Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: ErikdR

Order: Level 2 Velominatus

Location: Kolding, Denmark

Dutch-born in 1958, have lived in Denmark for almost 20 years now (married to Danish woman). Avid cyclist (touring) in the late 70's and 80's, and now in the process of 'picking up' cycling again - and trying to restore '80s road bikes to former glory.

@ErikdR's activity:

We’re into day four of the Six Days of the Giro series, let’s talk trash. Yes the Tour de France started a few years before the Giro and has always been credited as The Tour to win. You win the Giro, you are a stud. Win the Tour and you are a stud for life. Why is that? Is the Tour longer, tougher, more murderous, more beautiful? In the 20...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @sthilzy You guys are just kidding here, right? These two noble bastards did well in the Giro d’Italia at some point, admittedly – but can anyone argue that they are anything other than legends of the Tour de France? And that they are among those who ha… »

Finally, we have Milan-Sanremo. I hope pedale.forcetta is ready to shoot some pictures, especially black and white because it will be cold and possibly wet. Throw in a little wind and a race of this distance will weed out the less hardy. Recently, but not too recently, this race would be won out of a decent size field sprint. And yet, besides Fabs...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @Skip Second that. One huge benefit of being a stupid old codger is that life often becomes a cornucopia of opportunities to learn. I didn’t even enter the VSP this time, but I couldn’t help noticing that the participants were using all kinds of creativ… »

I have weird feet, apparently. It’s not really something you normally come to realize without asking questions that one rarely has reason to ask. I might have asked them, though, had I ever had any notion that feet don’t always have to hurt in a cycling shoe. Hurt might be a strong word – more like “squished” or “numb”. I’ve also h...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @http://couponmoz.org/ All your base are belong to us. Just sayin’… »

That is the question. Are carbon wheels a viable option for everyday riding? Should carbon wheels be your go-to wheels rather than your just-for-racing wheels? I don’t really race and I don’t own any carbon wheels and I wonder. Granted, every professional is and has been on carbon wheels for many years so it’s easy to think we sho...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @snoov I’m sure you’re right about that – and I hadn’t thought about the lower rolling resistance of a larger wheel (as @pistard points out) either. Sigh… I’m not going to get my head around this, I’m afraid. One thing I do know, though: I remember re… »

  2. @snoov I’m not a scientist by any standard, so this may very well be total bunk - but I keep thinking of that bike with the huge rear disc wheel that Moser used in his attempt to break the hour record. I’m wondering if the eggheads who came up with tha… »

  3. @G’rilla Yes, this. On top of such factors as flex, area catching crosswinds, and whatnot, it is also generally tricky, to say the least, to assume that a 1400 gr wheelset is by definition better than a 1600 gr wheelset. I once came across a good illust… »

  4. @CanuckChuck Same here. Giant S-R2 with Schwalbe Durano Plus for training; Dura Ace 24′s for fondo’s and TT’s. The D-A wheels are totally “les genoux de l’abeille’ if you ask me. Unflexy in corners, no wind-up; strong, comfy – and fast. »

The severity of a crash exists on two planes, the physical and psychological. The physical is the most obvious and one we busy ourselves with in the immediate vicinity of coming down. Our bodies need time to heal, our kits may need replacing or mending, and our bicycles may need repair work. For weeks and sometimes months, we may carry with us t...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @Pedale.Forchetta A-Merckx on the first line – and as for the third: Yes. This. Spot on, @Pedale. Thanks for that one. Shit will happen, no matter what. As I’ve mentioned before on this site: if I’m going to break the occasional bone, I’d prefer to have… »

Cyclists can (and usually do) go on for hours as to why they ride their bikes, and most of their reasons can sound, well, a bit flakey to anyone not enamored with shaved legs and being done up in lycra. “I do it to keep fit”, “It keeps me slim”, “I’m a competitor, I love to race”, “It’s the free...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. Nice one, @Brett: sounds like I’ve gotta get my hands on some of that stuff, »

Let’s talk about bikes. Yeah, bikes are good. After all, they are “the central tool to our craft.” They are the reason we became Velominati, the portal through which we travelled to this life. When we were kids, we saw a bike for the first time; we liked the look of it, and when we rode it our lives were changed forever. We didn&#...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @brett (Double Drool…) Thought so, thanks. Want. Badly. Kudos for getting her ready for – and on to – the road once more »

  2. Yes, very nice colour scheme. And are those ‘Columbus’ decals on the seat tube and front fork? (Drool…) »

  3. Beautiful bike, @Brett – and very nice write-up: Cheers for that one. I’ve been doing a lot of riding recently on an old, blue, steel Moser that I took over from my dad (pictures to follow at some point): The gearing on this bike could be considered suit… »

I can’t really call it an obsession. If it was an obsession, I would have commissioned a bloke I’ve never met to build me a set of ultra-light wheels and I would have spent an outrageous amount of money to upgrade my handlebars in an identical shape from aluminum to carbon in an effort to shave a few grams off the top end of my machine...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. Late to the party, but from wintery Denmark, best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year to all you noble Velominati out there – and kudos to the merry Frankster. 3.41.49, eh? That’s pretty awesome… Strong work, sir. »

December 6th is possibly the biggest holiday of the year for the Dutch. We put out our shoe, we write gedichten, we play pranks on each other, and we exchange gifts. As luck would have it, the good old Sint made a stop by the Velominati Headquarters in Seattle and left me an absurdly large bottle of dry lube; the the point where I felt like I need...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. Bedankt, en Prettige Feestdagen, Frank, with lots of pepernoten and taai-taai - and Happy Holidays to all you other Velominati out there, too. »

Is anyone else in need of some bike racing? I’m strung out and need a fix. @chrisO has come to the rescue by actually racing his bike and filing a proper report. He didn’t just jump into some Sunday Cat IV event either. He raced a stage race, the Tour of Sharjah, which might be part of Abu-Dhabi, no embrocation and Belgian booties for t...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. Hat, hat, hat… Well ridden; well written – well done! »

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...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @crashin in jpn FWIW, re the issue of carbon vs alu vs. other: On this forum, I have previously stated that I often glide around in old-school splendour on 30+ year old, classy steel with all kinds of shiny bits. However, last year my dark alter ego spe… »

During the birth of The Rules, just like the Big Bang, there was a flurry of new activity, too much expanding and not enough contracting; certainly not enough thinking. It’s hard to keep the throttle back when divining the Word of Merckx in real time. The interweb tubes whistled with new Rules shuttling back and forth, beers consumed, genius...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @Buck Rogers Same here. In this neck of the woods, the roads aren’t exactly flooded with cyclists (especially compared to the country roads and bike paths of the Netherlands), so whenever I see someone on a nice road bike going the other way, my wave is… »

I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop in the Lance affair. That is a long wait. And I’m burned out on the whole doping subject so it’s great @wiscot writes up a profile of Charlie Mottet. Here is a man whose sock height I can believe in. VLVV, Gianni…...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. Beautiful and timely write-up, @wiscot  – thanks for that one! @all: Have a great weekend »

The recent headlines being made in the cycling world have honestly not garnered a whole lot of attention at V-HQ, at least where a certain COTHO is concerned. Yes, The Keepers have added to the usual discussions on the topic here, read the news, and given it some thought. But we really don’t feel the need to take any sort of official position...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @scaler911 Ah yes – Tom Ritchey. Thanks for clearing that up, @Scaler911 – and many thanks for posting this classic image – couldn’t resist ‘quoting’ it. There is so much sheer f”’ing class on display in that image it almost makes my eyes water. Great … »

  2. Hmmm… I’m going to have to crawl out from under my rock for this one, I reckon, and echo the sentiments of @Dino and @JFT. As a European and devoted francophile, I was saddened by the downfall of Laurent Fignon at the hands (legs) of Lemond in the final… »

Some people are supremely good at it, reducing complex situations into matters of simple black and white. This isn’t my particular area of expertise; I enjoy wading through the pools of ambiguity a bit too much to go about bludgeoning this beautiful world into absolutes. In fact, I would venture that delighting in nuance is part of what dist...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. Frank, that opening paragraph there… Spot on, just absolutely spot on as far as I’m concerned. Beautiful. Here in Denmark (as in many other places, I assume) there is a strange tendency, particularly in the media, towards ever-increasing simplification,… »

Joop Zoetemelk was a hard man, a tough nut to crack. He specialized in getting second place, a talent he developed under the doctrine of Eddy Merckx and mastered via the harsh tutelage of Bernard Hinault. It’s very seductive to lean back in our armchairs and draw the conclusion that our sport’s Eternal Seconds, as they’re called,...

@ErikdR's posts:

  1. @frank Very slow to react to this, I’m aware – sorry (way too busy at work) – but thanks! I have this friend who I do a lot of work for (a Brit, married to a Danish VMH, who lives in Portugal – go figure…) – who is seriously considering getting back … »

  2. @Nate Great; thanks, Nate! (Note to self: buy new copy of ‘De Renner’) On a completely different note: the sun is way over the yard-arm here in autumny Denmark (almost 6.30 p.m.), and it’s getting dark – but life is good: Am planning to do some work … »

  3. @Nate   Doesn’t Krabbé also mention Hinault’s crash – i.e. the one where Hinault flies off the road, drops 4-5 meters down some very steep slope with trees and then clambers back up? (It’s been ages since I read ‘De Renner’, but I seem to remember somet… »

  4.   @Nate Ha! Spot on, mate – that’s what I was reminded of, too. “Those photographs of Anquetil climbing with a bidon on his frame are clearly inaccurate…” »