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

Haldy says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:08 pm

I'm going to say that if bare legs and overshoes is good enough for King Kelly, it's good enough for the rest of us...as long as you can pedal your way up the Koppenberg...right @frank?
Haldy says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:09 pm

Or if it's snowing....
frank says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:09 pm

@Chipomarc

Always have socks that will match and blend in with your Belgian Booties.

Good call. I've been riding with orange ones but they were in the wash. Next time I wear these black ones, I'll go with black socks.
frank says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:10 pm

@wiscot

It bugged you for the whole damn ride, didn’t it?

Of course it did, to the point that I needed to go to confession here!
frank says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:11 pm

@EBruner

This is just me, but personally I would never wear overshoes with bare legs. Problem solved.

Wrong answer.
frank says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:13 pm

@Haldy

I’m going to say that if bare legs and overshoes is good enough for King Kelly, it’s good enough for the rest of us…as long as you can pedal your way up the Koppenberg…right @frank?

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Although no one pedals up that Koppenberg anymore since they repaved it...almost can't call it the same climb! Still the nastiest, bumpiest, shittest hill in Belgium.
frank says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:15 pm

@Haldy

Here's @Brett and @Rigid krushing it last April. Man, Bretto was on form that week - look at him kill that thing!
Haldy says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:21 pm

@frank

@Haldy

Here’s @Brett and @Rigid krushing it last April. Man, Bretto was on form that week – look at him kill that thing!

One of these days...hopefully...I can get over there to try and tackle that thing, and the Muur...must, must climb the Kapelmuur!
frank says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:25 pm

@Haldy

Do it in the 53x17 like a proper punter.
Haldy says:

Dec 1 2015 at 5:31 pm

@frank

@Haldy

Do it in the 53×17 like a proper punter.

I knew you were going to rub it in and post that pic!! Chapeau!