Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: razmaspaz

Order: Level 2 Velominatus

Location: Exurban Chicago

@razmaspaz's activity:

The mighty VSP generator has been switched on once again. The mil-spec hydraulic fluid has been changed since the Giro. A new power take-off belt has also been installed. And the punch card reader has been refurbished.Broome and Berti are already riding the Critérium du Dauphiné. The top contenders prefer the Dauphiné for the decent recovery all...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. Yeah, I know there are at least 2 throw away picks in there. VSP PICKS: 1. Costa 2. Boonen 3. Faboo 4. Gilbert 5. Millar »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @Dan_R After I noticed Frank wrapping with white to match the tape, I started doing this contrast color thing similar to @Cyclops, I match it to the frame or to the housing if it isn’t white.  It is one of those barely there details that makes all the d… »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @the Engine I don’t know which is worse for Froome, a tour with Wiggins, or a tour without him. »

Addiction is typically defined as a bad thing. Addiction to drugs, to alcohol, sex or even work is usually portrayed as a condition to be battled, to overcome. The same sources may recommend a strict regime of regular exercise and healthy living as the perfect antidote to the bad addictions that befall an overwhelming majority of the general popul...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @Jamie I don’t think you can find true greatness in a single thread without being addicted to that thread.  Being unable to pull yourself away from something is really the only way to give yourself completely over to it, and that is the essence of an ad… »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. Gaaaahhh! http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gavia-and-stelvio-cut-from-stage-19-of-the-giro-ditalia Looks like Cuddles is saved by the storm. “RCS Sport confirmed that Saturday’s final mountain stage is also at risk.” »

  2. WIth Uran now only down 10″ on Evans the next 2 days should be very fun.  Especially since Evans is showing that he is in trouble.  I really hope they keep the next 2 days in the mountains and don’t get snowed out. »

  3. to swap in Cuddles or not, that is the question.  He has a good lead on Uran, but I’m not convinced he’s invincible.  Risk 10 to gain 5?  Mmm… »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @Sauterelle Forget cycling, isn’t this just good judgement?  Sports apparel should be reserved for playing sports, and would you wear a Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Raven’s jersey in a football game if you weren’t a Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Raven?… »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @Lukas I could never be a pro; having shitty jamiroquai tracks stuck in my head would drive me to an early grave. »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @Deakus Wild Boys is a clear example of why my parents believed MTV to be the spawn of satan. »

  2. @Deakus As one of those youngsters I’m quite familiar with the song, but not the video.  Are you sure this isn’t the broadway adaptation of Apocalypse Now? »

  3. Anyone else think the Lotto Belisol kit looks a million times better with the grey/silver lids? »

We continue our Six Days of the Giro series with a look at the troubled bond between Marco Pantani and the Giro.Some were meant to be tormented, as though it were preordained that their brilliance should be balanced with fatal flaws. These are tortured souls, whose dramatic highs are equalled only by the devastating depths of their lows. Continu...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @anthony sands As an unqualified dork, I find your use of the word dork offensive. »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @motor city The Giro is such a different animal from last year’s Tour that it really can’t be called into play.  With an uphill TT and numerous nasty grades, look for Nibali to ride away from Wiggins the way Froome did in the tour last year, except he w… »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Nibali 2. Ryder 3. Wiggins 4. Phinney 5. Scarponi »

  3. I don’t see how Wiggins wins a stage race with a 20k uphill TT.  I’m guessing even if he does dominate the other TT, it’s not enough. VSP PICKS: 1. Nibali 2. Ryder 3. Wiggins 4. Phinney 5. Basso »

There is something to love about a race that makes a deviation to its route for the simple joy of sending a fleet of professional riders up a fiendishly steep and narrow ramp. The Cote du Stockeu offers zero benefit to the route from a logistical standpoint – in fact, all it does is complicate things. On the way down from the Cote de Wanne &#...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Nibali 2. Gilbert 3. Henao 4. J Rod 5. Valverde »

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...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @PeakInTwoYears I have new 105 shifters and brakes on my Trek, with stock 105 pads, and I cannot imagine ever needing more stopping power. »

We came tantalizingly close to adding a foray up the Mur de Huy during our excursion to Liege-Bastogne-Liege during this year’s Keepers Tour. But good sense and The Anti-V prevailed, as they are wont to do, and only two of us were left wanting a dig at the most notorious finishing climb in the Classics season.I write this, then, woefully igno...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Sagan 3. Valverde 4. J Rod 5. Moser »

Last year we saw Evelyn Stevens out-last Marianne Vos at the top of the Mur de Huy. The take home message is don’t start one’s charge too early. Vos should know this finish, having won it four times already. It’s hard to know who is on form in the professional women field as the races are too far apart to infer much from the last...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. Here’s hoping »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Stevens 3. Johansson 4. Borghini 5. Armistead »

Was Paris-Roubaix the best of the Spring Classics in 2013? Milan-Sanremo was amazingly photogenic, Ronde van Vlaanderen was inevitable but Roubaix was just about perfect. We all prefer the wet and gray “This weather is good for us” Roubaix yet this race’s drama transcended the fine spring day in the North of France. There is no be...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. Who dares doubt the sure thing?  I have to admit I couldn’t figure out how he was going to do it when OPQS had 2 riders in the break, but I knew that he would do it.  Had Boonen been present in that break, my faith might have been shaken. »

It looks so easy on the television. Well, no, actually it looks pretty bloody hard. We think we have some understanding of how they suffer, how their bodies can take the continual beating. But we don’t really know. Not even by riding these abominations they call roads twice in the space of a few days can we understand the scale of the thing...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. @Gianni If pro cyclist is an over romanced occupation, retired pro is surely underrated.  This has to be the best job in the world.  Getting paid to make amateurs look amateur.  I couldn’t tell if Frank got his wheel… »

  2. I hate to be boring, but there just isn’t a compelling argument for anyone else to win. VSP PICKS: 1. Cancellara 2. Chavanel 3. Phinney 4. Tjallingii 5. Boom »

Marianne Vos has never won this? She who wins everything all the time has never won this? Is it not hilly and tough enough? This seems like a tear in the time-space continuum. Someone is going to be wanting to add this to her palmarés. Weather sounds like a cold but dry day for racing. This is a big one, maybe worth two bumper stickers, so ponder...

@razmaspaz's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Bronzini 3. Armitstead 4. Johannson 5. Stevens »