Cycling is a mighty sport with a rich and complex history. Every company, racer, piece of kit, and component has a legend, a story behind it; in many cases it also has a personal and nostalgic connection to our lives. While this particular sport is steeped in tradition, it is also fiercely modern, a fact that serves only to deepen its complexity.
All these factors combine to provide an unique atmosphere and breeds devoted and loyal disciples of our great sport. We are of a peculiar nature; we seek out the highest mountains and the roughest roads on which to worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer. Our legs are what propel us; our minds are what drive us. We refer to our shaved legs in the third person – the legs – and speak of distance in kilometres and measure sizes in centimetres regardless of what country we are in. We adhere strictly to the Canon of Cycling’s Etiquette: The Rules.
A Velominatus is a disciple of the highest order. We spend our days poring over the very essence of what makes ours such a special sport and how that essence fits into Cycling’s colorful fabric. This is the Velominati’s raison d’être. This is where the Velominati can be ourselves. This is our agony – our badge of honor – our sin.
I have a unique way of looking at bicycles. A good bicycle and it’s components are beautiful things to me. I’m not just talking about appearance, but also how the frame and components show the dreams of those who made them.
– Gianni Bugno, Hardman and Italian cycling legend
Perhaps we are too wrapped up in the past, but the Velominati don’t believe that to be the case. After all, the greatest lessons can be learned from the past and those lessons can then be applied to the present and may then allow us to more fully experience the future.
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View Comments
@Buck Rogers
That shitte's scary! Telling you-the first company that makes a BT/ANT+ or similar pressure gauge that can be inbedded in a tube or places on the valve stem, and couples with a warning head unit will sell millions. Or even make it so it sits on the rim under the tape.
@Steampunk
Ha, thanks for the commiserations. I'll get it figured out eventually... hopefully. Yeah, a broken spoke isn't to bad close to home... open the brake calipers to allow for a bit of wheel wobble and work your way home.
@Buck Rogers
Speed wobble! Yeah that can be scary. Sounds like yours was caused by a tire going flat, but I guess some frame geometries are more prone to that at high speeds than others.
Bit late but Happy New Year all!
@ChrisO
That's an awesome start to the year. Impressive pain management too. I've never been any good at heading away from home to add a few more kms on to the end of a long ride. Easier to add a bit into the middle of the ride so that there is little choice but to carry on when rational sane thought is saying "enough mate". (I also seem to be quite good at adding the extra bits on by accident, get the route sorted in my head before heading out but then miss a turn or turn early when deprived of oxygen)
I managed a 16km trundle round the local reservoir on my mountain bike with the kids and some friends. Heart rate was all over the place, probably a result of my body still trying to process the duck fat boulangerie potatoes that went with the duck the night before. Worse still, having mentioned that I rarely fall off in @mblume's article, I managed to do so at pace in front of several friends and their kids.
Reading of the various New Years Day exploits, stage racing skin loss and other tales of pain does make me sometimes feel like I've only been playing at this and wonder what I've signed up for with the Keepers Tour.
This year needs to be one of intense commitment on and off the bike.
@Buck Rogers
While bombing a descent is way fun, keep in mind you don't win races on the downhill, but you sure can loose one crashing out.
Ride often, ride fast, and keep the rubber side down. Happy New Year everyone!
Speaking of descents, this was my club ride yesterday:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/62594546
Good descending skills were a must.
Temps were 5 degrees at rollout and 25 at the end.
Good times...anybody interested in a CA Cogal?
@sgt
Nice job on the Casually Deliberate stance. Nice kit, too!
@Eightzero
Once while descending my bike started shaking violently, wasn't going too fast yet, so I slowed it down. Only then did I realize I was riding rumble strips that were pretty much invisible from my angle. I felt dumb.
@DerHoggz
Ha! We have some that cross most of the way across the road on one of my favorite descents. I can get past them on the outside and then cut to the middle of the road on a left turn to avoid some more. Once, though, I wasn't sharp enough on the turn, and I caught them. Glad I was alone, as I must have looked like a total spaz: knew they were, hit them anyway, was surprised to hit them, and the whole bike wobbled everywhere as I tried to adjust and then avoid the next batch...
@DerHoggz
@Steampunk
No rumble strips yesterday, but lots of cattle guards. Very dicey at speed, especially if taken leaned over or at an angle other than 90 degrees. Re speed wobble, tucking a knee against the top tube can really help prevent AND control this frightening phenomenon. Luckily the Wilier has shown no signs of it up to 82kph... beyond that, I'm not sure I want to know.
@Buck Rogers
Ah, the dreaded speed wobble.
There's an interesting article about it (with accompanying video) on Cycling Tips blog here: