John - SR-71 says:

That was a hell of a ride. I have to start by saying I gave it my all and finished in 60th place and I am super happy with that result. The field was full of super strong riders, kudos to all of you.

I may not have gotten a mention in the top 20 but I got the biggest mention ever by Neil in his comment.

I started this race a little different than normal, I pushed off at a medium-hard pace knowing there was a down hill and I’d be able to draft. I was hoping I could save some energy for the hills. And it seemed it worked. I was in a group with Baggers, Squalo, DokPS, hupnkola, hoppy and tieutieu. This group is slightly above my power but I was feeling good riding with them. As we came to the second bigger climb I missed a gear change and was stuck in the big ring. I almost came to a stop. Luckily it was a climb so after I crunched through the gear change the last guy in the group was only 50 feet ahead of me. But this also allowed the following group to catch me. Neil was in this group and he and I mixed it up the rest of the ride. We worked with each other and pushed each other. Using the draft of other riders when we could and jumping gaps to move up. Toward the end we caught RouvyBryon and I knew I was in trouble. It was me against team Muckers, and I was exhausted. We pushed ahead, I was trying to take wheels but had to watch for them to jump. I was planning my own attack, looking for the right time to go. I pulled a little gap on the flat before the final climb and went into the climb trying to ahow enough power to scare them out of trying to bridge back. I didn’t have enough. Neil came around me. I gave one last effort in the final sprint but I was gassed. Neil got me but I held on for 60th.

Dok_PS says:

Du to my travelling, this was only my 2nd race in this Series. It was a nice race I started around 55th position and moved up into the top 20 in the hilly parts. However, again it was difficult for me to stay in my group in the downhill parts. So I needed to close the gaps uphill. But this was impossible after the long downhill section. I was close to the 16thjposition but then I got overtaken by more than 10 riders on the last 8 km and I still felt good … 🤷‍♂️… all on downhill sections… they seem to be on trainers that have a much better downhill gearing then I on my 52/11 roadbike gear… or maybe the kickr v6 is to slow… 🤣… well done all

HalAir says:

I fully expected this to be a fast race, seeing the route profile with a general sloping descent, with two main climbs and a series of smaller hills, if I was after a HIIT-session, this would be it 😆

Yesterday I did a 90min Z1 & low Z2 ride, for volume, hoping it would act as a gentle intro for tonite’s planned effort. Entered the start-line 20min before start and started a gentle warm-up with a couple small/short surges to get the body “in position”.. My plan was go fairly hard out from the start to get as far up front as possible and utilize the long downhills as much as possible and punch on the hills and see how long I would last 🤣

54321 GO – 1000w direct off the line and the first minute averaged 430W but despite that I was “already” pushed back into 40th position or so… but the peleton was crowded and draft was available on the descents.
Due to the undulating route the group shuffled positions back and forth but we stayed more or less together, atleast to the halfway point where I simply fell off.. I think it may have been a lactate clearing issue, as my HR had not spiked (Only 55s total in HR Z6) but the legs after the halfway climb just “died” going over the crest.
I missed the train….SillySil,Chris and Garofalo had left 🤦‍♂️
Seeing my Strava HR-graph I was up untill this point more or less above my average for the route, that latter half I was more or less below…

Since the train had left me in the dust I had to shift focus to keep the riders following behind me. HeikeHardt, Slyfly and a couple others did close the gap but I managed to stay with them and punch a little better on the hills leading up to the finish line, ending in 45th place. HeikeHardt finished 1s behind me, it came close 🙌

I was hoping for a fast and dynamic race tonite, and I was provided for in spades – thanks for the race all and congrats to all who started and to the podium riders 🙌😁

Tomorrow will be a “adaptation day” so I can be relative fresh for more punishment on Thursday, see you all then!

Silvia SillySilNL says:

Great overview of the different stats Neil! Can I ask for a favor on behalf of the women joining the Mucker races? Could you do a women’s mention starting January? Maybe only top 3? Let’s see if that attracts more women?
For example this race I really gave it all, but in a strong field like this I won’t get closer then a top 40. Meanwhile HeikeHardt and I were really fighting hard to keep up with the guys and keeping an eye on each other, a race within a race. But we’ll never get mentioned in a race like this. Maybe the woman that won (Coci) will reveal herself to us if we get our own mentions 😉. Possible to give it a first try in Thursdays race? It will be my last this year, after that I’m on holiday until January 🤷‍♀️