Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: meursault

Order: Level 1 Velominatus

Location: United Kingdom

Social: Website

Bike riding, poker playing, guitar strumming, photo taking, philosophising, marxist sympathising buddhist.

@meursault's activity:

With the writing of our first book supposedly well underway (but in reality being discussed ad-nauseum in the Boardroom rather than actually committed to text), The Rules have at least been getting some form of attention from The Keepers. When deciding which Rules each of us were to curate, no-one really had much idea what exactly was in there; ask...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Ken Ho Maybe, but authentic machines does not necessarily mean good coffee. It’s an art to make good caffe. »

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...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Blah Here is the Mavic ship   »

The Velominati mourn today the passing of Fiorenzo Magni, perhaps one of the Cycling world’s greatest living example of the spirit of The V and all that surrounds it.Magni was the original Lion of Flanders, a feat heightened somewhat by his being Italian, not Flemish – though the Flemish had little to argue with after he won de Ronde th...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Winelli I second that emotion, well put sir. »

The northwest has just experienced a spell of dry weather over two months long. It’s been enough to make a man sick.That’s all over now, thank Merckx. Commuting home today, I was caught off guard. No jacket, no gloves– nothing. A few drops hit, heavy and plump like ripe fruit. Then the drops became steady. By my half-way point, I...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @motor city »

I must admit to not having read most of the cycling memoirs in the Works. I may eventually but the local public library doesn’t carry any of them and never will so I’ll have to buy them or ask Frank to tote everything he has to Hawaii. I did get off my wallet and buy these two and it was money well spent. David Millar and Tyler Hamilton...

@meursault's posts:

  1. I am going to fucking read ‘Tomorrow we ride’ again, because I am fucking done with all this fucking doping crap. »

With the writing of our first book supposedly well underway (but in reality being discussed ad-nauseum in the Boardroom rather than actually committed to text), The Rules have at least been getting some form of attention from The Keepers. When deciding which Rules each of us were to curate, no-one really had much idea what exactly was in there; ask...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Deakus Agreed owned! Even a not so widespread language like the Italian is evolves. Also agreed. I did start learning the language for a holiday to Sicilia last year. can order some things in a restaurant, but still a long way to go. »

  2. @Pedale.Forchetta Hope I am not treading on a real Italians toes but, in Italy Espresso refers to to the process and not the name of the beverage. If you order Caffe you get what we call an espresso. Lungo or Americano for large coffee plus hot water et… »

  3. I’m already kinda breaking some (many?) rules by having tools and puncture stuff in one bidon. Just don’t like the feel of too much stuff in my jersey. But I am on the path, Merckx forgive me. This is pretty cool http://www.vedett.be/findfreddy/ »

It seemed so easy, when I was young, to decide who to love and who to hate. These days, life is a complicated web of heroic deeds and dark shadows. As we get older, it appears our heroes and villains get mixed up.Fortunately for us, Cycling is about much more than bike racing. It is about loving the machine, submitting ourselves to the cathedral ...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Ali McKee You may want to council higher wisdom, but I think there is a lot of salt in dish washing up liquid. I use muc off. »

  2. I look forward to cleaning and maintaining my bike. It’s the same as when out riding with my work mate group. For them, it’s a thing to get over with, for me I love every meter I ride. Same with cleaning, really enjoy it. »

The Velominati are proud to present the following guest article by our community member Steampunk, who splits his time between peppering the site with his insight and humor and riding in the sacred Velominati colors. Michael Barry is one of the great domestiques of the peloton; loyal, hardworking, a hardman, a true cycling aesthete – and an e...

@meursault's posts:

  1. As if I needed proof that this site is cycling on the websternets, I compounded that proof yesterday. After reading steampunks comments about a cycling cafe in Ontario http://www.facebook.com/pages/Domestique-Caf%C3%A9-Cyclo-Sportif/219890280859 and be… »

Jump to: Scoring Guidelines • Schedule • ResultsThe Velominati Super Prestige is a season-long competition wherein readers will be submitting their predictions for the top five finishers of each qualifying race.  In order to qualify, the reader must enter their submission as a comment to the post pertaining to the race in question by 5am on th...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Buck Rogers It is really up the Velominati’s alley. ooooo missus »

I must admit to not having read most of the cycling memoirs in the Works. I may eventually but the local public library doesn’t carry any of them and never will so I’ll have to buy them or ask Frank to tote everything he has to Hawaii. I did get off my wallet and buy these two and it was money well spent. David Millar and Tyler Hamilton...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Oli Russel’s sister »

  2. @Marcus And Bodyline was as good as cheating. wtf? This is worse than us banging on about 1966… oh yeah, and you ate our Captain Cook, erm or maybe Hawaiians, all the same to us [img]smiley emoticom[/[img] »

I’ve taken exactly one economics course in my life. If the fog of time isn’t too thick, I recall two theories that account for value. These theories posit value as being either (A) intrinsic or (B) subjective. That is to say that commodities are valuable in and of themselves and that value can be established objectively by the market. O...

@meursault's posts:

  1. I would disagree that a commodity has a value because we say it does. But that maybe the Marxist in me. Commodities have value because they have a use (value) or an exchange (value). The value is determined by the amount of human labour that transforms ra… »

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...

@meursault's posts:

  1. »

  2. No, it’s not where’s Wally(s)? It’s spot the Pedalwan amongst a recently disturbed nest of YJA’s. Stevenage to Clacton ride last Thurs. Too many rule violations to list. »

The final race of the 2012 Velominati Super Prestige season is upon us. It’s not the most inspiring race, supposedly a race for the sprinters. The long straight final run in to the finish line begs for a mass sprint. It should be called Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais-Tours. The route is 235.5 km of small rollers through the French countryside. The...

@meursault's posts:

  1. Grazie keepers! Very pleased with my debut season (part) 73 points. »

It is October, the last VSP of the season is up, there is still some race in China no one cares about. The road racing season is over. It is time for a little Velominati reflection. We tried to put in as many women’s races into the VSP as we could. They get little press, finding a start list is tough, picking the top five even tougher. But th...

@meursault's posts:

  1. All you Velominati reading this need to help your wife or girlfriend understand just how awesome cycling can be. And yes, that may mean buying them a better-ass bike Guilty as charged, tho she knows how awesome it is, due to me constantly banging on a… »

The final race of the 2012 Velominati Super Prestige season is upon us. It’s not the most inspiring race, supposedly a race for the sprinters. The long straight final run in to the finish line begs for a mass sprint. It should be called Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais-Tours. The route is 235.5 km of small rollers through the French countryside. The...

@meursault's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Degenkolb 2. Bouhanni 3. Blythe 4. Van Avermaet 5. Steegmans »

Our products represent the spirit of Velominati; every product we offer is made with the utmost attention to detail – no compromises were made in their selection or design. Whenever possible, our products are made my small, locally-owned businesses who share our passion for quality and we make every effort to ensure they are made in an enviro...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @Chris Sweet! HB man. »

Il Grillo gives it some stick in 06. Photo: actionplus sports images[/caption]Lombardia is a beautiful race. Taking in the majestic shoreline of Lake Como and climbing past the shrine to the Madonna del Ghisallo, its stunning Italian-ness bookends the Monuments along with Milan-San Remo which started them way back in March. And it’s a coming...

@meursault's posts:

  1. Hmmmm bourbon, no ice though, straight up. Got into it in Las Vegas 2002. Got knocked out of the WSOP at the end of day one (pre poker explosion days only 731 entrants that year) and was consoling myself at the bar of The Four Queens, with a US friend fr… »

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...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @DerHoggz Not sure if it was Brett, or another one of our Antipodean brothers, but there is some good stuff here. http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/cycling-tips/ »

Our products represent the spirit of Velominati; every product we offer is made with the utmost attention to detail – no compromises were made in their selection or design. Whenever possible, our products are made my small, locally-owned businesses who share our passion for quality and we make every effort to ensure they are made in an enviro...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @frank Whoa, that hits payday bullseye, ain’t too proud to beg to the VHM… »

We here at the Velominati have our own set of nicknames and terms which have developed over time through our comments and correspondence. Some of these are names of landmarks or terms in cycling; others are nicknames for some of the riders in the pro peleton. While not intended to be offensive or derogatory, the nicknames in the list represent th...

@meursault's posts:

  1. @G’phant Those race win badges are awesome, congrats. »