Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: ChrisO

Order: Guest Contributor

Location: Abu Dhabi

Social: /

An Aussie, transplanted to Britain and living in Abu Dhabi. One wife, two cats, three kids and four bikes. I'm a TV person - originally in journalism but now management, consultancy and project management. I aim to ride 10,000km a year and mostly I do. I love club and group riding and would like to do more racing.

@ChrisO's activity:

Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spri...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @Deakus The chances of an Italian on an Italian bike with Italian Gruppo winning any stage are fairly high in the Giro. In any case Visconti had been tipped as a possible stage winner yesterday. And it wasn’t as if the peloton forgot to chase – they had… »

While all evidence points to the contrary, the 20th century’s greatest twatwaffle LE Gunderson may have got something at least half right after all. Of course it’s about the bike, otherwise we’d be runners. But there are other factors that contribute to what makes us Cyclists which can often be overlooked completely. Not the cloth...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. It works the other way too. Over the next few months in Dubai it will take much motivation to go out and lose 5% of body weight to the heat. Some people need an event or a target to get themselves through these periods. I’ve always found the group ride … »

The Bike. It is the central tool in pursuit of our craft. A Velominatus meticulously maintains their bicycles and adorns them with the essential, yet minimal, accoutrement. The Rules specify the principles of good taste in configuration and setup of our machines, but within those principles lies almost infinite room for personal taste.It seems in s...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @DerHoggz Tyres are articles of belief… for every person who swears by one type, there will be another who thinks they offer as much comfort, traction or protection as a child’s balloon. I assume we’re talking clinchers… I will get Conti GP4000 if I … »

In most situations, silence is an ominous thing that signals impending doom. Having never been in any danger myself, I base this largely on my experience watching box-office movies. As a general rule, I use Hollywood as the principal source of information on all subjects as they relate to doom and politics, principally because I’m loath t...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @Ron I found some of their recipes a bit tricky to get the right consistency – the rice and banana pancakes were a disaster, and their granola is also dubious. However I do like the book particularly for what JACD214 describes – the descriptions and the … »

Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very m...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @sthilzy Weeping baby Merckx… Frank’s seatpost looks very low in that photo. »

In most situations, silence is an ominous thing that signals impending doom. Having never been in any danger myself, I base this largely on my experience watching box-office movies. As a general rule, I use Hollywood as the principal source of information on all subjects as they relate to doom and politics, principally because I’m loath t...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @G’rilla @T-Bone I agree, it is an awesome photo. It’s the girl’s hair and her expression that make it for me – she is trying to resist being sucked into The V-ortex of Merckx’s slipstream. You can see that the smaller child behind was also being pulled… »

  2. @TBONE On what distance/time rides would you consume all that ? Seems quite a lot. @Ron Certainly on long solo rides it is hard to maintain concentration – the mind wanders and I have had a couple of times when I’ve suddenly found myself about to ride in… »

Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very m...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @ped Wow, you’ve got orbs on your feet. I’ve just got some Gaerne shoes  – they are lovely. I don’t know if they light up like that though, but it isn’t such an issue in Dubai. If I get hit it will be someone in a Range Rover Sport doing 160km/h on the… »

  2. @Chris She could have run him over and then backed up to make sure and she’d get off with a ban and suspended sentence. But make a joke about blowing something up and you’re sent to Devil’s Island. »

Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spri...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. Since it would be impossible to get a result with my previous selection I can’t really do any worse… can I ? VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps): 1. Evans 2. Nibbles 3. Santambrogio 4. Scarponi 5. Uran »

Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very m...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @Erik Andersen You have spectacularly mis-interpreted the article. The point is that many people who don this gear seem to adopt an attitude that it offers them  protection, when the greatest risks they face are from poor riding based on a mistaken sens… »

  2. I could almost understand that Shrug thing if it came down a little further at the front. But as it sits above the breasts it means that in cold and rain I suspect they will need to be reaching for the nipple lube. »

It was said by someone in the posts following Gianni’s excellent review of his tubeless system that an honest, long term analysis by a ‘real’ rider was most welcome. Well, you’re not going to get that here. You will get honesty, for sure, but ‘long term’ doesn’t come into the equation when a week is the am...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. I’ve pulled the trigger on a set of Enve 3.4 today, including a Powertap. Unfortunately the LBS default setting is for fishing tackle so I have to wait until they get a Campag freehub in, but even holding them felt lovely. And I’m also looking forward t… »

Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very m...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @Mikael Liddy Weeping baby Merckx… there’s been enough posted in the last hour to justofy a UN mandate for armed intervention in Australia,  known as Operation HTFU. Starting with the vegans… »

  2. @The Grande Fondue You are fucking kidding me. There are people riding around like that – seriously ? I’m equally gobsmacked by the idea that people have a helmet which they think is going to protect them in a crash, but they need additional countermea… »

Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spri...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @mouse I don’t think it’s just that Mouse. There is some scepticism about just how bad it really was and that some people are using it as the excuse for Wiggin’s poor showing. Yes he would have won the TT, but before that stage everyone was saying he s… »

Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very m...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @HeinrichHausslersHairstyle WTF ? »

Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spri...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @strathlubnaig Who said that ? Haven’t seen it quoted anywhere else but if as-reported, well they seem to have lost the plot entirely. Perhaps Nibbles has a V Meter field which overrides the power signal. »

Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very m...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. So totally spot on I want to find the author and shake their hand – hell I’d give them a reach-around if they asked nicely. We have a group here which calls itself Cycle Safe and basically makes people totally afraid of cycling. In their heads it is some… »

Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spri...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @wiscot I don’t agree with that analysis. Just because a rider gets a few metres ahead on a stage doesn’t mean he would have won a tour. To do that you have to be highly focused and consistent for three weeks and also be able to work tactics and lead a … »

We’re huge pro cycling fans. Michelle and I both get very involved with particular riders; for Michelle her favorites have been Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani; for me, it’s been Ullrich, Pantani, and Ivan Basso. It seems we’re bent on loving riders who eventually get wound up in some sort of doping mess, and it’s getting real...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. I was looking to post this and wham, up came this random, but apposite, article… So, I know a doper. Over coffee after our ride today we were talking about whether people riding gran fondos or local races dope and I said that one reason to ride Master… »

Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spri...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. Nobody tell me that flat stages aren’t interesting. I love seeing a break out for hours and then it comes down to the last few hundred metres. Hard, hard work all round. »

We are the Keepers of the Cog.  In so being, we also maintain the sacred text wherein lie the simple truths of cycling etiquette known as The Rules. It is in our trust to maintain and endorse this list.See also The Prophet’s Prayer. Continue reading...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @tessar Right, because Euskaltel have just got that whole marginal gains things sorted haven’t they. »

We close out the 6 Days of the Giro with our sixth and final installment.A body at rest, stays at rest. A body in motion, stays in motion. Things get a bit more ambiguous when it comes to a body on a bicycle tearing down a twisty mountain descent at speed, particularly in the rain. But it is here, on the boundary between clarity and ambiguity, wher...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @Tobin I find these thoughts go through my mind AFTER the descent – often that night when I go to bed, in a semi-sleep state I get these sort of images in my head. I’m a middling descender – not fearless or good enough to be with the fastest (being tal… »

The Bike. It is the central tool in pursuit of our craft. A Velominatus meticulously maintains their bicycles and adorns them with the essential, yet minimal, accoutrement. The Rules specify the principles of good taste in configuration and setup of our machines, but within those principles lies almost infinite room for personal taste.It seems in s...

@ChrisO's posts:

  1. @sthilzy Oh and to add to that, for the punter and pro I suspect there are some very interesting data advantages to be had by integrating electronic groups with power meters and computers but that’s some way off. »