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

frank says:

Dec 1 2015 at 7:42 pm

@Mikael Liddy

@Haldy

@frank

@Mikael Liddy

This.

@Mikael Liddy

And this.

Ummm…are you silently swearing at him…flipping him off…forgetting to attach a file..? Give us a bone here man!

I’d like to think he was confirming my correctness on both counts.

This.
Chipomarc says:

Dec 1 2015 at 8:51 pm

If you are wearing coral colored socks then these Rapha oversocks should do the trick to blend in well.
Haldy says:

Dec 1 2015 at 9:46 pm

@frank

@Haldy

@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!

Or this one:

Ahhhh..I see you have been daydreaming again...
brett says:

Dec 1 2015 at 9:59 pm

I loves me a bit of sock peeking out from under the bootie. The V socks are perfect for it, gives that bit of colour and pattern to break things up.

And then I crush fools on the Koppenberg.
osbk67 says:

Dec 1 2015 at 10:55 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?

I've seen countless photos of Kelly wearing socks over his shoes, but can't recall m/any of him wearing overshoes/shoe covers. I see this as a choice not to wear the latter with bare legs, rather than any form of endorsement of what is a very dubious practice.
RobSandy says:

Dec 2 2015 at 1:35 am

@frank

What oversocks are they? DeFeet Slipstreams? Are they any good, i.e. do they keep your feet dry in wet weather?

I'm having ongoing foot-dryness related issues. The problem is caused by the fact my shoes are summer shoes and have fucking vents in the bottom (budget prohibits new shoes), so have been experimenting with different shoe coverings. Overshoes generally achieve nothing as the water comes in through the vents, even with the vents taped shut. I bought a pair of Velotoze - they have rips all over after 1 ride! And I was careful with them.
Oli says:

Dec 2 2015 at 1:39 am

@osbk67

Erm.
Velodeluded says:

Dec 2 2015 at 3:24 am

@RobSandy

They are DeFeet Slipstreams, I own a natty pair in orange. Other than look pro and keep your feet slightly warmer than usual they are not waterproof/resistant. Hope this helps...
RobSandy says:

Dec 2 2015 at 3:31 am

@Velodeluded

@RobSandy

They are DeFeet Slipstreams, I own a natty pair in orange. Other than look pro and keep your feet slightly warmer than usual they are not waterproof/resistant. Hope this helps…

Ta. I'm getting a bit sick of drying my shoes inside and out after every single ride (if the roads are damp water ends up inside my shoes). Also, I'm a bit worried my shoes are starting to rot apart.
Harminator says:

Dec 2 2015 at 3:38 am

@Haldy

@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!

There are only two types of people on Earth: Those that have ridden the Koppenberg and those that haven't.