What motivates a Velominatus? It seems a simple question, but the answer is complicated and gets into various issues that are neither interesting nor compelling. For me, cycling has been a life-long obsession. I enjoy any kind of riding. I enjoy technical, single-track mountain biking, I enjoy riding on dirt roads or wide trails. I…
Category: The Rules
I thought I was the only one. It was a truth I admitted to myself only in the darkest hours of the night, when you lie awake and are faced by those haunting thoughts that are otherwise whisked away before they float to the surface. But now, I can say it: I am afraid of crashing. Especially…
As enthusiasm for The Rules has been growing, we’ve been having a lot of fun watching the conversation take shape and go in directions we didn’t necessarily expect it to. You have the Geof’s and the Jarvis’s who defend them honorably and even compare cycling to a religion. Fittingly, you then also have the Opus…
I almost look forward to riding in bad weather because it means I have a perfect excuse to climb aboard my old Bianchi XL EV2, which currently serves as my rain bike (see Rule #12 for more information on bike requirements). Some bikes just seem to fit, and you feel it with every turn of…
Winning salutes are brought up from time to time here on Velominati. Of all the images and memories we have of cycling’s greatest athletes, many are of champions crossing over the finishing line in their winning pose. A rider’s salute as he or she crosses the finishing line first is not of insignificance. This is how…
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TechniqueNothing says “amateur” more than an imperfect handlebar tape job. A review of Specialized S-Works Handle bar tape
If you've been paying close attention to my posts on other Keeper articles lately perhaps you've noticed my stable has been in a state of flux. It all started when Frank texted me a pic of a pair of used demo 404's at his LBS for sale. Well no, that's not true. It really started 10…
For my generation, he is the Lion of Flanders. Unequivocally. Unchallenged. Evermore, evermore. Boonen is a monster; but he is only the apprentice. In Flemish, his name rhymes with “Lion”: he is Museeuw de Leeuw van Vlaanderen. He is the quintessential Hardman. Here, in the first edition of the Velominati Study of a Hardman, is…
I was searching the internet this morning for photos of Gianni Bugno (because he’s Awesome, and sometimes I just need more pictures of Awesome). It was during that effort that I came across this magnificent shot of an unknown hardman rolling across the muddy gravel summit of what I’m guessing to be the Gavia in…
I stared at this photo for about 13 minutes before realizing I should stare at it at least one minute longer. The simple reason is that this is one of the greatest cycling photos in history. Firstly, one need only glance briefly between Fignon’s legs to spot one of the most gorgeous seatposts ever given…
In 1998, Marco Pantani staged one of the most prestigious coups of cycling by winning the Giro-Tour double. He made this run aboard what I believe to be the most beautiful bike in history, a Celeste steed with a yellow section of frame starting at the seat collar and spreading out down the tops of…
The aroma. The taste. The ritual of the preparation, and the anticipation. It’s more than just a drink. Coffee is an integral part of cycling and cyclists lifestyles. But, like Campa versus Shimano, or white socks versus black, the way we imbibe the magic bean can be just as polarising. We received an email from…
At first glance, you might cite a whole host of Rules being broken here. Bars too high, not enough set-back on the saddle, lack of chain, to name a few off the top of my head. Furthermore, the rider of this particular bicycle lacked cycling-specific eyewear and was wearing knee pads, and was doing nothing…
Those of you who have been studying our catalog of The Rules will have noticed that eyewear is to be cycling-specific, and should always accompany you on your rides. There is a functional reason for this: your eyes are a valuable asset which you want to protect from UV rays, debris, and wind. There is…
Is it awesome to wear team kits? Yes, but took me a long time and a trip to Italy to have this revelation. Looking good in matching jersey and shorts is cool.
Followers of the Keepers may remember a while back that the Head Keeper, Frank, was having a dilemna about whether or not to run Nokon cables on his steed, and indeed which colours would suit said machine. I'd been running them on my previous Roubaix, mainly to get the 'Zabel-esque' shifter cable routing, with some…
Issue 15 just arrived on my doorstop, and it is especially good and is going to take a good long time to work through all the way to the back cover. But I can tell you about the beginning, which was particularly captivating. It started with a great piece on Jeremy Hunt (written by Domestique/Journalist…
To me, there is nothing cooler than riding in awful weather. It automatically associates you with the Spring Classics, held in wet, wind, and rain, over the the worst roads you can imagine. There is no image of cycling that I love more than of a tough Belgian Pro dressed in knickers, arm warmers, cycling…
I am facing a major problem; one not easily solved. One of our principal Keepers – Brett – had made mention of the most important element of cycling: the Rules. While the Rules are ambiguous, they are also very clear. Not so much “clear” in the sense that any of us really know what they…