Announcing New V-Features: The Rides and The Cogals

I peer into my V-Pint, seeking out the V-Cog in its base as the hoppy taste of a local IPA washes over my tongue and begins its work. I breathe out slowly, basking in the sense of satisfaction that can only come from knowing you’ve done just enough to avoid failure. That’s right, fellow Velominati; we’ve launched two new V-Features and I’m knackered. Since this ain’t your first rodeo, and none of you are cowboys or cowgirls, I don’t have to tell you that I have almost zero confidence that these features work and that they don’t contain bugs that might cause the further deterioration of water quality in developing countries around the globe.

The fact is, as I write this, I can’t even be sure these features are worth having around. But if the feedback I got from the other Keepers is anything to go by, these features “look nice”. Besides, who am I kidding? These features were demanded by you, the Community, and they are comprehensively rad. I’m serious: don’t touch your screen with a wet finger – these features are high-voltage and may cause lasting harm. Also, the last time I made a mistake was 1972 and that was four years before I was born. So yeah, I’m guessing there are no bugs, either. I was just teasing before, to give the impression of humility.

The Rides

The Rides is the shrine to the cathedral of our sport: the great rides we partake in. Consisting of two pieces, The Rides contains a catalog of must-do rides for any Velominatus as well as Articles detailing some of the most epic riding adventures we’ve been on. Some of The Rides follow the routes of the Great Pro Races, while some of them are local secrets. But all of these are rides that will change your life, that you’ll remember for years to come.

In keeping with our Curated Crowd-Sourcing model (I bet you didn’t know what’s what this is), we started the catalog with a few no-brainers, but we’ll be looking to you, the Community, to suggest other rides for inclusion. As always, make your suggestions in the posts and as a group we’ll decide which belong in the list.

The Cogals

As we have embarked upon the next phase in the evolution of Velominati by starting to organize Cogals, we have added a place to keep track of them. We don’t have many in place yet, but we have some, and we plan to have more. The Austin Texas Cogal is nearly upon us, and we have interest in one or two Australian, Belgian, and English Cogals. This is also the place to order your Cogal V-Pint.

The Cogals contains a Calendar of events, a list of upcoming Cogals, and detailed information about the events themselves. All Cogals are categorized; by clicking on the category, you’ll see a definition of that category as well as a list of the Cogals associated with it. Remember, though, that the primary information for Cogals will be stored in the Articles announcing them, so with that in mind, each event page has links back to those articles and their discussion. (The Cogals will also house other events that aren’t Cogals but that would be of interest to Velominati.)

We welcome anyone to organize a Cogal and we’ll be considering the addition of a mechanism to submit Cogals in the future. For the time being, though, we’ll follow suit with all the other areas and take submissions either in the posts, or via email.

Cheers, vive la Vie Velominatus.