We gather here today to pay our respects to one of the icons of our great sport, the cycling cap. The perfect union of form and function and an excellent example of why the former follows the latter, and why together they are beautiful. The brim is just long enough to shield the eyes from the elements, but is short enough to allow the rider to gaze up the road with head tilted in determination as steady drips of water fall from the apex of the brim and and tap out the rhythm of the stroke. The cloth construction is comfortable under a helmet or hairnet, and allows it to be easily stuffed into a jersey pocket when not needed.
It’s appearance is clumsy; the short, stubby brim can be flipped upward or downward and, generally made of cotton, cap’s shape is soft and floppy. Yet, it has been worn by the Greatest Greats of our sport with a transcendent sense of cool. Over time, it became a badge of honor for those of us living La Vie Velominatus; wearing a cycling cap in public amongst the uninitiated felt almost like bragging that you were in on a secret – the cycling cap was what we used to recognize one of our own in a crowd of nonbelievers.
Then something started to change. Frist this guy, and these guys, and then this fucking guy started wearing our sacred headpiece, and rather than being mistaken for Giants of the Road, we were mistaken for douchebags. The unpalatable and tragic truth is that almost overnight, the history and culture that the cycling cap represented was mistaken for little more than a social prop used by hipsters who suck even more than cyclists at picking up dates at the local cafe.
Slowly but surely, the status of the cycling cap has diminished to where we are today, with the brim of our noble cap barely visible beneath our compulsory helmets only on days where the weather merits its use and Rule #22 forbidding it’s use off the bike. We’ve arrived at a place where the men who climb upon the podiums of our storied races wear something more akin to a baseball cap than to the cap that brings back memories of the hardmen of our sport.
I leave you, my fellow Velominati, with some of the great images that show our fallen icon at the height of it’s status as a Symbol of Cycling.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/cycling caps/”/]
Thanks to @Geoffrey Grosenbach for inspiring this humble eulogy.
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Frank, I think you underestimate the utility of the cap in today's compulsory-helmet world. Having a little less hair than I would like (on my head that is) I use a cap on every ride, except where something warmer is required. Why you ask?
1. Bald bastards get a lot more sweat rolling onto their face than our more hirsute brethren. The alternative is a headband or a bandana? I think not - there is no alternative.
2. The "red chessboard head" isn't a look I am after - hence on sunny days a cap under a helmet is required.
Peak forward at all times of course.
On a separate point, whilst bike caps are cool, I like to think there is a legitimate reason that "podium caps" have come into being. Just like the longer length shorts which are now de rigeur, I believe podium caps are used because they more visibly display sponsors names and logos than a little cloth number. And as the sport that we love has always been inextricably tied to the pursuit of the dollar, I don't mind them.
Under the circumstances, it's worth asking:
While Rule 16 & 17 are pretty clear about the doucheyness of wearing team and championship jerseys when not paid to do so, is the cap a safe/appropriate way to suggest allegiance/nostalgia?
@all
Great to come back and read all the posts from everyone; really great stuff.
@CJ
You're just lucky the conversation between you and Brett didn't happen earlier, because he well could have shat in your hat.
@Marcus
The first half of your comment is awesome, the second half sucks. Besides, the visor has no logos on it, generally, and the rest of the cap is about as big as the cycling cap. That, and the cycling cap usually has a sponsor on the visor, which - as Merckx demos in the main photo - can be flipped up and looks fuckin' rad.
I've lamented the "positives" of the Fixie Revolution before. I mean, I think all of us want to see more people on the bike. What kills me is the cheapening of the history, and that's what this is about.
@CJ Well, that's just your path to La Vie Velominatus. We love that; appreciate it, and embrace it. We all have our own paths to The Great Truth, and we must all find it by our own hearts. A guy who sits indoors with sunglasses on and cycling cap while flicking off a computer is, in my estimation, not like to follow in your footsteps. Those are the fuckwaffles we're concerned about.
@roadslave
You bring a tear to mine eye.
@Steampunk
It depends, are you suggesting that you wear the cap off the bike? On the bike, I would argue that if it meet the aesthetics of the wearer, it should be OK.
@all
I submit this in consideration of the Hipster Fuckknuckles and Rule 22:
Cycling caps rock - important symbol of being a cyclist. Yeah, the fixie hipster crowd has diluted that fact a bit, but who cares - cycling caps still rock.
I never wear one off the bike, not because of any "rules", but because I look like a dork. Some people can pull off the look, others can't. I can't.
I do wear a cap often under my helmet. It's comfortable and face it, who doesn't feel a tad pro with a proper cycling cap under a quality helmet.
Let me ask you gentlemen of the Pacific Northwest and other rainy regions, does a cotton cycling cap under your helmet keep you warm at all in the rain or does it become a cold wet wick for the wind to freeze your brains with?
@CJ
Welcome mate, hopefully the other Welly lurkers I've met in the last week will follow your lead.
@Marcus
Like this?
@michael
Michael,
A reply from the rainy English South West.
Yes.
If you're out in the cold, driving rain you're going to be laying down some V (the shape of the water parting from your front wheel...coincidence?).
Your brain will be so busy thinking about how awesome it is to be enjoying such a V opportunity that it will create quite enough heat to make your cap steam.
If you are worried that this won't work for you and that the beer in your bidon won't keep you happy, you'll find a hip flask of whisky, sloe tuica etc. fits in your jersey pocket very nicely.
Please do not wear a beanie, or other wool hat.
@frank
No: not off the bike, but even on it there's some question about appropriate jersey wear. I'm just wondering if there's more of a free pass with the cap"”whether world champion stripes on the cap are permissible, because it recognizes the rich history of cycling and what those stripes represent. Or an old Monteni cap as shown above, or Flandria, etc.
Upcoming feature will be photographing "The V" where it presents itself. Chapeau for being the first of the community to arrive at this.
@Steampunk
I think there's a free pass there. We gotta show our loyalties here somewhere, right?
@all
My favorite look is the cap under the helmet, any time the weather permits, I've got a cap on:
I'm just going to say this: What hipsters? I see no hipsters. Why talk about hipsters who are not there?