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

chris says:

Dec 2 2015 at 3:58 am

@frank

@EBruner

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

Wrong answer.

I'm surprised that you used this photo without referencing this article.

I love my Flandrian Best although my kneekers keep sliding down. I'm not sure whether it's because my legs have gotten a bit fat recently (cyclists on other websites have suggested that that this might be a cause) or because the elastic has given up.

Sunday's ride called for full Flandrian Best, 90 km around the back roads of Norfolk in a gale. It was Mrs Chris' first sportive and proper road outing. There are lots of pig farms out there.
KogaLover says:

Dec 2 2015 at 4:02 am

@frank

Why is the face popping out from your backside eating a sock???
wilburrox says:

Dec 2 2015 at 4:26 am

@Mikael Liddy

and especially that bike!
RobSandy says:

Dec 2 2015 at 4:27 am

@KogaLover

@frank

Why is the face popping out from your backside eating a sock???

Looks to me like he's vomiting. Vomiting words.
Mike C says:

Dec 2 2015 at 5:01 am

I get the sock thing.

What I'll never understand is the knee warmer thing. They remind me of those pants my mom wore when I was a kid.

Yep, they were called pedal pushers and only girls and women wore them. Now I see young guys wearing the same thing at the coffee shops and around the mall. It looks very strange.

Shorts should be shorts, pants should be full length and worn around the waist. Anything in between seems, well, indecisive...

If my feet are cold, it's cold enough to wrap up the guns with them, top to bottom. Why leave a patch of exposed skin? Same with the hands. We don't wear 3/4 length sleeves on chilly days and expose the lower part of our forearms now do we? It would just look silly.

My belief is,

It's either cold,

Or it isn't!

BTW,

Toe warmers worn under the booties work very well
tessar says:

Dec 2 2015 at 5:16 am

@frank

It doesn't mean your socks were too long, it means you wore the wrong-length booties. Defeet make the Slipstreams in 6" too, to suit socks long enough for you & I.
wiscot says:

Dec 2 2015 at 5:17 am

@RobSandy

@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.

I don't know if this will help, but a small bit of foam or rubber, trimmed to size, placed in the vent and covered with electrical tape can help with summer shoes. I do this with shoes I wear in the winter - Shimano 131s.
EBruner says:

Dec 2 2015 at 5:31 am

@Mike C

I get the sock thing.

What I’ll never understand is the knee warmer thing. They remind me of those pants my mom wore when I was a kid.

Yep, they were called pedal pushers and only girls and women wore them. Now I see young guys wearing the same thing at the coffee shops and around the mall. It looks very strange.

Shorts should be shorts, pants should be full length and worn around the waist. Anything in between seems, well, indecisive…

If my feet are cold, it’s cold enough to wrap up the guns with them, top to bottom. Why leave a patch of exposed skin? Same with the hands. We don’t wear 3/4 length sleeves on chilly days and expose the lower part of our forearms now do we? It would just look silly.

My belief is,

It’s either cold,

Or it isn’t!

BTW,

Toe warmers worn under the booties work very well

Yes! This!
chris says:

Dec 2 2015 at 5:43 am

@Mike C

I get the sock thing.

What I’ll never understand is the knee warmer thing. They remind me of those pants my mom wore when I was a kid.

Yep, they were called pedal pushers and only girls and women wore them. Now I see young guys wearing the same thing at the coffee shops and around the mall. It looks very strange.

Shorts should be shorts, pants should be full length and worn around the waist. Anything in between seems, well, indecisive…

If my feet are cold, it’s cold enough to wrap up the guns with them, top to bottom. Why leave a patch of exposed skin? Same with the hands. We don’t wear 3/4 length sleeves on chilly days and expose the lower part of our forearms now do we? It would just look silly.

My belief is,

It’s either cold,

Or it isn’t!

BTW,

Toe warmers worn under the booties work very well

You're starting from a point of confusion.

Pants that are full length and worn around the waist are called tights or longjohns and shouldn't under any circumstances be worn as the outermost layer by young guys at coffee shops or the mall.

I suspect you're talking about trousers.
SamV says:

Dec 2 2015 at 6:12 am

@RobSandy

@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.

Cover the vents with electrical tape. Reduces unwanted ingress of cold air and water dramatically. And it comes off cleanly when the weather improves.