MUCKERS ‘TOP ROUTES’ RACE NIGHT. 28/09/23

ROUVY Route Used: Hills of Flanders | Belgium | 28.89 miles | 2798.56 ft climbing

58 REGISTERED | 30 FINISHERS | 18 DNF | 10 DNS

The 2nd race of the week with no challenges left to schedule so as we did a brilliant crit race last time out, lets do a proper epic route tonight while we have the chance! Hills of Flanders is one of my all time favorite routes on ROUVY so this had to be the first one in the series we are calling ‘Top Routes’

To have 48 riders on the start line for this tough race that wasn’t going to count to any challenge out there, was a great surprise. This was just the riders who fancied having a go and a race on this route and we really hope you enjoyed it.

“Tuden” is smashing these races up at the moment and claimed first place here by 30 seconds over really strong German rider “Simon_Hahnenbruch” who himself was a massive 3 minutes in front of the just as strong “Karel_sousek” in 3rd. Really strong riding but ithinkwe need to put these guys on some fixies or something!!!

The rest of the placings are all quite spread out with no sprints outs over the line, but I think that horrible red hill right near the end might have just popped a few riders legs!

4th goes to French rider “Stephane-martin” whos now becoming a strong top 10 regular, with Spanish GURE rider “Minyana_GURE” in 5th.

Representing the Muckers Worldwide team in fine style in the next 2 places comes “nielsbrynnm” in 6th and “Berty-Bassett6” in 7th. Only 7 minutes behind Tuden over a very long route is superb and you guys just keep that pressure on those top riders!

8th comes regular brit “robbiedoo” with a fine effort, then the 3rd Muckers Worldwide Team rider in the top 10 : “tomlerieger” finishing just in front of the Portugese rider “leonelcunha” in 10th who was being chased down hard by a duo of Muckers as well.

Top 10 mentions done and please, if you’ve not had a look, please go and have a look at our store where we do have a special T-Shirt that celebrates this achievement! (and might even be in your language?)

But also, to the rest of you that finished this hard but epic route, remember you finished in front of 18 other riders that couldn’t hack it for whatever reason! That’s worth shouting about as this was a tough race.

And finally, this is the last race where we won’t be applying the new rules and regulations to the final standings on our website, with the first one to have them applied to will be this Sundays race as Sunday races will now start getting a report of its own from October. Please make sure you are familair with them if having yourself included on here matters to you.

ok, that’s all for now. thanks again everyone and see you on the next one!

#Cat.UserTeamDistanceTime
1Men DK TudenFlø Garage Cycling28.888 mi1:12:21.5
2Men DE Simon_HahnenbruchCycling Team Rhein-Main+0 ft+ 0:00:30.8
3Men CZ karel_sousekCK Vinohradské Šlapky+0 ft+ 0:03:43.5
4Men FR stephane-martinTroyesAubeCyclisme+0 ft+ 0:05:31.6
5Men ES Minyana_GUREGURE+0 ft+ 0:06:29.3
6Men DK nielsbrynnumMuckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:07:06.6
7Men GB Berty-Bassett6Muckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:07:41.8
8Men GB robbiedooEastbourne Rovers CC+0 ft+ 0:08:25.5
9Men CH tomleriegerMuckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:09:16.3
10Men PT leonelcunhaZARCO+0 ft+ 0:09:23.6
11Men CA MikeHagenMuckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:11:11.4
12Men GB kylofskiMuckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:11:18.2
13Men DK tranbergCK GOG+0 ft+ 0:11:49.3
14Men NL Paulmul+0 ft+ 0:11:55.3
15Men DE MatthiasHeilwww.matthias-heil.co.uk/rvy_racing+0 ft+ 0:12:37.7
16Men DK GrochangBareCykling.dk+0 ft+ 0:12:50.1
17Men FR lrollin+0 ft+ 0:13:31.9
18Men BE Andy_UPMuckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:14:40.6
19Men CH SwissChris69Muckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:16:41.4
20Men NL Jan-Paul_V+0 ft+ 0:19:27.6
21Men CZ TomBuilderHandball Úvaly+0 ft+ 0:20:15.3
22Men DK flyger+0 ft+ 0:21:26.6
23Men DE Robi69+0 ft+ 0:21:32.9
24Men GB Mucker1974Muckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:21:48.2
25Men CA RoyZ+0 ft+ 0:21:56.8
26Men GB Lyndon65Muckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:21:59.5
27Men DE jazzist+0 ft+ 0:25:38.2
28Men AT TonyJagerKain Performance+0 ft+ 0:29:23.7
29Men PL mareckiiVO2max MTB Team+0 ft+ 0:38:06.2
30Men GB SwiftyMuckers Worldwide+0 ft+ 0:41:50.4
31Men DK DolphWaderMuckers Worldwide
32Men DE OBU2021Team Toskana
33Men NL gjmeer
34Men CA Mauro.
35Men BE Pascal_332788MTB Feel free
36Men GB PlomeyNick
37Men PL michalll1976
38Men GB srichards
39Men IE Angry1
40Men BE Toine007
41Men US Pastor-Easter
42Men DE c.v.
43Men FR Fred60
44Men PT racingkoala
45Men GB Jontaro
46Men AR nicoarballoAGMT2
47Men PL Huko1974
48Men AT Bernhard89

Neil Rushby

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...

You may also like...

26 Responses

  1. Neil Rushby says:

    24th and spent a lot of time with Lyndon on this race! ended up 4 minutes faster than the last time I did this route as well so all in all, a really enjoyable race! It was also special for me as this was the area we had our first muckers worldwide get together earlier this year and to see some of the climbs, roads, structures that we saw in real life, was just brilliant. what a great experience and deffo nothing that the “Z” platform could ever get near to.

  2. Mads Grosen says:

    First time on HR ZONE 4, and thought I did well until I saw my HR stats – oh boy 4 minutes and 14 seconds in zone 5 😬 It had to be Matthias Heil and Laurent Rollin who got me carried away on those ramps😉

    Interesting way to work on your aerobic endurance. Not the last time I’ll do this task. See you all next time and thanks Muckers for all these race’s

    • Neil Rushby says:

      hi, we are hopefully going to get on with flat out race/championships on Tuesdays , then more training races on Thursdays. keep an eye out for the invites that are coming soon.

  3. Karel Soušek says:

    Back to the Flanders with Mucker’s race. Long route with climbs should fit my style, but despite all out effort Simon / Tuden left right after start in first steep climb pushing 8w/kg enough long to make a gap. I did not give up, because legs were fine, hoping for weak moment in the front. I was riding for a while with Stephane Martin, but then decided continue solo. Stucked in the middle of these two groups, but guys in front were so strong today. Stephane in hindsight, tough effort till the finish line. Very good race and as always, thanks to all who joined!

  4. lrollin says:

    Don’t you think it would be interesting to offer a category system like on Zwift based on FTP?
    Category A: 4.0 w/kg FTP or higher
    Category B: 3.2 w/kg to 4.0 w/kg FTP Category C: 2.5 w/kg to 3.2 w/kg FTP Category D: Under 2.5 w/kg FTP

    Because we don’t fight on equal terms

    • Kyle Goodram says:

      When I used to use the “Z” platform I used to race C category. But since moving over to Rouvy I am now sat between B and A Category. The problem I have with category races racers stick to their own Category and as I fouls out last night the really strong riders who would normally be pulling mid 4s were dropping into the 3s which then gave me the chance to catch them. This wouldn’t happen if you use the Category races.

      We might look at doing cool down races at 2.5 W/KG or Sunday races at zone 4 HR like we did a few weeks ago. But Neil.is your man for the routes, I’m just here for the ride.

      • lrollin says:

        I’m just talking about a classification by category of watts not to partition the races like at Zwift. The categories by watts seem to have more sense than age.

        • Neil Rushby says:

          totally agree mucker but like i said on Strava, we really don’t want to make it overly complicated for ourselves or the riders taking part. But it is something we are keeping in mind. thanks.

  5. Mike Hagen says:

    Was going to sit this one out as I’m feeling beat up, but several Muckers were saying the same thing in the pre-race chat but would race anyway. Okay. So will I. Even though the Flanders course does not suit me at all: the Koppenberg right at the start would crater my chances of going with a lead group, and, well, so many hills! The Koppenberg was not kind, 16th at the top, but moved up a little on the following downhill. Settled into a group with tomlerieger, lrollin, tranberg, and leonelcunha. We seemed to work well together but the constant ups and downs made it hard to tell. On one of the hills, don’t know which one, it’s all a blur now, Tom and Tranberg got away leaving me with Leonel. Next hill, Leonel got away from me, but on the next downhill I got back on, just in time for the hill after that where he dropped me for good. Now by myself I’m watching behind where kylofski, MattiasHeil, and Andy_UP have something going–really don’t want those chasers to catch me. See Kyle surge away from them, then just after the third split at the bottom of yet another hill, I drop my chain! It takes a lot out of a guy to jump off his bike, fix the chain, jump back on, and get going again. Kyle was only 35 m back by then, so I waited. We worked well together, saw the boom ahead when Tranberg exploded, he responded a little when we caught him, but couldn’t stick — he was done. Now approaching Paterberg, Kyle is not easing off, and I’m happy on his wheel thinking there’s no way I’m beating him up it. We turn the corner and I’m out of the saddle, head down, pushing 7 W/kg as long as I can, look up, and wtf is Kyle? 5 m back! Hill easing, upshifting, still mashing up to 6 and 7 W/kg, over the top, same thing on the downslope, don’t want to be caught the last 500 m, HR redlining, can’t breathe, can’t see. Gosh that was a fun race, I’m glad I changed my mind about sitting out.

    • Kyle Goodram says:

      Well done. My biggest problem is I give it sll during the race and save nothing for the last 0.3 of a mile. so I always get dropped. Rens did it to me on Tuesday and got 20th place and a mention.

    • Alexander Tranberg says:

      Oh man I exploded, but what a fun route. But obviously too long for my legs – the last four hills were really painful.

  6. Tony C. Jager says:

    Enjoyed the ride today. Had a delayed start, cause I was debating whether to race or not. Not a 100% at the moment. Anyways, started out slow and aloft into a rhythm and it started to feel good. Could not quite close the gap o ce I saw mucker1974 on the radar.
    I enjoyed the ride. Lots of god riders out there. Hopefully I will be able to attend some more rides in the future. Only drag is the time difference and I still work 😁

  7. Henrik Jørgensen says:

    Super cool route for tonight’s race👌 but a bit on the long side, with the possibility of exploding into thousands of pieces when you get beyond the one-hour race. really cool👍 I’m always about to fall off the bike laughing when Mattias Heil opens the start😆 always like shot out of a cannon, but it burns out quickly. Never quite figured out exactly why he bothers to do it every time, but it’s really funny. Not really the big master plan for tonight’s race, apart from keeping up with Simon Hanebruch anyway. It turned out that it was also the two of us who quickly took the lead and got away from everyone else. We ran a nice pair race for large parts of the route, and we took it in turns to push each other. But I don’t know what’s up with him these days, because for the second time I managed to outsmart him with a long range attack. And he has not been able to respond again to my attack. So on the second last descent I put the turbo on and got far enough away that I had the necessary lead for the next climb. From here it was just a matter of driving about the same W/kg as he did, and the victory was a reality. I have a theory that Simon has built up a lot of fatigue that is still in his body in that Badlands race. Because he is usually a tougher nut to crack than at the moment. But I enjoy it while it lasts and push myself hard to be at the top. Thanks again to Mucker’s for getting the cogs turning.

    • Matthias says:

      🤪 Some of us lead at the beginning, some at the end (and occasionally a certain Viking of my acquaintance leads at both ends…). Still have a bit of work to do with the finish, but watch this space for further crazy attempts…

  8. Mario says:

    Super race. I like to ride on such routes. The race promised to be fun, unfortunately the equipment failure caused that I wanted to give up, After a while of fighting with the equipment I moved on ….. However, there was no chance for a good place, which did not prevent me from overtaking a few more riders. Now it’s time to shop and see you soon.

  9. Kyle Goodram says:

    Hill of Flanders – looking at the route, it didn’t seem too bad. However, after visiting Flanders earlier this year for a real Muckers Flanders Tour, I know how tough these Bergs can be.

    Another point to note is that everyone in my family is ill, and I had aches and pains all day. Before the race, I was thinking I could push myself to zone 4 if I had the strength.

    Back to the race, Go, first came the famous Koppenberg. I managed to pass a few racers on this challenging section. Upon reaching the top, I found myself alongside “Andy_UP,” the awesome host and tour guide of the real Muckers Flanders Tour. For the next 15 miles, Andy would pull me along the straights, and I would keep pace with him on the hills. We caught up to some formidable riders – “Groch!ang,” “Irollin,” “SwissChris69,” and “MatthiasHeil.” These were incredibly strong riders who would usually be miles ahead of me. All my initial aches and pains were replaced with adrenaline as we sped through the course.

    As we continued, the hills came and went, and we even caught up to “Paulmul” and “tranberg.” I found myself riding with some of the top racers, but one by one, riders began to drop off the pace. I could see “MikeHagen” putting in 3.2 W/KG, and I knew I could catch him – which I did. However, catching “MikeHagen” drained my energy, and we still had the dreaded “Patterberg” to climb. When we hit that hill, “MikeHagen” was pushing an impressive 7W/KG, while I could only manage 4s. He left me behind, but I didn’t mind. I had the incredible opportunity to ride with some exceptionally strong riders and relive the memories of this fantastic Flanders route. Thanks to Muckers for these unforgettable moments.

    Writing this the morning after, I realized I had no aches and pains. The adrenaline must have chased away the cold I was catching. 😁

  10. Torben Adolph says:

    First race and ride after a very tough hiking vacation in Bayern. Painfull archilles decided to set an easy pace but for some reason starting easy and seeing all the other riders in front triggered something in DolphWader. Gained some places until only one leg functioning sent me back again and I had to quit after 27,5 km. Lovely route and great company 🙂

  11. Thomas Rieger says:

    Hills of Flanders; I love and hate this route, you never now if it’s full of pain or full of glory! I did the swiss tri Uri as warm up to be ready for the first beats the koppenberg. Found myself in a strong group on position around 12th an felt very well (glory in sight). we had Leon, Mike, Tranberg lrollin an Matthias in teh group and worked well together. After some more hills, Tranberg and I could opgen a gap of 100m to the rest of the pack and this time we worked very well together and are now safe. But three hills before Paterberg Leon came like a cannonball and overpassed us with 5.5W. I tried everthing to hold his wheel but I lost Tranberg in this climb. I pushed hard on the top an could again open a gap to Leon at about 100m. I thought I’m safe now. But then came the Paterberg and my lead melted again like ice in the sun. Leon pulled again more than 6W and I gave all I had in tank to defend my position. On the top I had 10m left to Leon, but this was enaugh to go in the downhill an got one of this famous places which get a mention!
    this was a long, hard and intensiv race: 162bpm heartrate and 274W. Congrats to all racers which finished this route, it was a pleasure racing with you Gentlemen! cheers Tom

  12. lrollin says:

    Do you have any problems with freezing during races? I have stalls quite regularly which cause me to lose fifteen to twenty meters.

    • Thomas Rieger says:

      I always download the entire route in full HD! no problems with this config.

    • Neil Rushby says:

      The freezing side of things and it throwing you backwards I put down to internet speed/connection strength. Mine does this if I end up in a big group or its been loosing connection a few times during the race. make sure you download the route, make it as small as possible and knock down the quality of the picture as well. I also switch to map mode at the beginning as well now as if there’s a lot of riders on the start line, map mode stops any glitching for those first few hundred meters while everything settles down. hope any of this help.

  13. lee marshall says:

    Had a good start but as usual found myself the weakest link in a small group and slowly but surely got dropped into no man’s land . Could see robbiedoo on my tail so spent the whole race trying my best to keep him just behind and hoping someone would slow from the front to grab a wheel , the 2 in front stayed out of reach but was so annoyed I hadn’t got that kick needed to stay in their draft . Enjoyed it again though and thanks for organising

  14. Lyndon Wright says:

    Top race enjoyed riding with Neil, did not have the legs in the end.,but it’s coming along. Thanks

Leave a Reply to lrollin Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *