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Velominatus: Ali McKee

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@Ali McKee's activity:

Frank vs. The Volcano, Part Trois

At some point, I reckon the idea may dawn on me that I’m not a climber. Eighty kilos and standing something just shy of two meters, I’m not clear on why climbing is what speaks to me most about Cycling; I’m certainly not built like a grimpeur. But there is no question about it; I love riding in the mountains. I only have to catch...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. Respect to the Dumbness of this Frank!  And for beating your time.  Chapeau.  I bet you went about your dumbness in an intelligent way and would be interested to know how you paced yourself for the full ascent? From watching the video, particularly at 7:… »

Anatomy of a Photo: Six Days are for Closers

What do you do during the off-season when your name is Roger de Vlaeminck and you’re a certified organic free-range studmuffin?You roll down to the local Six Day in your Chick MagnetTM tweed suit and bring the ladies in for your pals while you stay Pre-Race Kelly, that’s what.…...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. This is a pretty cool photo indeed! @ElBeeJay totally agree On the subject of Casually Deliberate I refer you to Rouleur 34 (the fucking awesome Henri Cartier Bresson one) and page 37 »

Choose Your Parents Wisely

Evelyn Stevens was working on Wall Street four years ago and is now the best American women cyclist. How is that possible? Her parents must be enjoying dinner with pulses of 40 bpm and sky high VO2 maxes. Are they both professional marathon runners? Is that how they met? Maybe they have never attempted aerobic sports. If Evelyn has siblings and the...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. “But enough of the professionals, I’m a little sick of them right now. We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money. We get all the pleasure and as much pain as we care to endure and then as much as it takes to get back to the hous… »

The Thin Boundary Between Casual and Deliberate

Cycling and crashing are the kinds of things that come together whenever you liberally combine Newtonian Physics, skill, and overconfidence. In other words, I’ve been falling off my bike for nearly as long as I’ve been climbing on it.One of the more memorable crashes of my youth involved the commute home from my high school and a lady...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. @VeloVita nice pics! »

  2. @Buck Rogers the racing scene here is dead and buried…. I’ll get my coat…. »

  3. @frank I was hoping you wouldn’t say that, but knew you would.  Damnit.  I’ll persuade myself CX isn’t ‘GNAR’ enough for me this year while I start saving for a CX bike for next year. I live in Ireland – limited grave options I believe save for forest fi… »

  4. @RedRanger Completely agree with your thinking, however apparently you can’t always get what you want. Purchase of a new #1 this year at ‘not insubstantial cost’ means that in accordance with Rule #12 I would be at ‘S’ number of bikes. Had started resea… »

  5. Please please please can everyone stop talking about and posting photos of cyclocross! I am in enough trouble as it is!! @frank how do you find it compared to mtbing? I don’t know if I could ever swap my MTB for a cx bike even though I see the attraction… »

New Rule: 52 (Plus a Guest Reverence)

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...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. @Marcus SOLID GOLD!! ….and as they say, at least it’s with somebody you love…. »

La Vie Velominatus: Clean Bike Day

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 ...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. I have recently diagnosed myself with mechanical paranoia …and shit typing skills »

  2. Great article and great discussion (again!) I have recently diagnosed myself mechanical paranoia. This includes worries about how often I wash my bike and the methods I use.  Am I getting too much water in to bearings, into the frame itself? Is normal wa… »

Book Reviews: Racing Through the Dark, The Secret Race

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...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. I am just curious and in now way trying to defend them, but; apart from the similarities with US Postal, what is it exactly about Sky that gives rise to so many doubts?  Are there nasty rumours of specific incidents floating within the pro cycling band wa… »

  2. I wonder if Rapha will issue a Special Edition jersey in light of all this?? I’ll go first; The Circle of Dope Jersey, with a special hidden pocket for needles and long sleeves to hide the injection marks (I actually like and wear Rapha gear by the way) »

La Ruota

Its hard to say precisely where the line lays, but I’m certain I’m well on the wrong side of it. I never notice lines as I pass over them but I can usually tell after I have because it feels suddenly liberating to leave reason, sensibility, and convention behind. I find them very restrictive – claustrophobic, almost. They force me...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. @ChrisO Fair points indeed.  I can’t justify aero wheels for my riding anyway.  But they do look good…. And I’m assuming obsessions about all aspects of the bike my riding will hit me at some stage (if this crazy website is anything to go by) @fran… »

  2. Firstly, I applaud the continued high standard of articles by Frank. Your levels of obsession know no bounds and make me feel better about my own slight affliction Secondly, my tuppenceworth, it seems to me (as a relative Pedalwan) there are two rules fo… »

Old Blewett Pass

Last week, I rode through a bit of history and came out thinking of the future. I rode over Old Blewett Pass, which used to connect the Washington towns of Leavenworth and Cle Elum.  Old Blewett Pass was decommissioned in the 1950s and a new road (US 97) was built through Swauk Pass — now referred to as Blewett Pass. The old road is still th...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. Simple and brilliant.  Thanks for sharing »

La Vie Velominatus: Optimism

If I were a pessimist, or a realist for that matter, I wonder if I might have started any of the various activities which have brought me the most pleasure and satisfaction. Though I have Cycling in my mind when I make that statement, this principle expands beyond the vast and il-defined borders of La Vie Velominatus: everything worth doing takes t...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. I am optimistic that I will pay off the credit card within two years (or at any stage at all) after an extravagant bike purchase I am optimistic that one day I will be worthy of said extravagant bike purchase I am optimistic that beer will be scientific… »

Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2012

We are proud to announce a change to the Velominati Super Prestige moving forward: sponsorship. We are delighted (if a little surprised) at the interest our partners showed in this endeavor, despite the short notice we gave them. Four sponsors will be gracing the sides of our team bus for this year’s race: fi’zi:k is our Super Domesti...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. @minion @frank Seems to me Minion is winning this argument, and with style too With all the hard work he’s put in and the pressure he’s under, how is Wiggo’s outburst not understandable?  Wrong maybe, but understandable.  I didn’t like him but I’m comi… »

Anatomy of a Photo: 1986 Milan-San Remo

It’s a classic tactic. The day’s break is caught and before anyone has time to decide what to do about it, you counter-attack. Already tired from chasing the break, maybe – just maybe – the suckers you tricked into pulling for you will let you get away.That was Beccia’s plan in the 1986 Milan-San Remo. He attacked right as the...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. @wiscot Totally agree with you on both points. And by all accounts he doesn’t just turn up and roll along easy. Apparently the pace at the Etape that year was tasty and Kelly was right in the middle of it for the majority of the ride. Legend! What amazed… »

  2. My mate and Cycling Sensei has had the pleasure of being chased by Sean Kelly (two years ago on the Etape Hibernia when King Kelly acknowledged his effort for bridging a gap and taking Mr Kelly with him!) and riding the Poggio, but unfortunately (or fortu… »

Gianni’s Carbon Ball: Sir Twiggo

The glow from the Giro is still visible, everything is still pink but I’m jumping ahead of all the Wilcocksons of the world with a bold Tour de France prognostication. And to do this  I’ve borrowed Frank’s carbon ball, oft used for somewhat accurate predictions of future cycling events. This article was written weeks ago, at the...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. I know fuck all about quite a lot but does Pierre Rolland not deserve a mention somewhere? I’d like to see him do well and the I’d like to see de Gendt take it seriously and have a go next year Can’t warm to Wiggo and the pressure will get to him and Tea… »

La Vie Velominatus: Addiction

I feel it in my bones. I feel it in my breathing. I fixate on how much I feel it in my legs to the point where I find myself in a meeting, rubbing them to gauge how soft they’ve gotten. (Must learn to stop doing that in public as it can’t possibly improve my social standing. I’m tempted to cite the fact that I’m a Cyclist an...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. It’s the people around you that make you realise how bad it gets or how bad it already is. I thought I was addicted to motorbikes, I’ve always been addicted to riding off road (motorised or not) but in the last 3 years road cycling has sucked me in to the… »

Guest Article: The Fine Art of Pedaling

Keeper Jim and I came across Meg Fisher during an icy-rain Rule #9 training ride on Mercer Island in March. The first thing that struck us was that there was a good rider up the road, one of the few braving those cold, wet, early morning hours. It wasn’t until we caught up to her that we realized she was riding with a prosthetic leg.The thr...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. Meg, I’m going to empty my luck drawer and send the entire contents your way! Huge respect! »

Rule 8: It’s Gotta Be The Shoes

What Gianni humbly omitted from his last article is that once he finishes ranting about sock color (actually, the lack of need for any color other than than white), he recovers quickly and we wrap up the Keepers executive board meeting with him tearing our legs off on the ride home from the bar with his Magnificent Stroke.  Because after all, he i...

@Ali McKee's posts:

  1. @frank @wiscot @The Oracle Cheers gentlemen. So I have to 1. Thrash myself with my non-drive side skewer 2. Shave my guns 3. Cut my steerer 4. Change my stem (believe it or not that is it flipped – some crazy angle on it but it was free at the time of … »

  2. @frank Affirmative. The stem and bars were a donation to my build from my Cycling Sensei. Plan is to replace them with Ritchey WCS to match my saddle and seatpost. Don’t quite understand how I’m going to flatten stem and keep spacers to 10mm max and still… »