Velominati Super Prestige:
Giro D'Italia 2013
Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: DocBrian

Order: Level 1 Velominatus

Location: Australia

Retired teacher. PhD in Education. Nidan in Judo. SCUBA diver. Took up cycling 3 years ago. Llove it. Do long charity sportiness. Too slow to race, but have good endurance for oldie. Live in Burradoo, about 100km from Sydney. Great cycling region. (Home of Brad McGee, Caleb Ewan)

@DocBrian's activity:

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @erik Thor, the greatest god, is with you, Cadel. Good beats evil every time in the movies. The Force be with you. »

Reverence: Speedplay Pedals

I’m old as dirt. My first two race bikes employed toe clips and toe straps and that set-up was bad. For many reasons it was bad and any retro-hipster who thinks otherwise is wrong. When Lemond and Hinault started racing on the white Look clipless pedals, everyone but Sean Kelly quickly switched. Talk about a quantum improvement, it was long o...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @minion And our next Prime Minister, as big a boofhead as he is, rides a very nice handmade Hillbrick. »

The Rules

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. Off to Mudgee for 4 days. Home of Mark Renshaw’s wife’s family, but also unfortunately staying in the cave of VHM’s mother. Four days of riding ,Mudgee to Gulgong (60km return), Lowes Peak, Ulan. Couple of hours on bike, back to pub, watch recorded Tour d… »

The Bikes

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. Electronic shift: instant. auto indexing. Shift down while powering uphill without pausing your pedal stroke. adjustment dead easy. Battery Charge lasts for ages. Less clutter on bars. No need to,lube/renew gear cable. New models all have 11 speed capabil… »

  2. @Deakus Try it. You’ll fall in love! »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2013, Stage 10

Day 5 of the Six Days of the Giro continues with an impromptu VSP event.Lets have a look at where we are in the 2013 Giro. Wiggins must have spent time training in Luxembourg because he’s been descending like a Schleck when things get dodgy before disappearing into the team van to have a cry about it. Hesjedal has put in some good moves and...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. Nibali looking good at 41sec ahead of Cuddles. Early days, but 1st and 2nd appear to be set. Impressed by Cadel, but can he get over Nibs? »

Pink or Yellow?

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. Live coverage now. Astana using too much. BMC working nicely together behind, saving energy for climbs. »

Guest Article: Jeff in PetroMetro’s Look 595

Not only do most of us have a tale of our Cycling Sensei, but we also generally have a story for how we came into our current Bike Number 1. Those of us who were online last week probably noticed Jeff’s manic posts regarding a Look that he spotted at a big-box retailer, for a price that should have him constantly looking over his shoulder for...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @Tartan1749 Arse not what you can do for your saddle, but what your saddle can do to your arse. »

  2. @ped The San Marco Aspide that was replaced could have been useful as an automatic tampon remover or for conducting deep prostate examinations. »

  3. @Rob I use a Spec Romin Evo Comp Gel. Great saddle. Gap prevents any sign of peristaltic paralysis. Perhaps the slightly more expensive Spec Romin Pro is a bit better. »

The Rules

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @JessicaAlba Not sure what you are on about. If you read what I wrote you’ll see that it is in fact spelled correctly. It is only in once colonized uncivilized countries that TIRES oils acceptable »

  2. Jessica: I would think that tyres are necessary? »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @frank thank you. No idea why multiple shots appeared. Mislabel sling was my boohoo. »

  2. FRANK:  SOMEHOW LABELS GOT MIXED UP AND MULTIPLE SCANS RECORDED. HOPE YOU CAN COPE WITH THIS.  PLEASE. PURGE THE PROBLEMATIC ONES. Brian. »

  3. Pantani: Stage 11 of 1994 Tour. From Cahors to Lourdes-Hautacam »

  4. Eddy Merckx: Final Tour, 1977 »

Self-Chosen: Il Pirata & Il Giro

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @frank Imagine that species of humanity if they were allowed to drive cars or vote! »

  2. @Deakus Then make sure that it is made of quality latex! »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @mouse Cadel’s big test will in on the long climbs of Stage 4.?A good showing there and he moves closer to being a favorite for Le Tour. Never write him off! »

The Bikes

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @DerHoggz I have FSA SLK Light hollow carbon crank. BB30. 53/39 and 172.5.  Turns beautifully. No problems. Looks great. I prefer it to the Ultegra compact that I sometimes swap to for very hilly rides. Even with hills I prefer the FSA. »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013

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...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. Saint Cadel is back, at least for this day! »

Sur La Plaque: Rule #33

We’re heaping coals on the Giro frenzy that’s burning in all corners of the Cycling world by issuing the second installment of the monthly BigRingRiding Sur la Plaque series while at the same time kicking off the Six Days of the Giro series where we’ll post six articles on the subject of this, the best Grand Tour of the year. Y...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @Fausto I take your point. A good fem is hard to find, so it is worthwhile avoiding the issue rather than strictly adhering to Rule #33. »

  2. @Fausto What’s good for the goose is good for the gander! Agree to ignore Rule #33 only if she does so too. Fem vanity and social compliance combined with approbation by her coffee club or knitting group or patchwork compatriots or which ever undergroun… »

  3. @PeakInTwoYears more than 20 years of playing Judo at national and international levels all all the heavy weight work goes with it. The sport involves explosive twisting movement against strongly resisting opponents. »

The Lexicon

The Velominati have our own set of nicknames and terms which have developed over time through posts and correspondence. Some of these are names of landmarks or terms in cycling; others are nicknames for some of the riders in the pro peloton. While not intended to be offensive or derogatory, the nicknames in the list represent the riders’ pe...

@DocBrian's posts:

  1. @Sauterelle Your Royal Highness? »

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