We recently lost our beloved Great Dane, Kirki, who we nicknamed Beene for reasons that elude logic. She was a good dog, more sweet than clever. A sad side effect of big dog breeds and their short lives is that it wasn’t until nearly the end of her life that she made certain key discoveries about the world. Such as that weighing nearly 65 kilos meant she didn’t necessarily need to be terrified of things like shadows and doorways. Nevertheless, throughout her life she somehow managed to skirt through challenges completely unscathed, utterly oblivious to her shortcomings. In an effort to immortalize her spirit, the VMH and I have taken to referring to situations where we succeed despite our breathtaking incompetence as being “All Beene”. For example, on the occasion that I skied over a cliff I had failed to notice, subsequently rode my tails through a stand of pine trees at unprecedented speed, and emerged the other end without so much as a hair out of place – that was All Beene.
You might say that Velominati itself is All Beene. We Keepers didn’t intend to become the stewards of class, style, and etiquette on the bike; we just mainlined the Word of the Prophet and the Apostles and jotted it all down. The rest just happened because of the Community who caught on to the fun we were having and joined in. Same goes for our writing; we’re just passionate about this stuff; we obsess about it all the time and want to share our love for the sport with others in the hopes they might identify or – better yet – catch the bug themselves. All the while, the truth is that we have no idea what we’re doing. English isn’t even my first language, for Merckx’s sake.
But the journey continues. The Rules: The Way of the Cycling Disciple was originally released in the Commonwealth on June 20, and surprised us with how well it was received despite various mistakes and errors throughout. In fact, it did well enough that some bright spark got the idea to release the book in our home US market as well, and we subsequently duped WW Norton into bearing that cross.
The Rules will be officially released in the United States on May 5th, 2014. We’ve put quite a lot of work into the US Edition with the following results:
There will also be several book events across the country which is part of the reason we are not doing a Keepers Tour this year due to the time constraints the book tour imposes. Each event will start with a group ride and conclude with a signing at a local bike shop. Events are planned for the Rapha stores in New York City and San Francisco, as well as one in Minneapolis, Boulder, Seattle, and Portland. Details forthcoming as the event schedules are confirmed.
From the bottom of our hearts, we’d like to thank everyone in our Community, those who bought (and didn’t burn) the book in the UK and Commonwealth, and everyone who comes by here every day to read our musings. This is all a lot of work, but it is work we gladly do because of each and every one of you and the fun you bring to what is Velominati.
Tune in during April as we’ll be publishing one new Rule per week in the lead-up to the book’s release. We have also added a landing page for both the US and UK editions of the book including information on where to buy; post insults and corrections on there.
All Beene.
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Frank,
Again, sorry for the loss of your dog. Speaking of 65kg great Danes: Jakob Fuglsang, Chris Anker Sorensen, Matti Breschel.
Looking forward to the NYC group booking.
Sorry for the loss of your pup - savor the memories!
I secured the UK version early on and savored the read. The book resides in the place of honor on the cycling shelf in our library. Eagerly await the release of the US version - gift plans for some fellow veloists (initiate velominati as it were).
To the Keepers: many thanks for this forum and for putting the rules to print, even though they are self evident (yet still require a great deal of effort to maintain).
@meursault
Me too. And them too, as in just not getting it. And I kinda think of it this way: people often say that real beauty lies in the little imperfections, the deviation from the standard, even if you can't actually put your finger on them. Well in that case my version one is truly beautiful, and I shall continue to cherish it.
Any thoughts about the handy app version of the rules for those quick consultations out on the road? You know, when phone reception is shit but you really need to check that rule that's playing over and over in your head beating a cadence grinding up a hill.
@piers.fraser Rule #6
@Frank I am confused. There will be one new rule per week in April. and the new total of Rules will be 95. But there are currently 93 Rules. How does that work then ?
Speaking of rules, I spent all day working on a triathlon yesterday so I have a year's supply of things which have been seen and cannot be unseen... generally involving skinsuits.
I regard it as a contribution to the less fortunate members of society.
Frank - Condolences on your loss of Kirki.
Any plans for doing this in a non-hipster location, AKA fly-over country? Baton Rouge is only 40 kms from the Rouge-Roubaix route...
Who said Great Danes aren't lap dogs? Kirke in action.
@ChrissyOne Genius put-down. I am going to remember that one and use it in meetings.