The Hardmen: Legends of the Cycling Gods

The Hardmen: Cover Art.

Today’s a big deal over here at VHQ; V-Pints are being clinked and backs are being slapped in celebration of our second book, The Hardmen, being released in the UK and Commonwealth countries today, June 1. (It is due out in the United States in the Fall as well as The Netherlands and Belgium in Spring 2018.)

I have a new appreciation for what a band might go through when faced with putting out their sophomore effort (which in our case was something of a sophomoronic effort). While I would never put forward the idea that writing our first book, The Rules, was in any way “easy”, its writing was one unencumbered by the notion that anyone might actually read it. The pressure of expectation for our second book might well have been something we placed on ourselves, but the pressure felt very real nonetheless. The irony did not go unnoticed that we had to harden the fuck up and focus on the business of writing the best book we could manage, given the book was centered around the general notion of Rule #5.

The Hardmen is just that: the tales of the most epic rides and riders in history, or at least in our collective recollection. We wrote it in the style you’ve become familiar with, (ir)reverently with a focus more on legend than on fact, and avoiding research wherever possible for the simple fact that research feels a lot like cheating. Our inclination to make words up also proved an interesting challenge for our copyeditor.

Of the variety of obstacles we encountered along the way, that of selecting the riders to include in the book figured prominently; there are so many worth including that we could hardly set about including them all. So we picked at our whim and whimsy, and we welcome you to challenge us on both our inclusions and omissions.

With that, I will retire to the patio and indulge in more celebratory pints but not before leaving you with this very flattering and possibly unjustified review on the Washing Machine Post.

Thanks to everyone here for your support as our writing slacked off over the past year while we labored to get this book done. We owe you each a debt of gratitude and look forward to enjoying your company online and back out on the roads. 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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View Comments

RobSandy says:

Jul 10 2017 at 6:59 am

@Cary

a poorly ridden kilo will redefine what it means to truly suffer. after a bad kilo, i could feel my heartbeat in my TEETH. i’ve always loved track racing since i had the opportunity to try it.

Can vouch for that. The first time I rode a kilo in training I was horrified and stunned how hard it was. The pain of the last lap is indescribable.

That said, I'm going to focus on track sprinting this autumn with the aim of competing in a few more sprint disciplines (kierin, match sprint) in January.
Cary says:

Jul 10 2017 at 7:04 am

@RobSandy

@Cary

a poorly ridden kilo will redefine what it means to truly suffer. after a bad kilo, i could feel my heartbeat in my TEETH. i’ve always loved track racing since i had the opportunity to try it.

Can vouch for that. The first time I rode a kilo in training I was horrified and stunned how hard it was. The pain of the last lap is indescribable.

That said, I’m going to focus on track sprinting this autumn with the aim of competing in a few more sprint disciplines (kierin, match sprint) in January.

man.. LIVE IT UP!! enjoy every second. you are are living fuckin modern day pirate, every time you take to the boards! i am as excited for you as i ever was for myself. if you taste pennies, you're doing it right!! lol
sthilzy says:

Jul 28 2017 at 1:57 am

One Hardman singing about another Hardman!

Go to14:04 the first link! I saw that race!
Cary says:

Aug 11 2017 at 9:50 am

more track madness. Bill Huck had THE Magnificent Stroke. i bet you can't watch this just once: https://youtu.be/dUwGMTt2SdI
Chris Gager says:

Oct 23 2017 at 12:58 pm

Just finished up with my FREE edition of Hardmen - Legends and Lessons from the Cycling Gods. Many thanks to Goodreads and Pegasus for the free book, which I greatly enjoyed. I'm a 71-yr old once-was-a- serious(in my mind at least) cyclist of Boulder in the late 70's and early 80's. Still ride my Trek hybrid from time to time. Saw a bit of Lemond vs. the Russians in 1980(?) @ Coors Bike Classic(?). Also Phil Anderson a bit earlier when it was still the 3-Stage Red Zinger Classic. So ... in defiance of Rule #90, on the cover of my edition, both Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond seem to be riding in the small ring(plus another guy whose face is out of the cover shot). Great cover, BTW. Comment?????
Alessandro says:

Jan 5 2018 at 2:28 am

Hi everybody

Just ordered three copies - one for myself and two for cyclist friends here in Switzerland. Looking forward to a good read!!

I've been enjoying the articles, comments and the occasional re-read of the rules for the past two years since I got my first road bike late in my life, which in itself has been a sort of revelation.

Thanks for all the good reads here and the many chuckles at the humour :-)

Cheers

Alessandro
Pali65 says:

Jun 24 2018 at 4:39 am

I'm just watching Czech and Slovak road cycling championship. Sagan is crazy. Went solo 175km to go...

This hardman has 67km to go now, still alone, unafraid, what a champ!
chris says:

Jun 24 2018 at 5:26 am

A different take on a solo effort but no less the hardman.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1653735399
Pali65 says:

Jun 24 2018 at 6:30 am

Just for the record – Sagan completed his winning solo run...
Cary says:

Jun 24 2018 at 6:08 pm

sounds like he needed at tune up effort for the TDF, and it went better than expected!