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

Matt says:

Dec 2 2015 at 8:27 am

@frank

@Haldy

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

How long were you able to hold that track stand for?
Ron says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:08 am

Have any of your questioning oversocks or knee warmers every actually said to yourself, "Damn, my shins are cold?" My shins are essentially skinny bones with a light veneer of pale pink covered, not much to freeze. Until it goes below zero, I go for Kneekers over full leg warmers when road riding.

Frank - who exactly has confirmed that you've gotten accustomed to making good decisions?

Am I the only one who says a Daily Winter Prayer that my oversocks won't get caught on my cleat, nor on my shoe buckle as I try to pull them on and get out the door?
Haldy says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:16 am

@osbk67

@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.

The socks( or "Belgian Booties") over the shoes is the very reason I chose this picture. This article is about @frank's inability to keep his overly long orange socks contained under his own pair of "outer socks"( again.."Belgian Booties"). Now...he may have called them overshoes, but as his photographic evidence points out..they are merely a fancy pair of socks over his shoes( but not his overly long orange socks). So I see the supplied Sean Kelly pic as being a perfect endorsement of such behavior!
Ron says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:16 am

Damn, dropping Chavanel there. Could he be one of the best current riders with the thinnest palmares? Guy can ride well in just about any race, but only a few big wins. Yet, he's always there in thick of things.

Two things:

- even if I wash the bike right after a 9 ride, my gumwalls stay dirty. Any tricks beyond having a proper bike that has all black tires for those rides?

- seeing the legs perched on TT photo has me thinking about a recent recabling. Any Rules on cable routing at the headtube, or just what works/looks the best based on the bike, shifters, routing?
Haldy says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:18 am

@Harminator

@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.

Very well put!
frank says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:21 am

@Steampunk

@frank

@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.

This from 1986? It looks to me that Bauer’s got this one right. If you can bare your knees, why would you pamper your toes? It’s not like you even need toes.

They're probably all riding with Ebro in lieu of knee warmers which weren't invented yet, so this is a flawed premise.
Haldy says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:23 am

@RobSandy

@Steampunk

@frank

@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.

This from 1986? It looks to me that Bauer’s got this one right. If you can bare your knees, why would you pamper your toes? It’s not like you even need toes.

On another note, check out Kelly’s guns. Who has muscles like that in their shins? Fucking hell.

Seriously!
frank says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:23 am

@Steampunk

@RobSandy

The booties only obscure some of that magnificence.

Here’s a Graham Watson pic from a couple of seconds earlier. Smaller, but in colour:

Different year; Kelly is not wearing overshoes, and Bauer does not have a cop over his hairnet, and Vanderaerden is without cap in first but with in second.

That is a staggeringly similar composition, though.
Haldy says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:25 am

@frank

@Steampunk

@RobSandy

The booties only obscure some of that magnificence.

Here’s a Graham Watson pic from a couple of seconds earlier. Smaller, but in colour:

Different year; Kelly is not wearing overshoes, and Bauer does not have a cop over his hairnet, and Vanderaerden is without cap in first but with in second.

That is a staggeringly similar composition, though.

Well...it's not even Vanderaerden in the first pic....
frank says:

Dec 2 2015 at 9:31 am

@Haldy

Wasn't sure about that, but thought it was worth the punt!