The modern cyclist, as they enter the sport, will find themselves purchasing a set of shoes which contain a cleat that clips into the pedals on their bike. It should come as no surprise, then, that the term we use for the action of engaging shoe to pedal is “clip in”. Obviously, this style of…
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Bradley Wiggins; have we seen too much of him now? The answer to that would be yes, unless you are British. Thank god the British road race strategy blew up in their faces. Had Cav won the Olympic road race we really would all be in a spot of British bother. @blackpooltower has a theory…
You can’t be blamed for thinking it matters which way your wheels are pointed, or that you believe they both should be headed in more or less the same direction at any given moment. From when we first start riding a bike, we’re told this is the case; after all, you only have two wheels on…
@Harminator dreamed up the Sydney Cogal months ago and the report has just floated in. Bad weather, good attitudes, plenty of riding and malted recovery beverage, that’s how it is done. Chapeau. VLVV, Gianni Jellybean’s Take- So I woke up Sunday morning after a Saturday of fixing my #1 bike, bottle of red, and a…
The question tackled here is of carrying the bicycle, should it require carrying. The non-cyclist is perhaps more inclined to consider carrying their bicycle than is the Cyclist. Examples that come to mind include the navigation of a giant mud pit or a steep twisty narrow snowy descent, where the uninitiated may erroneously contemplate the likelihood of survival between…
I’m old as dirt. My first two race bikes employed toe clips and toe straps and that set-up was bad. For many reasons it was bad and any retro-hipster who thinks otherwise is wrong. When Lemond and Hinault started racing on the white Look clipless pedals, everyone but Sean Kelly quickly switched. Talk about a…
As children, none of us were given an allowance. Instead, we were taught from a young age that if we wanted to buy something, we had to earn the money in order to do so. To facilitate the model, and possibly to avoid child-labor law infringement, we were paid to do chores around the house…
This has been in the works for a while. I don’t want to take up too much time as you all have a lot of reading to do here. Rodger has an opening ramble then introduces us to the whole crew. Rob added his two cents worth and Xyxax wrote a perfect final report so…
Clad in skin-tight clothes and cleated shoes, we walk with all the grace of a chicken with a repetitive stress injury. Yet once astride our machines, hovering above the tarmac and enraptured by the sensation of flight, we are transformed into a picture of fluidly harmonic articulation which belies the power and skill that drives us…
The Olympic track racing fires off tomorrow and it’s time to remember an event discarded to the bin of noble sports. The Olympic roster of events is constantly evolving and devolving which is why we are now watching synchronized diving as an Olympic sport. What a world, what a world. Maybe it’s a sign of…
As indispensable and overlooked as the gilet, the undervest is the only piece of cycling kit that comes with me on every single ride, year round, in hot, in cold, in wet, or in dry. While one could be forgiven for assuming an undervest lives out its life as an insulation layer, the undervest serves a critical,…
@Nate organized this gem up in Marin, California. Where are all you people out there? At least he was not taking you over three mountains in the French Alps. I did not attend either, disregard my name above. VLVV, Gianni @Xyerz’s take- Wow, what to say? Today’s ride was awesome! I found myself riding with…
@936adl loves a Cogal and he didn’t mess around with this one. Later today the San Francisco Cogal report and next week the much awaited 200 on 100 report. VLVV, Gianni It was getting dark as Martyn and I rolled back through the gates of the Campsite in Saint Jean De Maurienne after the most…
PayPal has decided to classify Velominati as a “Terrorist Organization” because we accepted contributions last week from community members to support the fight against cancer – without being an accredited non-profit organization. So much for trying to do the “right thing”. While I’m sure they have their internal processes and reasons for this action given the current…
As I gaze across my living room and see the final packages of the Spring Order’s V-Kit ready for shipment, I’m reminded that the time has come to finalize the Summer V-Kit Order. We will close the order August 3, 2012 – assuming we reach our minimum order quantities set by Castelli – which will…
If I were a pessimist, or a realist for that matter, I wonder if I might have started any of the various activities which have brought me the most pleasure and satisfaction. Though I have Cycling in my mind when I make that statement, this principle expands beyond the vast and il-defined borders of La…
Even Wiggo said it’s just a bike race. Bike racing may be just that but Cycling is life. And Love is life and it’s amazing when they all get tangled up together. We first heard from @Farzani months ago; a Belgian in training. She said she had an on-going story to tell and asked if…
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks but you can grab a beer and watch that old dog do the same stupid thing over and over again, which is almost the same as a doing trick. On an unrelated note, I find myself, for the third year running, staring down the business end of…
Sundays bring Cogal reports. This Cogal invitation was posted in early June for a ride just a few weeks later. As Doug Wilcox reported, “210 kms, 70 riders and an unusually ideal day for an Indiana summer (low 80’s degree F, low humidity, and calm winds). In fact, it may be good that we have…
When we announced Keepers Tour 2012, one of the first to put up his hand and pony up for the Cobbled Classics experience was my good mate Rigid. When I first met this Wellington rider four or five years ago, his enthusiasm for cycling (on and off-road) was evident, but his grasp on the finer…