Merckxy Christmas

Merckxy Christmas and a Coppi New Year

To each and every one of you in our community, we’d like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support and involvement in our community.

Velominati is a project born of passion more than planning, and the fact that we’ve managed to gain your support means the world to us; over the years I’ve come to consider many of you friends, despite never (or rarely) having met any of you in person. Our Cogals are a testament to how our community straddles the physical and virtual worlds and it continues to amaze me; when I founded Velominati in 2009 and Bretto jumped on board soon after, I never imagined where this would go. Thanks to each of you for the gift you give us Keepers by being part of the community and letting your voice be heard (even when that voice is telling us we’re a bunch of idiots – you’re not wrong.)

In the spirit of the community, we are also excited to hint at a major refresh of the site to be launched later this week. Our site’s design, done by KRX-10 in 2009, has aged better than most, but design and technology has evolved considerably and it’s time for an update. The first step is a ground-up rebuild of the site with some exciting new features including basic social networking features including friending and following fellow community members, as well as the ability to privately message each other. We feel this will greatly enhance the sense of community. Consider that our Christmas gift to you for 2015, but more features will follow throughout 2015, so buckle your seatbelts!

Thanks go to each and every one of you for your contribution and loyalty; we wish you a Merckxy Christmas, one and all!

Yours for ever in Cycling,

– Frank, Brett, Gianni, Marko, and Jim

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

Trsnrtr says:

Dec 28 2014 at 8:34 am

Merry Merckxy Christmas to all. In the Merckx spirit, I'm just starting Friebe's latest book on Merckx.
Chris says:

Dec 28 2014 at 2:50 pm

@yogacyclist

@wilburrox

@Chris

@wilburrox

A bike waiting by the tree for Christmas morning... cheers all

There was a saddle and seat post under the tree for Angus. At first he though it was because he'd been complaining about how uncomfortable his mtb saddle was. Then he realised...

Is there a category beyond causally deliberate ?? As in like perfectly causally deliberate? 'Cause this young man would nail it if there is. I love the red. Christmas bikes, remembered for a lifetime. Sweet. If the day goes as planned, the young lady and I'll join the club for a group ride today. When the ride's described as a "reasonable Christmas pace" it sounds like a good opportunity for her to set a new distance mark. Regret we've had a little too much rain of late to hit the trails on her new mtn bike. Cheers

Cazh delib? Even better, that red renders on my screen as a particularly stylish and uber-confident fuschia. Put me in mind of this, anyway:

Perhaps there should be an adendum to Rule 8:

If you jacket has leather elbow pads, they should match the colour of your bar tape.
therealpeel says:

Dec 28 2014 at 6:27 pm

@frank thanks for the work on the site. Can't imagine how you get it done. Awesome stuff.

Happy New Year to all!
frank says:

Dec 28 2014 at 6:37 pm

@pistard

@frank

It's just my inner cranky old man showing. I'm looking forward to the new features, and private messaging will definitely be helpful. I find the mobile site runs great on Android, just had to clear cache/cookies to stay logged in.

I'm sure that will be the case for everyone @(redranger) and for some reason I'm still getting traffic to the old site which boggles my tiny brain.
Mikael Liddy says:

Dec 28 2014 at 9:27 pm

@frank nice work, like the new layout. Noticed the old category & month list seems to have disappeared so that it's harder to seek out older articles unless they pop up in the "recent & random" section.

Also, when someone replies to a post of yours, will you get a notification?
Mikael Liddy says:

Dec 28 2014 at 9:31 pm

@frank ignore that question, just found the email settings within the profile section...
brett says:

Dec 29 2014 at 12:22 am

@All

Don't take it personally if I reject any friend requests... I don't do them on facebook and I won't be doing them here. Doesn't mean I don't like you all though!
Chris says:

Dec 29 2014 at 5:42 am

@frank

You've managed some Dr Who style awesomeness with the new update and torn a hole in the very fabric of the corporate security that prevented posting previously.

What happened, did you get a V-Screwdriver for Christmas?
Ron says:

Dec 29 2014 at 6:56 am

@frank

@pistard

It's funny you say draft; I built the entire thing using the word draft but it was too confusing between the other meanings for the word "draft" - and the meaning of "follow" is well established. I decided to use the standard terms for now and labels are easy to change - it's the functionality that matters.

Its not about popularity, it's about being able to track what's going on and contacting the people you want to and making more personal connections. The site continues to function as it always has, you just have more ways to interact, you're not being restricted.

Besides, imagine how much of my time will be freed up if I can stop answering the "can you put me in touch with so-and-so" emails. That alone is worth it to me, bitches!

(And the new posting box works a treat on the mobile, although the menu is a bit jacked on the iPad mini.)

But Frank, I LOVE sending you "can you put me in touch with" emails...

Nah, I've actually tried to send as few as possible since I know you're busy as fuck. I think I'm at 3 in around 5 years; I'd like to consider that a lowly unfuckingwithtoomuch number.

Thanks for all your work, Big Monkey Man! I'm sure the updates will be great. I'm hoping you'll include a click-to-buy-now link for the Carrera denim bibs, my New Year's wish!
Geraint says:

Dec 29 2014 at 10:51 am

@frank

Classy of you to thank us, when without you the place would not even exist.

I personally very much like the new look, especially the tabbed setup on the mid-right that allows selection of recent/popular topics. Great work, as always, thank you.