Categories: Keepers TourLa Vie VelominatusLook ProNostalgiaRantings from the V-Bunker

The Past and the Future

Respect is a cornerstone of La Vie Velominatus.

I’m struggling with how to open this conversation without sounding like what I’m assuming my grandparents did when I was growing up. Maybe it’s because I’m just now clawing my way into some of the wisdom they had, or maybe I’m just less of an idiot than I was when they were moving their lips and I wasn’t listening. (Spoiler alert: everyone is less of an idiot then I was when I was a kid. No need to wait for the memoir.)

Kids these days have no respect.

There. I said it. Let me add some stage directions to this, for clarity.

Stage left, everyone under the age of 25: [heads down, tapping at their phones] Text me. I don’t do “speaking”. [All look up, sigh in chorus, and look back at their phones. Some of the cast members roll their eyes.]

Center stage, anyone between 25 and 37: Yeah, but they’ll learn. Give them a chance to express their ideas on this world and we’ll be happy for their challenging perspective. I embrace their view as it will help us grow both as individuals and a society. Also, Mom and Dad, please text me.

Stage right, everyone else: Bugger off, you disrespectful cretins.

The past informs the future; wisdom is learned through experience and experience is earned through the errors of our actions. That sounds a lot like a rationalization for screwing up all the time and maybe that’s true, but that doesn’t mean the premise is flawed; we must look behind us to understand where we are going. By respecting our past, we may build a better future.

In a world where the young have no respect for the wisdom of age and the old have no appreciation for the genius of youth, La Vie Velominatus cuts through the din and grounds us. Cycling is deeply rooted in the past while fiercely embracing the future. The Cyclist lives happily on both sides of the coin; cherishing our steel frames and hand-made tubular tires while embracing 10 and 11 speed drive-trains and featherweight carbon frames and deep-section wheels.

Keepers Tour 2012 was the first time I’d been to the cobbles of Northern Europe. When we arrived at the mouth of the Arenberg Forest, we were compelled to climb off and pay our respects to this, the most sacred of roads in our sport. By modern measure, this is the worst road imaginable: mossy cobbles roughly strewn across a narrow lane; uneven and sometimes as far as two or three centimeters apart. This is a road so rough it is difficult to walk down. To a Cyclist, it represents the most beautiful road on Earth. This is a road that lets us touch history.

A puzzle is meant to be solved; a mystery is not. The past is a puzzle and the future a mystery. Beauty is found in the space where the past and future live as one. Cycling is beauty.

Vive la Vie Velominatus.

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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The Grande Fondue says:

Jan 17 2015 at 3:37 am

I'm old. I remember the 80's, and steel frames, the first time around. But I think any complaint about youth should start and end with this:

"Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers."

-- Socrates

I think Frank's piece was great because it embraced the beauty of history as well as the wonder of the new.

Cycling by its nature has a close relationship with engineering. Engineering almost always gets better over time.

But engineering isn't everything. I still remember being burnt off on a climb by someone on a beautiful 60's celeste Bianchi, straight cut cogs and all.

But at the same time I'm glad I don't have to worry about my standard chainset (no other choice!) chipping the paint on my chainstay every time I sprinted - and not because I was a strong sprinter.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Jan 17 2015 at 8:04 am

@Teocalli

I've had quite a bit of wine and whisky (note no E) tonight but I'm sure I fail to work out how roasting your own coffee makes more sense that using a safety razor.

It's a long time since I've been asked to show my work on a maths problem.

Enjoying your shave

Getting a closer shave

+ Saving a bit of money

"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”

24

Drinking the freshest coffee possible

Finely controlling the color and flavor of every batch

+ Saving forty US dollars every single month

"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”

42
Teocalli says:

Jan 17 2015 at 8:13 am

@PeakInTwoYears

@Teocalli

I've had quite a bit of wine and whisky (note no E) tonight but I'm sure I fail to work out how roasting your own coffee makes more sense that using a safety razor.

It's a long time since I've been asked to show my work on a maths problem.

Enjoying your shave

Getting a closer shave

+ Saving a bit of money

"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”

24

Drinking the freshest coffee possible

Finely controlling the color and flavor of every batch

+ Saving forty US dollars every single month

"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”

42

Maths would not have been my strong point last night......................
Owen says:

Jan 17 2015 at 8:43 am

@SamV

The juxtaposition of waxing nostalgic here vs. the hipster bashing in the previous thread is amusing to me - especially all the Moleskine love. I'm a center-stager here (28) and I think much of my generation (the core segment of aforementioned hipsters) wrestles with essentially growing up half-digital, as opposed to (damn) kids these days who are digital native and the (old) people who are older than us who have adopted and adapted to digital living.

A big part of 'hipsterism' is nostalgia/minimalism: farm-to-table, vinyl, Moleskines. When I don't have a (well-kept) seasonal beard, I shave using a brush and razor (4-blades. No safety razor for me) because it simply does a better job. Same thing with quality of sound from vinyl. But it's also this kind of shit that people hate hipsters for. With a beard, I well fit in to that Lumbersexual category. I own a lot of plaid (I've always loved it), wear skinny jeans (but with my guns, all jeans are skinny...yeah...) and even have some nice boots that I wear often. I also love the shit out of my iPhone. It makes my life easier. And I haven't written in cursive in years.

As for the younger generation. A lot of that is training/upbringing. I was taught to take my hat off when coming inside (any building. Restaurant, house, mall, whatever). When I have kids, they'll be taught the same thing. Pay attention to the people your with, not those elsewhere. It's just fucking manners and it can still be taught.

Pretty much. I'm solidly in the center stage crowd, too. I don't understand all the hate directed to people who use technology native (maybe a lot of get off my lawn going around, and not just on this site), although I do wish students would knock it off in class. As for the whole farm-to-table organic thing, I'd just rather support my local businesses. If I would rather buy from the LBS than Nashbar, why not from the farmers market rather than the Safeway? But, yeah. dbags that insist on wearing their ballcaps at the table next to me drive me bananas, especially when they're coupled with dbag tshirts and in a nice restaurant. Don't even get me started on not holding doors for people.
SamFromTex says:

Jan 17 2015 at 9:00 am

@gilly

Oooh, lovely.We use a Gaggia Classic, the VMH used to pull espresso for a living and the Gaggia won a lengthy comparison test - hit her sweet spot as far as pressure/durability/price.
Chris says:

Jan 17 2015 at 4:29 pm

@gilly

@PeakinTwoYears couldn't agree more. I liken it to making espresso. I used to have a beautiful little Francis X1 and a burr grinder. Bought my beans from a cool place that roast every Friday morning and that hadn't had a refit since 1965. It took me 8 or 9 minutes each morning to make an espresso. It wasn't perfect every day; sometimes I over tamped, sometimes under, but when I got it right it was like angels dancing on my tongue. Then I had kids and 8 or 9 minutes in the morning felt like a lifetime. I sold out... Bought a Nespresso machine, discovered the Dharkan espresso pod which is rated 11, just like the amp in Spinal Tap! My machine makes wonderful espresso every time, but...it is soulless. I don't love it like I truly loved my X1. We find pleasure in life by things not being easy, "if it's easy it ain't worth having" just like in cycling. I love a fast descent, but shit as I am at climbing, it's where I find pleasure. The pleasure is in the difficulty and the challenge. The Nespresso is going on ebay!!

I love my Nespresso machine dearly, I can make my double espresso at the same time as the porridge and while hassling the kids to get dressed, organised and fed. It's the one time of the day when multi tasking is acceptable. If I didn't I'd have to get up 20 minutes earlier and good deep sleep has way more soul than any coffee known to man.

Besides, my second double espresso of the day come from here, is infinitely more awesome than any thing that I could make at home and the guy who makes it gets to worry about financing and cleaning the coffee machine.
PT says:

Jan 17 2015 at 6:35 pm

@frank

Some great thoughts there. I really enjoyed ItMightGetLoud for all those small quotes and insights. Also am a longtime SRV fan and used to love turning his records up loud (Couldn't Stand the Weather was one of the first albums I bought...waaaayy back then..) so you could hear all the background between takes. Sometimes you could hear the amp buzzing.

When it comes to the ultimate and most covetable espresso machine, it has to be a Rocket doesn't it?

http://www.rocket-espresso.com/domestic/
ped says:

Jan 18 2015 at 2:30 am

@PT

@frank

Some great thoughts there. I really enjoyed ItMightGetLoud for all those small quotes and insights. Also am a longtime SRV fan and used to love turning his records up loud (Couldn't Stand the Weather was one of the first albums I bought...waaaayy back then..) so you could hear all the background between takes. Sometimes you could hear the amp buzzing.

When it comes to the ultimate and most covetable espresso machine, it has to be a Rocket doesn't it?

http://www.rocket-espresso.com/domestic/

This Rocket Giotto in particular, tho at 1500GBP, a bit rich for most
ped says:

Jan 18 2015 at 2:32 am

Dammit, here's the link...http://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/shop/rocket-espresso-machine/product/REM01
ped says:

Jan 18 2015 at 2:35 am

Or, combine the 2 greatest things in life with this

http://www.velopresso.cc/