Categories: FolkloreGeneralTradition

Periodic Table of Professional Cycling

I suppose cycling has always been flush with enthusiasts such as us, The Keepers, and readers such as yourselves. One of the greatest things about the web is that it lets us, the irrationally-impassioned, freely speak our voice should we want to, and freely share our ideas and work with others. This blog, for example, is proof of the very notion that you can pour loads of energy into a labor of love that no one has ever given any indication of wanting to have anything to do with, then post it on the internet, and have people share in the novelty of it. It’s one of the unpredictable side-effects that Al Gore probably didn’t have in mind when he invented the Internet.

Take, for example, the Periodic Table of Professional Cycling, published by Cyclocosm. This is the product of what I have to assume is a chemistry major with idle hands who lacks the initiative to become a Meth dealer. It’s beautiful, actually – a work of art; I could print this and hang it on the shop wall. And, aside from it’s aesthetic qualities, it’s also surprisingly informative: besides showing the common (and sometimes made-up) abbreviation for each race, each element provides information in terms of it’s length, how long it’s been run, it’s name, and it’s difficulty and significance on the professional calendar.

This is the internet at it’s best, if you ask me. Which I realize you didn’t.

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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View Comments

Steampunk says:

Jun 2 2010 at 4:54 am

I've had a copy of this on my office wall for quite awhile. It really is beautiful, isn't it? But clearly nobody told its author that the ToC is the second most important race in the world...
Jarvis says:

Jun 2 2010 at 12:28 pm

Cosmo's infographics are beautiful. He is a craftsman.
drsoul says:

Aug 2 2011 at 9:49 pm

Once again, an absolute pleasure to visit these wonderful older posts and learn about someone or, in this case, something of which I was previously unaware. I'll certainly be ordering one of these charts to frame and post in my office. Very nicely done. Thank Merckx for Al Gore!