Big news in the indoor cycling world, Muckers! The ROUVY Group, the company behind our favourite platform, has just acquired BKool. This is a major move that solidifies Rouvy as the number one place for “reality riding,” setting up a clear alternative to the “gamified” worlds of Zwift.

But what does this corporate shuffling actually mean for our Tuesday Race Nights, the World Championship, and our community? In short, it’s a game-changer. It presents us with massive opportunities, a few challenges, and a real chance to shape the future of the platform we call home.

The TL;DR: What This Means for Us

• A Bigger Peloton: Rouvy just bought BKool’s massive user base, especially in Spain, France, and Denmark. We can expect an influx of new, international riders looking for the awesome community races we provide.
• Game-Changing Tech: The single most exciting part of this deal is that Rouvy now owns BKool’s GPX-to-3D route creator technology.
• A Period of Change: In the short-term, nothing changes. Rouvy will run BKool as a separate app to focus on stability. Long-term, it’s very likely the best features and users will be merged into Rouvy.

The Opportunity: New Faces, New Races

The biggest and most immediate impact will be demographic. BKool has a strong user base in Spain, France, and other Spanish-speaking countries. As these riders migrate over to the more stable and feature-rich Rouvy platform, they’ll be looking for organized events. And who has the best-structured races on the platform? We do.

This is a chance to grow the Muckers community into a truly global powerhouse. We’ve always welcomed riders of all abilities, and now we can welcome riders from all over the world.

The Dream: Racing on Our Own Roads

This is the big one. The most valuable asset Rouvy acquired is BKool’s technology that can turn a GPX file from a real-world ride into a rideable 3D course. While this feature was buggy on BKool, Rouvy has the resources to stabilize and perfect it.

Imagine the possibilities:

• We could take the GPX file from a local club’s 10-mile TT course and turn it into a Muckers World Championship event.
• We could pre-ride the route of a real-world sportive like L’Étape du Tour together.
• A Mucker could go on an epic holiday ride, record it, and let the rest of us share the experience from our pain caves.

This technology could bridge the gap between our virtual races and our real-world adventures, creating a level of personalization and engagement never seen before.

Our Plan: How We Seize this Moment

This acquisition isn’t just happening

to us; it’s a development we can influence. Rouvy’s CEO has promised a “learning phase” to listen to the community. As one of the most organized and active communities on the platform, our voice matters. Here’s the plan:

1. Give Focused Feedback: We need to tell Rouvy what matters. The Muckers organizers will gather feedback on our Discord and formally present it to Rouvy. Key priorities will be protecting the “Race” format for our challenges and pushing for the integration of the GPX-to-3D creator.
2. Roll Out the Welcome Mat: Let’s get ready for our new international friends. We can create welcome messages in Spanish and French on Discord and in our race descriptions. We can also schedule events at times that are more convenient for mainland European riders.
3. Create a Dream Route List: Let’s start planning now. We should create a “Muckers Dream Route” list of GPX files we want to turn into races. When the feature goes live, we can be the first community to roll out a series of unique, personal, and exciting events that no one else can offer.

The road ahead is exciting. This move by Rouvy has the potential to make our community bigger, more diverse, and more innovative than ever before. Let’s get to work.