Categories: Belgian Affirmations

Belgian Affirmations: Kapelmuur

There isn’t a lot about a climb several kilometers long ending in a sustained 20% cobbled gradient that communicates ‘Attack’ and/or ‘Respond’. Certainly not when it comes after 240 kilometers with only 20 left to race. Nope, I’ve double-checked the calibration and used a control-case: the only reading I’m getting on the Pain Gauge is the needle dropping all the way over to and past ‘Survival’.

Here we have Roger De Vlaeminck containing a vicious attack from Freddy Maertens on the hardest bit of the climb, giving more than a little bit of insight into why we refer to these guys as Hardmen. On an unrelated note, I find it to be a crime beyond articulation that the Kapelmuur won’t feature in this year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen; but that won’t stop us from riding it during the Keepers’ Tour; we’re all about history and tradition. I want to keep seeing this scene repeat itself over and over. After all, if a joke is funny once, it should be funny a thousand times.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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Oli says:

Dec 2 2011 at 1:35 pm

@frank
The chain may very well be a lever, but the crank definitely is too - try turning any gear without one!
mcsqueak says:

Dec 2 2011 at 1:42 pm

@Oli

Would the chain just act as effectively making the level "longer" in a mechanical sense? Last time I took physics was high school, so again I don't know much.

@Tartan1749

Thanks a lot, BTW... I just spent $54 on myself when I should have been saving that for Christmas. I shall never forgive you. But at least I'll look stylish.
Oli says:

Dec 2 2011 at 1:47 pm

@mcsqueak
I have no idea really, but I do know the crank is a lever.
mcsqueak says:

Dec 2 2011 at 1:50 pm

@Oli

Is a raven like a writing desk?
itburns says:

Dec 2 2011 at 2:03 pm

Futterwacken
frank says:

Dec 2 2011 at 2:15 pm

@mcsqueak, @Oli
As @DerHoggz correctly pointed out, its a crank, not a lever.

But, yeah - you need the cranks to ride! What amazed me were the studies that showed that the length of the crank arm make no difference in power output, leading people to put shorter cranks on their TT bikes. Very counter-intuitive to me.

@itburns

Futterwacken

WTF?
Oli says:

Dec 2 2011 at 3:13 pm

@frank
According to those links a crank is both a crank and a lever, with the bottom bracket as the pivot or fulcrum.
RedRanger says:

Dec 2 2011 at 3:25 pm

@Oli
All machines are based on the 6 simple machines. A crank would be a combo of a lever and a gear.
gaswepass says:

Dec 2 2011 at 3:25 pm

Just to put in 2c on the nutrition discussion- first 2 hours is a freebie- one can provide the energy without doing anything harmful to the body. Then the body goes for glucose from the quickest places it can steal it from. To be more scientifical, glycogen stores get depleted over the 2hours. So either supplement w carbohydrated "sugared" water of choice (and hydrate of course), or other supplement stuff(food!). For sure, as you go on to subsequent hours of riding you want to provide the nutrition so you don't cannibalize muscle like mcsqueak was mentioning. The body won't eat body fat for nutrition during these rides- too much work for little return. The better you do at keeping up as you go the better you'll feel.
And don't forget the chocolate milk to follow!
RedRanger says:

Dec 2 2011 at 3:32 pm

@RedRanger

@Oli
All machines are based on the 6 simple machines. A crank would be a combo of a lever and a gear.

My bad. I was wrong. The entire drivetrain of a bike is based on levers. Pullys and the wheel as axel.