It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Velominati Boardroom as we’ve been scrambling to finalize a few partnerships and get all the products for the Keepers Tour customers designed and produced. Suffice to say, fists and beers were slammed in tandem as we feverishly worked out the final designs.
Producing V-Pints, V-Shirts, and V-Musettes seems a simple enough task; and we also needed a flag and banner to fly at the roadside of the various races we are due to watch from the roadside, including de Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. There was also a the small matter of getting our hands on musette bags, which aren’t commonly found on the market, as far as we could tell. Fair heart, never worry; Gianni and his VMH took matters into their own hands and made them up from scratch. If their other business ventures fail, musette-sewing may be a good fallback, they Look Fantastic.
The most significant effort due was for the Keepers Tour Cobbled Classics 2012 design; enter our graphic-design mastermind, KRX-10. We tossed a few emails across the net and settled quickly on the notion of using a variation of the Lion of Flanders. “Now we need a public-domain vector graphic. Race you to it”, was the last word from KRX10 on the matter before the design was finalized. Then it was on to deciding on a tag line, with the result being perhaps the best example of what happens when the Keepers argue long enough on such matters.
With that, we proudly present the official artwork for Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2012:
The last two weeks I’ve felt like a kid waiting for Christmas as orders were placed and we entered into the torturous period of time while we waited to lay our hands on the final products and see the fruits of our labor. And I have to say, this round may have produced our finest products yet; the V-Lion and tagline turned out magnificently, as did all the other items. The flag and banner are actually breathtaking – waving in the wind. We hope you like it as much as we do.
A few items of note: Attendees of Keepers Tour will receive a musette packed with their V-Shirt and V-Pint along with a few lovies from our sponsors, and will also have the honor of commenting for the next year with the V-Lion badge. Also of note is the matter that these products are not available for sale and will never be; the only way to get Keepers Tour products is to attend a Keepers Tour, so bear that in mind next time around. Finally, if you’re looking for a real photo of the V-Pint, you’ll have to wait until we arrive in Belgium, as they were shipped ahead while I was away on business and as such they have not yet been seen by anyone, even me.
Please also get yourself acquainted with our Twitter and Tumblr sites if you’ve not done so already – we’ll be reserving the site for major updates, and will be posting minor updates in those to locations throughout our trip, with Twitter being used for small updates, and Tumblr for the ones that are too much for a tweet and too little for the V.
VLVV.
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Well it's just class to be back at work....not
Actually don't remember much about monday, other than I was no longer still sitting in a tree on sunny Kwaremont being handed Belgian Beer anymore - damn
@DerHoggz
Poop.
@Buck Rogers
I tried to do some research on this because I will be in Paris for a couple of weeks before you arrive. Not much luck, in Lille or Roubaix, and in Paris, Laurent Cycles rents an aluminum Stevens, with a triple (!).
Bof.
@xyxax
Dang! I appreciate the info, though. Might have to try to ship it before hand or something. I will look around as well and let you know if I find anything.
@Buck Rogers
Having done exactly no research on this whatsoever, and knowing full well that I'm not clever, what about shipping it DHL, FedEx, or whatever service gets it there? If you have a couple of bikes at home, ship the travel bike with plenty of time to incur the least cost. I assume this is a stupid idea because I've never heard of anyone actually doing this--ridiculously expensive, I suppose. No one ever said I was smart.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Actually that had been the plan all along but my buddy who lives in Lille is leaving next month and will not be there. I need to try to find someone else who lives there that I can trust to ship it to. I had planned all along to ship it there, just ride it on the Pave' and then ship it back to VT for the 200-on-100 ride the day after the ride. Hell, they charge something like $100 bucks to take it on flights now don't they? Hopefully would not be much more than that for shipping it. But, I have not checked rates yet and I am still waiting on my HED C2 rim to rebuild my SUV-crushed-rear wheel! Best laid plans of mice and men and all that.
@Buck Rogers
How about having the shipper keep it at the local hub/warehouse and you can pick it up there?
@Buck Rogers
Oooo. Better idea. Send me to Lille. I'll receive the bike, get it ready for you, and test ride it liberally to make sure all is well. We ride about the same size bikes. (Why didn't I think of that before?)
@Jeff in PetroMetro
I just KNEW I could count on you Jeff! But shipping you would mean two bike boxes and that might be too expensive?
As for your other idea of holding it at the shippers' hub, now that might just work! I will have to check into that. I would, obviously, MUCH MUCH prefer to ride my own bike and wheels than some rented rig, just trying to make the logistics work is crazy!
@Jeff in PetroMetro
I did look into this. You are correct in that it is insanely expensive. The airlines know exactly how much price they can get away with. I prefer SWA for my travel, and they take my bike box for $50 eaach way. Given it's a BIG bike box, I don't object. There are shipping alternatives. I even saw a company that caters to racers - the transport your bike and make it available at the start line. Then collect it at the finish. Pro level stuff, at a cost of course. But here's how it works for them: the have a van and do it in bulk for 10-20 people.
IIRC, domestic ship for a bike box was like $250-$300 each way.