Without a doubt cycling is dominated by males. Stop for a second and make two lists. One list including all the male pro cyclists you can think of off the top of your head, male riding companions of yours, and other male Velominati. On the other list, jot down all the female pro cyclists you can, female riding companions of yours, and most importantly, female Velominati. Without a doubt, guaranteed, fo’ sho’ the first list you made is considerably longer than the second. Furthermore, I’m guessing your second list, the one with the names of women, has something like 5-10 names in the pro column, something less than that in the female cyclists you ride with column, and something smaller still in the female Velominati column. Far be it from me to pontificate on why this might be, although I do have my suspicions, so let’s just say it just is. But that doesn’t mean it can’t change.
That said, we’ve received some pointed feedback from the fairer sex that we’re a bit of an old boys club here at the site. Moreover, some of our female readership has taken umbrage with our use of the term Velomihottie. Upon further reflection, we can understand why. In its inception, Velomihottie was meant to convey a female Velominatus, a feminine derivation of the term which denotes a cycling disciple of the highest order. Seems simple enough, right? However, the misogynistic tone of the word “hottie” has been pointed out as something that is turning female readership and participation away. That is not something that we, the Keepers, ever intended.
Taking their feedback a step further and actually making it constructive, something women are much better at than men are, our female counterparts offered up a suggestion: Velominata. This makes perfect sense, no? It seems the correct feminine derivation of our hackneyed faux-latin masculine Velominatus. So with that we offer up an edit to the Lexicon:
Velominata: A female cycling disciple of the highest order.
So thank you to all of our female readers, no Velominata, who visit the site, lay down the V, and appreciate this place enough to actually offer up a great suggestion. You are correct, we can be a bit of an old boys club around here sometimes. But if you stick around, let your voices be heard, and tell us to HTFU often enough that can change. More importantly we want you to share your passion for cycling on these pages.
By the way, the Velominata pictured above is Katrien Van Looy. She’s Rik Van Looy’s grand daughter. If you don’t like this change to the Lexicon then talk to one of them. They’ll rip your spindly little legs off.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Nice work, Marko. Indeed no disrespect meant, in fact, I was just proud of managing a little bit of wordplay.
So, let me add a few Rule-compliant shots of some of my favorite women racers:
Nicole:
And US favorite Kirstin:
Kirstin laying up some Rule 9
Any my homecountry year-round hardass, Marrianne Vos
(Is the gangly-arm whipperoo a Dutch-only thing?)
The badass Hanka Kupfernagel
BTW, some of these pics were nabbed from a very, very cool site:
http://cyclephotos.co.uk/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=1&tag=marianne%20vos&limit=20
Well done, Marko. And bang on. I've never been entirely comfortable with VH. Velominata is much better.
Excellent. It's about time we acknowledged the distaff side of our sport. I myself am lucky enough to ride with several members of Team Kalyra, who set a world record for the 4-woman 50-59 group at RAAM in 2010. Talk about ripping your legs off! Trust me, these ladies can lay down the V, especially uphill.
This should cut down on junk descriptions and posting weight data, if I'm any judge of Velominatae (note, this I believe is the proper plural form for a first declension Latin noun ending in "a")
And that's a good thing.
Delenda est Alberto
Nice Marko.
@Steampunk
VMH seems to be a term you could use to lovingly describe your significant other if she also cycles, but I would feel weird calling a female friends who cycle a "velomihottie", so this new term is great for that.
Uh yeah, WTF is up with that any ways? It seems like many female cyclists are natural hill climbers. Could that be due to (generally speaking) smaller body size, thus less mass to haul up the hill?
So very well articulated, Marko. Thanks. I must admit, I (naively) didn't really see the old term as overly offensive, and while I'm sure it never was intended to be, a quick survey of my female riding (and non-riding) friends revealed how litte we men really know. And when I floated the idea of the change to The Keepers, I half-expected a barrage of Rule 5-laden responses. But I'm proud of the way Marko stepped up with this post, and the responses so far indicate that we are not the "old boys club" that some may have seen us as. Vive la Velominata!
@Brett
Nicely done, all. I can live with the various Adrians out there, who miss the fun of this site, but la vie velominatus is and should always be inclusive. It would be a shame if our brashness turned out to be exclusionary to others who ride.
@frank
I think you snuck a Hanka Kupfernagel in amongst your Vos's...
Yes, kudos and full respect, Marko, for righting our patriarchal sins. (I had thought about suggesting this term, but when Steampunk outed me as That kid in school I thought I should not confirm him in his view.) I think it would be a shame, though, if VMH were abandoned entirely and not available as an affectionate and respectful term for the significant cycling other of a Velominatus. Rather, I suggest that Velominatae (Sgt, I agree with you on your Latin declension (see, Steamy, you were right)) feel free to use VMH to also refer to their significant cycling other, should they wish ('Velomihunk', I guess).
Nice work here.
@sgt
Loving the latin.
@mcsqueak
There are definitely some serious grimpeuses out there. Follow them at your peril. Or, be a good domestique and keep them out of the wind on the flats.
Great work. Love the edit.