22/01/2023 9am UK Time Zone

Muckers Worldwide 100km 15 lap Draft Event.

Route Used: SwissTri Linthathlon

15 laps of : 4.41 miles | 55.77 ft | Max grade 5%

Nervously I jumped on the start and we had 19 riders in total ready to set off on the first Muckers Worldwide 100km event. Not a bad turn out considering it had only been set up a week prior but even so, you could see a few seriously strong riders had signed up so it was going to be competitive!

About half way round the first lap you could see it was going to be a race of two groups. The main group up front of about 7 riders pulling some serious power that looked ( at least to me ) unrealistic/amazing for a 3 hour effort, then our group from 8th to 15th all trying to pace and draft and just weigh each other up.

Everyone settled in for the long haul and that’s how it went for roughly the first third of the race but then riders started dropping one by one with twinges, niggles or just the fact they had hit the distance they wanted to achieve and felt it was time to pull out. This was actually a reason I wanted to create this type of event just to allow everyone to jump on, start at the same time, draft if they could/wanted, then stop when they reached the distance they were aiming for. All in the name of comradery. Strava will still log your distance whenever you finish the ride so why not!?

By the time the race got to around 50 miles, the number was down to 9 riders as we settled into the home stretch, or so we thought! the top 4 all had a chance at a win so the positioning and little tests started with a few laps to go. In the end “feelslikemonday” won with a time of 2:48:40.4. with “Stephen.T” coming over the line just 46 seconds later. Muckersworldwides’ very own “Andy_UP” looked set for 3rd but a late charge from “Tonda103” saw him claim third place by just 3 seconds! 3 seconds over an almost 3 hour event!! That must have been some final laps up there at the front…..

Next was “Leon_ledoux” with a nice steady 5th place, a really good result for this rider who I basically pestered to jump on it even though this type of ride isn’t his thing, then I (“Mucker1974“) finally came over the line in 6th, lapped on the very last lap by the leaders but even I had my own sprint finish with “lyndonjw” who unfortunately glitched with about half a mile to go and lost connection!! This is one of the most irritable things about on-line racing and being at the mercy of your internet! (Just a little tip for Rouvy events, ALWAYS download the route first as it will allow you to complete the event then re-connect later when the link re-establish)

Last but by no means least, was “tomlerieger” with a time of 3:05:23.7, just 16mins behind the leader. When you consider this whole event was 66 miles long and he averages 21.6mph and 184w, this was still a strong effort for 7th place.