Categories: IrreverenceKitMusings from the V-Bunker

The Punter

Socks over the booties? Please say it ain't so.

They say you can measure the quality of a man’s character by his ability to admit when he’s wrong. That in itself seems wrong, since it would obviously be better to be right in the first place, but I’m probably missing the point because I’m Dutch and everyone knows Dutch people are 97% more righter 84% of the time than the rest of the world.

I must confess to a certain hubris when it comes to kitting up for a ride; I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve gotten accustomed to making good decisions about what to wear and how to wear it. But today I strayed from the path: my socks were carefully and deliberately pulled out over the tops of my overshoes. Not only is it the most concrete evidence that my socks are too long, it looked like I had two orange gaskets stuck to my ankles. Not to mention that this resulted in only a tiny amount of my shins being exposed between my knee warmers and socks.

Sometimes we must stray from the Path in order to understand where it lies; today I have wandered far indeed but have found my way back. Do not lose faith and always seek to return to the Path.

VLVV.

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

chuckp says:

Dec 4 2015 at 7:59 am

Yesterday, I met someone wearing Sugoi Zap shoe covers. I might get a pair of these for "warmer" cool/cold weather riding. Wind/waterproof but not as insulated as the Pro Softshell WxB shoe covers. And for rides where I know I'll be coming home as it's getting dark. They really do reflect when hit by light (as in the pic below).

http://road.cc/content/review/109993-sugoi-zap-shoe-covers
Terry says:

Dec 4 2015 at 8:20 am

@frank @Matt, et al..... Really, who cares what a cyclist wears as long as he/s is out there. The mindless obsession with cycling "fashion" is superfluous and irrelevant - just more marketing for runway wannabes. Passing motorists could care less; fellow cyclists could care less. If you crave attention, ride faster.
Ron says:

Dec 4 2015 at 8:49 am

Oooofff. Terry, you are in the wrong place if you want to carry on about how aesthetic choices don't matter.

It's quite simple, really. A lot of us have class, passion, and honor. That dictates how we carry ourselves on and off the bicycle. Additionally, for many of us cycling is a crucial part of our daily lives, something we happily partake in and which is never far from our minds. As a result, we take it seriously and to do that means we care. We care that our RD is correctly adjusted, we care that our bibs aren't covered with dog hair, and we care that we're always in good enough form to head out for a long day in the saddle whenever a mate comes knocking.

Your belief that I'm going about any of this mindlessly is definitively incorrect.

As for attention. Not even close. It's about self-respect and decency. Many of us have high standards and take what we choose to spend our time on seriously. Don't think you'll find many half-steppers in the Followers pack. For me, there is no point in getting out of bed in the morning if I'm going to half-heart my way around.

As a wise Dean once said, "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
chuckp says:

Dec 4 2015 at 8:54 am

@Terry

@frank @Matt, et al….. Really, who cares what a cyclist wears as long as he/s is out there. The mindless obsession with cycling “fashion” is superfluous and irrelevant – just more marketing for runway wannabes. Passing motorists could care less; fellow cyclists could care less. If you crave attention, ride faster.

I sense a disturbance in the Force.
RedRanger says:

Dec 4 2015 at 9:02 am

@Terry

The mindless obsession with cycling “fashion” is superfluous and irrelevant – just more marketing for runway wannabes.

I resemble that statement!
Teocalli says:

Dec 4 2015 at 9:11 am

@Ron

Oooofff. Terry, you are in the wrong place if you want to carry on about how aesthetic choices don’t matter.

It’s quite simple, really. A lot of us have class, passion, and honor. That dictates how we carry ourselves on and off the bicycle. Additionally, for many of us cycling is a crucial part of our daily lives, something we happily partake in and which is never far from our minds. As a result, we take it seriously and to do that means we care. We care that our RD is correctly adjusted, we care that our bibs aren’t covered with dog hair, and we care that we’re always in good enough form to head out for a long day in the saddle whenever a mate comes knocking.

Your belief that I’m going about any of this mindlessly is definitively incorrect.

As for attention. Not even close. It’s about self-respect and decency. Many of us have high standards and take what we choose to spend our time on seriously. Don’t think you’ll find many half-steppers in the Followers pack. For me, there is no point in getting out of bed in the morning if I’m going to half-heart my way around.

As a wise Dean once said, “Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”

Quite. In response to the "who cares" the answer is "we care". I could not care less about the opinion of the passing driver as long as a) he sees me and b) he misses me. Mainly coz once one did neither.............
chuckp says:

Dec 4 2015 at 9:14 am

@Ron

Oooofff. Terry, you are in the wrong place if you want to carry on about how aesthetic choices don’t matter.

Fair enough, but I think Terry has a point. At one level, we shouldn't really care about what kind of bike people ride and what they wear while riding ... if we believe that more bikes and people riding bikes are "better" than less. At the same time, those of us who take our riding more "seriously" are going to have a different attitude and approach. But I'd be careful about having our noses too far up in the air and looking down at anyone who doesn't look like us. One of the reasons I quit racing and riding a bike for ~15 years was because of elitism and snobbery ... by a whole lot of racers/riders/wannabees who weren't elite or anywhere close to being such. Yeah, I like looking "the part" when I'm out on a bike. Even then, I'm more than happy to stray from the Rules if it suits my fancy (see my response to @Frank's lament about Etixx-Quickstep having blue shorts in 2016). But I'm more than happy to ride with anyone who wants to ride and who wants to learn how to ride well (even if that isn't fast). If they make "right" aesthetic choices, that's a bonus but not an absolute requirement.
Matt says:

Dec 4 2015 at 9:15 am

@Terry

@frank @Matt, et al….. Really, who cares what a cyclist wears as long as he/s is out there. The mindless obsession with cycling “fashion” is superfluous and irrelevant – just more marketing for runway wannabes. Passing motorists could care less; fellow cyclists could care less. If you crave attention, ride faster.

I don't care what other cyclists wear. I think it's great any time someone gets on a bike; they can wear a pillowcase with holes cut in it for all I care. But I certainly enjoy kitting up, just for my own satisfaction. I feel good when my Mapei cap matches my jersey. It makes me happy. I didn't buy that kit because it was marketed to me as making me a faster rider. I just like the old Mapei team and its kit design.

Most of the discussion of "fashion" around here is taking the piss anyway.
Chipomarc says:

Dec 4 2015 at 9:15 am

@Terry

@frank @Matt, et al….. Really, who cares what a cyclist wears as long as he/s is out there. The mindless obsession with cycling “fashion” is superfluous and irrelevant – just more marketing for runway wannabes. Passing motorists could care less; fellow cyclists could care less. If you crave attention, ride faster.

I can tell that you are one of those 'types' that ride around wearing a orange safety vest and have a mirror stuck to your eyeglasses.
Matt says:

Dec 4 2015 at 9:17 am

@Ron

As a wise Dean once said, “Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”

But it's a hell of a way to go through college!