 1:25:34.8 | 0:25:49.5 | 8.06 | |
| 31 | Men |  Southafro | 50-59 | None | 1:25:57.9 | 0:26:12.5 | 8.02 |
| 32 | Men | RegParaMa8 | 50-59 | 1:30:00.8 | 0:30:15.5 | 7.66 | |
| 33 | Men | kylofski | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:30:53.2 | 0:31:07.9 | 7.58 |
| 34 | Men |  wlindeboom | 60+ | 1:31:11.8 | 0:31:26.5 | 7.56 | |
| 35 | Men | dariodefelice | 40-49 | 1:32:57.5 | 0:33:12.2 | 7.42 | |
| 36 | Men | KochaA | 40-49 | 1:34:06.8 | 0:34:21.5 | 7.32 | |
| 37 | Women | SillySilNL | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide & de Gastjes | 1:35:15.8 | 0:35:30.5 | 7.24 |
| 38 | Men | gyroman | 60+ | 1:35:45.1 | 0:35:59.8 | 7.2 | |
| 39 | Men | tomlerieger | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:36:10.3 | 0:36:25.3 | 7.17 |
| 40 | Men | Hinni | 50-59 | 1:37:53.8 | 0:38:08.5 | 7.04 | |
| 41 | Men | Andy_UP | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:39:50.3 | 0:40:05.2 | 6.9 |
| 42 | Men | Slyfly | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:39:50.7 | 0:40:05.4 | 6.9 |
| 43 | Men | patochepic | 60+ | ROUVY France Facebook RFR | 1:40:49.7 | 0:41:04.4 | 6.84 |
| 44 | Men | S.Ludford | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide & Farnham RC | 1:41:41.7 | 0:41:56.4 | 6.78 |
| 45 | Men | TomaszMaczka | 40-49 | TOMAZI BIKE TEAM | 1:42:11.4 | 0:42:26.1 | 6.75 |
| 46 | Men | Toppless | 30-39 | 1:42:33.7 | 0:42:48.4 | 6.72 | |
| 47 | Men | skripnit | 50-59 | 1:45:55.7 | 0:46:10.4 | 6.51 | |
| 48 | Men |  CyclePanda | 50-59 | 1:46:47.6 | 0:47:02.3 | 6.46 | |
| 49 | Men | alain0857 | 60+ | USMC les Clayes sous Bois | 1:48:14.9 | 0:48:29.6 | 6.37 |
| 50 | Men | ambrounette | 60+ | 1:51:32.5 | 0:51:47.2 | 6.18 | |
| 51 | Men | sport-bernd | 60+ | LG Neuhütten, www.LGNeu.de | 1:54:20.6 | 0:54:35.3 | 6.03 |
| 52 | Men | DionThomsen | 60+ | BIWise | 1:59:07.2 | 0:59:21.9 | 5.79 |
| 53 | Men | Mucker1974 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 2:00:57.8 | 1:01:12.5 | 5.7 |
| 54 | Men | stetopps | 60+ | WBCCC | 2:07:49.7 | 1:08:04.4 | 5.39 |
| 55 | Men |  CY_KUO | 40-49 | 2:11:34.2 | 1:11:48.9 | 5.24 | |
| dnf | Men | SpotTheZebra | 50-59 | Clifton Cycling Club | dnf | – | |
| dnf | Men | 74mikfre | 40-49 | dnf | – | ||
| dnf | Men | Lukasz_Zielinski | 40-49 | dnf | – | ||
| dnf | Women | LaurenWolff | 50-59 | ROUVY | dnf | – | |
| dnf | Men | daviddelafosse | 50-59 | ROUVY France Facebook | dnf | – | |
| dnf | Men | simone81176 | 40-49 | dnf | – | ||
| dnf | Men | Joaquim36 | 50-59 | dnf | – |
WOMANS RESULT TABLE:
| # | Category | User | Age | Team | Race time | Time GAP | AVG MPH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Women | HeikeHardt | 60+ | 1:18:38.1 | 0:18:52.8 | 8.77 | |
| 2 | Women | SillySilNL | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide & de Gastjes | 1:35:15.8 | 0:35:30.5 | 7.24 |
| 3 | Women | LaurenWolff | 50-59 | ROUVY | dnf | – |
17-29 RESULT TABLE:
| # | Category | User | Age Group | Team | Race time | Time GAP | Average MPH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men | Bartlomiej_Rzeznik | 17-29 | Decathlon Rzeszów | 1:08:03.6 | 0:08:17.8 | 10.13 |
30-39 RESULT TABLE:
| # | Category | User | Age Groupe | Team | Race time | Time GAP | AVG Speed [mi/h] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men | Tomich | 30-39 | 1:04:30.2 | 0:04:44.9 | 10.69 | |
| 2 | Men | BareRemi | 30-39 | Narvik | 1:05:12.6 | 0:05:27.3 | 10.57 |
| 3 | Men | -Kulis | 30-39 | 1:07:04.2 | 0:07:18.9 | 10.28 | |
| 4 | Men | Tonyfilipp86 | 30-39 | 1:23:31.1 | 0:23:45.8 | 8.25 | |
| 5 | Men | Toppless | 30-39 | 1:42:33.7 | 0:42:48.4 | 6.72 |
40-49 RESULT TABLE
| # | Cat. | User | Age Group | Team | Race time | Time GAP | AVG Speed [mi/h] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men | Gil.Mad.io | 40-49 | 0:59:45.3 | 11.54 | ||
| 2 | Men | MARK_J | 40-49 | Wrexham Roads Club | 1:02:52.2 | 0:03:06.9 | 10.96 |
| 3 | Men | m-forby | 40-49 | 1:05:45.9 | 0:05:59.8 | 10.48 | |
| 4 | Men | Stefan_Schmidt | 40-49 | 1:13:21.9 | 0:13:36.6 | 9.4 | |
| 5 | Men | HalAir | 40-49 | M49 | 1:15:32.3 | 0:15:47.1 | 9.13 |
| 6 | Men | teamojo | 40-49 | 1:22:37.8 | 0:22:52.5 | 8.34 | |
| 7 | Men | dmitrygrib | 40-49 | 1:25:34.8 | 0:25:49.5 | 8.06 | |
| 8 | Men | kylofski | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:30:53.2 | 0:31:07.9 | 7.58 |
| 9 | Men | dariodefelice | 40-49 | 1:32:57.5 | 0:33:12.2 | 7.42 | |
| 10 | Men | KochaA | 40-49 | 1:34:06.8 | 0:34:21.5 | 7.32 | |
| 11 | Men | Andy_UP | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:39:50.3 | 0:40:05.2 | 6.9 |
| 12 | Men | TomaszMaczka | 40-49 | TOMAZI BIKE TEAM | 1:42:11.4 | 0:42:26.1 | 6.75 |
| 13 | Men | Mucker1974 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 2:00:57.8 | 1:01:12.5 | 5.7 |
| 14 | Men | CY_KUO | 40-49 | 2:11:34.2 | 1:11:48.9 | 5.24 |
50-59 RESULT TABLE:
| # | Cat. | User | Age | Team | Race time | Time GAP | MPH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men | Kaihu | 50-59 | Team Ponsse | 0:59:54.9 | 0:00:08.8 | 11.51 |
| 2 | Men | Rubberburn.Marc | 50-59 | 0:59:54.3 | 0:00:08.10 | 11.51 | |
| 3 | Men | TOR68 | 50-59 | VAL RENDENA RUNNING | 1:01:01.7 | 0:01:15.8 | 11.3 |
| 4 | Men | saintsteven72 | 50-59 | Paisley Brazilians | 1:03:36.2 | 0:03:50.9 | 10.84 |
| 5 | Men | RocketRoy | 50-59 | Moon Riders | 1:05:21.6 | 0:05:36.3 | 10.55 |
| 6 | Men | Siggen69 | 50-59 | Bømlo Sk | 1:07:25.8 | 0:07:40.5 | 10.22 |
| 7 | Men | schraddel1 | 50-59 | 1:09:03.8 | 0:09:18.5 | 9.98 | |
| 8 | Men | CerveloKevin | 50-59 | Moon Riders | 1:15:28.6 | 0:15:43.3 | 9.13 |
| 9 | Men | Kozubik_Roman73 | 50-59 | Zlín – Masters | 1:15:41.7 | 0:15:56.4 | 9.11 |
| 10 | Men | EddyDomino | 50-59 | LPDA Pro Team – Organicoach.fr | 1:15:56.9 | 0:16:11.6 | 9.08 |
| 11 | Men | boogybill70 | 50-59 | 1:16:59.3 | 0:17:14.3 | 8.95 | |
| 12 | Men | nvdb | 50-59 | 1:18:26.9 | 0:18:41.5 | 8.79 | |
| 13 | Men | Tonda103 | 50-59 | 1:19:18.6 | 0:19:33.3 | 8.69 | |
| 14 | Men | SwissChris69 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:22:53.5 | 0:23:08.2 | 8.32 |
| 15 | Men | uffzynda | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:24:48.7 | 0:25:03.4 | 8.13 |
| 16 | Men | Southafro | 50-59 | None | 1:25:57.9 | 0:26:12.5 | 8.02 |
| 17 | Men | RegParaMa8 | 50-59 | 1:30:00.8 | 0:30:15.5 | 7.66 | |
| 18 | Women | SillySilNL | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide & de Gastjes | 1:35:15.8 | 0:35:30.5 | 7.24 |
| 19 | Men | tomlerieger | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:36:10.3 | 0:36:25.3 | 7.17 |
| 20 | Men | Hinni | 50-59 | 1:37:53.8 | 0:38:08.5 | 7.04 | |
| 21 | Men | Slyfly | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:39:50.7 | 0:40:05.4 | 6.9 |
| 22 | Men | S.Ludford | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide & Farnham RC | 1:41:41.7 | 0:41:56.4 | 6.78 |
| 23 | Men | skripnit | 50-59 | 1:45:55.7 | 0:46:10.4 | 6.51 | |
| 24 | Men | CyclePanda | 50-59 | 1:46:47.6 | 0:47:02.3 | 6.46 |
60+ RESULT TABLE
| # | Cat. | User | Age | Team | Racetime | Time GAP | AVG Speed [mi/h] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men | CameronLees | 60+ | 1:18:08.5 | 0:18:23.2 | 8.82 | |
| 2 | Women | HeikeHardt | 60+ | 1:18:38.1 | 0:18:52.8 | 8.77 | |
| 3 | Men | BMC1 | 60+ | 1:23:13.2 | 0:23:27.9 | 8.28 | |
| 4 | Men | wlindeboom | 60+ | 1:31:11.8 | 0:31:26.5 | 7.56 | |
| 5 | Men | gyroman | 60+ | 1:35:45.1 | 0:35:59.8 | 7.2 | |
| 6 | Men | patochepic | 60+ | ROUVY France Facebook RFR | 1:40:49.7 | 0:41:04.4 | 6.84 |
| 7 | Men | alain0857 | 60+ | USMC les Clayes sous Bois | 1:48:14.9 | 0:48:29.6 | 6.37 |
| 8 | Men | ambrounette | 60+ | 1:51:32.5 | 0:51:47.2 | 6.18 | |
| 9 | Men | sport-bernd | 60+ | LG Neuhütten, www.LGNeu.de | 1:54:20.6 | 0:54:35.3 | 6.03 |
| 10 | Men | DionThomsen | 60+ | BIWise | 1:59:07.2 | 0:59:21.9 | 5.79 |
| 11 | Men | stetopps | 60+ | WBCCC | 2:07:49.7 | 1:08:04.4 | 5.39 |
This is definitely a testing time for me at the moment. Warm up seemed ok, set off and as i put the power down harder, my watts went the wrong way!!?? 3 or 4 mins of messing with the WattBike (basically a few off and ons) and all seemed ok, but i was in about 62nd place and my hopes of a steady run up the climb to see how i faired, was now gone. So what to do… decided on a zone 4 hr effort and some fargo on prime! Got to an hour and I had only done 5.4 miles and still had 6.11 miles left. also I’d only done 2096ft climbing and had 2461 left!! so well behind half way… again, what to do?? I’m now switching it up to zone 5 and lets see if i can do the 2nd half in an hour! off i went, i was last place in 58th at this point! i soon got “stetopps”, next was “davidelafossa”, then “CY_kUO” next up the road was “DionThomsen” but the only wat to close the gap was zone 6! go on then, lets have a go and for 20 mins i was closing and got the gap down to 550ft, but then i bonked! Gap to the back was nice so I just paced home and finished 57 seconds over the 2 hour mark. Shame as I missed what was going on in Fargo when i decided to go for Dion as all i was doing was watching the gaps and really thought i was going to catch! Ah well, such is life as they say.
I was thinking about cross-country skiing today, but it was too cold in the morning (-25c) 🥶 so it was nice to return to the Muckers competition 😃. Me, Gil.Mad.io, Rubberburn.Marc and TOR68 ride a nice hard race. I thought about going hard enough from the start, saving my strength, but I couldn’t do it when the guys increased the gas and then we went hard. The situation was bad at the end, there was no strength and Gil.Mad was very fast. He won with a great ride, me and Rubberburn.Marc fought for second and third place. Thanks to all participants and thanks to Muckers for organizing.
I didn’t recognise any nearby names when I first started so pushed a little harder than I wanted to see if they were just ahead. No-one appeared so I kept up the 2.6-2.9 pace and eventually passed a couple of names I knew before Muckers Andy_UP and Slyfly came up behind me. They kept a nice steady pace I could live with, stretching the elastic occasionally but allowing me to gradually reel back in. Without them, there is no way I had the motivation to ride this pace alone. I held on for an hour then watched them up the pace in the last mile while I ensured I held my position behind.
Race stats: Age : 56, Weight : 95kg, IF=0.865
Averages : 142bpm, 250w, 2.63w/kg
Sorry Neil, I was already mentioned the 22/10/2023…
Today we had a terrible climb: Tourmalet west. We were a small group riding together during the first half nvdb, HeikeHardt, CameronLee, Tonda103,, it was nice, hard and challenging. The end was difficult, but I was able to keep my pace and also increased it a little. It was another nice race, waiting for the terrific Stelvio next week 🙂
Happy new year with Muckers!
After Mt. Ventoux Circle these numbers in both distance or elevation did not initimidate much, but it does not lessen the grind to get up Le Tourmalet one bit 😂 Youngest son turned 10 this morning and wished for breakfast and hot chocolate in bed, so had to accomodate – fortunately he was awake early enough so I could get into warming up at around 9am / in the start pen before 9:30. So far so good 😀
Race start, good power from the beginning and let my HR rise to threshold levels without rushing it, I knew the ascent would become “5min longer than desired” regardless so focussed on getting into the zone/bubble, and trying to slow but steady close gaps on the chaps immideately ahead. Passed nvdb and BoogyBill about 20min into the ride, Stefan came flying past after a late start and 5min later my turbo decided to go offline, big N/A displaying in Power/Cadence box top left and my ascent up the hill came to a complete halt. Unplugged the turbo, powered it back on and went into Rouvy and disconnected / reconnected sensors.. The “Connecting” status displayed but appeared to take ages before finally connection was re-established and I could move again! Phew 😅
nvdb anf BoogyBill had passed me in the process so the chase was on once again…
Another rider came from the back, Kozubik_Roman, which seemed to take hard short efforts to reel us in, and passed me with 6-7w/kg efforts and settled down 100-150m ahead.
For the rest of the climb there really wasnt that much action, we were few who remained fairly close to one another, but no real distance change occured so back into my I went “bubble”.
Towards the end I saw Kozubik fall closer, but he did surge on again maintaining distance, and EddyDomino was pushing from behind, so I had to watch out or I would get overtaken!
500m to finish line I saw Kozubik seemed to have emptied his tank, distance was diminishing and no surges were seen…could I reel him in? Pushed the little extra, knowing Eddy could threaten me and hoping Kozubik was within reach…Hope turned into chance and chance turned into a “sprint” and I managed to pass Kozubik 30m before the finish line, securing me 17th position 🙂
Beautiful scenery, especially with the morning sun spilling over the high valley peaks, in any other way this route was brutal 🤣 But also very rewarding, as this ride gave me my highest ever power for any 1+hr ride, despite not going deep into HR Z6/7 (avg HR was 85% of my max) and the high training volume from the past 8 weeks.
Congrats to all that decided to race today and “looking forward” to Stelvio next Sunday!
Intensity factor 1.01 and 88kg net rider weight, on the Rouvy bike, I am now only 5k short in Coins for my first bike upgrade – with the Giant Adv. SL0 on my initial wish list 😍
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I didn’t feel it. It happens on a sunday morning. Got on the bike, and started nice, easy and slow. I just wanted to get the job done. Suddenly, I see Steven Ludford up the road, but he has a nice gap of 150m. Steven is someone that does a nice pace, and doesn’t slow down. If I don’t want to do the next 1.5h alone, he is my alternative, so I pick up the pace, just go a little bit harder than his w/kg, and I will slowly close the gap. I pass Slyfly in the process. He new on our WhatsApp group. He let me pass, I get a gap of 30m and something in his head must have go “Hmmm, no, I’m not going to let him go” so he closes the gap and even starts pulling. I’m trying to stay in hr zone 4 but it’s close to 5. But I stay in his wheel. We close the gap to Steven. He takes the wheel and I think Slyfly slowed a bit down when he noticed he might be going a bit to fast for us (I really wanted this to be a zone 4 effort, trainingwise) Slyfly kept dictating the pace and we kept his wheel. It felt like a nice sunday Muckers ride. Last 1.5km (avg of about 10%) I took the lead, going 3.2w/kg. Slyfly didn’t want to let me go. Steven didn’t want to get in the red so he just kept his pace. Last 500m 3.5w/kg. Last 250m 4w/kg. Last 150m 5w/kg. This starts to hurt but I see Slyfly struggeling to keep up with my w/kg, so one last push to end this sunday fun. This is what the Muckers are all about. Not wanting to ride today and ended up with a nice ride and some fun. Love it.
Came out of bed but felt nor very fresh, some kind of a cold maybe. started without long warm uo and tried to keep 3W/kg. Saw Chris flying by, then Kyle and also SillySil. Rod some kms with Silvia but not could not keep up and felt under 3W/kg. Was happy to finish after 95min. burnt out the cold? we will see on the tuesday race!
pedal on, Tom
Sunday morning rides are not really my thing Tom, so I wanted it to be over with ASAP. I tried to stay with Kyle, but he kept on going over 3.0 W/kg. I can do that on a flat route, but definitely not on a constant climb for 1.5 hours 😱. I was very glad we could ride together for a while. Always better than riding alone!
After admitting last Tuesday that I no longer enjoy hills, I resolved to overcome my aversion. Today’s hill climb featured the Col du Tourmalet, spanning 11 miles with a 4500ft ascent. Let’s go. My initial goal was to maintain a zone 4 heart rate, but I opted for a steady pace instead. My new consistent speed is 3.1 – 3.3 W/KG, and I adhered to it all the way to the summit. During the first half of the race, I rode alongside SillySiNL, who kept me motivated when I considered slowing down. In the second half, I was closing in on wlindeboom, ultimately catching him in the last 0.5 mile. It was a challenging ride, but we made it. See you all on Tuesday.
Apologies for the late post. I knew this would hurt ,in fact I’d stayed away from these “toothy” climbs for a while. With big boy pants on I rode mostly alone except for the occasional mountain goat blasting past. They weren’t even sweating. A couple km’s from the end dmitrygrib eventually came into view, unfortunately I also popped up on his rear view mirror. He lit an afterburner or something and left me for dead with hopes
dashed of a top 30. The challenge with him will resume this Sunday. Perhaps Rouvy’s new Madone will make the difference 😋. Thank you to all riding.