Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: El Mateo

Order: Level 2 Velominatus

Location: Fort Worth, TX

Social: /

Converted to cycling from futbol in 1984 in Austin, TX. Became hopelessly addicted to Campy and pasta. Raced on & off for about 10 years. Never won a Spring Classic. Big fan of cycling history. Still love to ride.

@El Mateo's activity:

Festum Prophetae: The Impossible Hour

Update: You can watch the live stream (assuming it works from the velodrome) on the Velominati channel at USTREAM. When you log in, you’ll first see my little test video of my puppy eating grass. Please disregard me yelling at it. That never happened.I have always considered myself to have a good imagination, something I attribute half to my...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. Mmmm… 40.47 km. dont forget to slap a V decal on the top tube before u start… You’ll need the inspiration! »

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...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. Loving all the “Mutiny” and “Columbian Conspiracy” talk within the Sky Team…. My plan for a Ryder victory is working perfectly… Although this may just have the effect of pissing off the beast that is Wiggo and he storms to a crushing victory on Saturd… »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Hesjedal 2. Wiggins 3. Nibali 4. Gesink 5. Henao »

La Vie Velominatus: Lean Properly

There are always at least two ways to accomplish any task: properly and improperly. Drinking beer from a glass, not the bottle; carrying a full umbrella instead of a miniature fold-up; stirring your gin martinis, not shaking them; wearing french cuffs with a suit, not button cuffs. The Velominatus, of course, is drawn towards doing things Properly,...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. It should only take one good fall that scrapes your top tube and scuffs your seat and bar tape… But you see it happen over and over… inexcusable for anyone over the age of 12. As in the photo, it just looks so awesome to pull up to a pub and see a lin… »

Velominati Super Prestige: Luik-Bastenaken-Luik 2013

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 &#...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Kwiatowski 3. D. Martin 4. Ryder 5. Nibali »

Riding Ugly: Damien Gaudin

The simple art of riding a bicycle can be undertaken in many ways. Watching the stylish commuters of Amsterdam going about their business in the most Casually Deliberate way makes you wonder if indeed anyone is actually going about any business at all. I don’t know how anything ever gets done in that city; everyone seems to be on their way to...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. Don’t know much about this Gaudin chap other than what I saw in Paris-Roubaix. While casually watching, I happened to look up and take full note of this Green clad monster flailing away at the pedals over one of the later cobbled sections. I was in shock … »

Velominati Super Prestige: La Flèche Wallone 2013

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...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. Big F’n goose egg for me… Where’s the broom wagon? »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Contador 2. Joachim Rodriquez 3. Valverde 4. Richie Port 5. Gilbert »

The Cogals

Cogals are meetings of like-minded misfits brought together by the promise of beer, preceded by a bike ride. Cogals are free, open to all, organized by our fellow Velominati and are always followed by consumption of post-ride recovery ales and merriment. These are gatherings of unbridled observance of Rule #4.Cogals differ themselves from other...

@El Mateo's posts:

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Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix 2013

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...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. Surprised that nobody commented on Gaudin’s rediculous and paintul to watch pedalling style. Hard to believe he can ride in the peloton with those knees sticking out like his bike is way too small. »

  2. VSP Picks… VSP PICKS: 1. Faboo 2. Taylor Phinney 3. Sylvain Chavanel 4. E B Hagen 5. Jurgen Roelandts »

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...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. @FW I’ve been white helmet / black glasses for a while now, although white glasses would look very clean. I like the white helmet because it goes with every kit and matches the trim my bike. Pray to Merckx that I’m compliant. I’d be devastated if I’ve bee… »

Anatomy of a Photo: Campagnolo Candy Van

Every night I pray to Merckx that in the morning when I wake up I’ll have a Campagnolo Free Candy Van with a Super Dome.And every morning, its a fresh disappointment that it didn’t come true. Continue reading...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. What a sweet ride. I suppose every decade can claim coolness on some level but the 70′s is clearly the peak. Take the the Campy Candy Van for instance. That aint happenning in 1987 or 1965 or 2002 Because that is a 70′s Chevy Van. 1000′s of tricked out va… »

V Day

Ah, February 14 is here again. A very special day for all of us. A day you don’t want to forget. A day when you make that extra effort to show the one you love just how much they mean to you. V Day.On this day, I will rise early, tiptoeing out of bed so as not to make any noise and stir the sleeping. I will dress quickly and quietly, leaving...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. I guess it isn’t enough that I bought her a Super Record Gruppo a few months ago and new tires not long before that. I love her but the constant demands for upgrades can sometime take its toll on our relationship. Why can’t she be happy with what she has … »

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...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. @the Engine I thought a Marathon bar (U.S. version) was  sort of like long, skinny braided Twix-like bar- Been years since I’ve seen one. »

Reverence: Campagnolo Tools

Exposure to religion in my youth was by way of a brief dose of sunday school at the local Unitarian church. The point there, evidently, was to learn about other religions and turtles. If a point was being made, I missed it. When Catholic friends of mine came over for the weekend I would accompany them to the closest Catholic church and we would end...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. Every time I see a Campa tool I’m immediately transported back to Freewheeling Bicycles in San Marcos, TX. it was the mid 80′s… The shop was full of italian and french bikes, wool & lycra (lycra- not coolmax or any other high tech mat’l) jerseys hun… »

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. Continue reading...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. RDV looks dashing but that hipster in the background looks to be trying to close a deal as well. »

La Vie Velominatus: Ritual

Along the lines of what Bruce Dickinson famously decreed while espousing the medical benefits of cowbell in the remedy of rare types of influenza, I put my shoes on one at a time – just like you. But after I’ve got my shoes on, I ooze Fluidly Harmonic Articulation.As Cyclists, we wield the mighty power of The V, yet lay victim to the na...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. I’m much like G’Phant in that my nickname should be Captain F’ Around. My friends have other names for me which aren’t neArly as cool. Due to the lack of any true ritual or method for getting ready, I am a hot mess trying to get on the road. if I’m doing … »

Breaking The Rules: 29

As we gingerly assembled outside the gite, the Belgian sun shining for the first time in the three days we’d been in the spiritual home of cycling, the conversation was muted; what do you say to a legend of the sport, an apostle in his parish about to hold a sermon on two wheels? I can’t recall who it was who said it, but I remember the...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. it’s shocking to me that the Velominati are exhibiting the same qualities as the general public in that they only see/believe what they want to. Let’s recap…. Brett hates the EPMS! He used it one day and made the mistake of telling you about his indiscr… »

Evanescent Riders: L.E. ‘Juan’ Gunderson

The name Laurence Ernest Gunderson is not one that the general public know too well, at least before the events of the past week. The US cyclist was relatively famous within the sport, but ask Joe Average who he was and you’d be met with a blank stare. But now, he’s back-page news on newspapers on lawns, campuses and in those bins out t...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. WHile perusing the inter web I came across this Anthology of LA Doping Allegations… Unbelievable. http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/index-of-lance-armstrong-doping-allegations-over-the-years »

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...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. Speaking of Bonts… Would like to buy some Vaypors but none of the LBS here have them. Anyone have experience with their online sizing system being accurate? Seems to be pretty good in that they recommend the same size as my Sidis but in a “Narrow”. I su… »

The Gear

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...

@El Mateo's posts:

  1. @niksch I just got the L and it fits me fairly snug before washing so I assume a bit of shrinkage will be perfect (165 lbs – 6′-0″). 39-40 chest. I would think an XL would fit a 42-44 snug but not latex like. Jersey seems well tapered to keep the sag down… »

  2. @the Engine If you have a skinny heel/bony foot like me give the Sidis a look. Been riding them for 30 years so I guess Im biased. »

  3. @Cyclops Dude… Life is too short for shitty tires. Bee using Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps. Bullet proof and get 3K+ out of them (165 lbs.) . Also recently tried the Schwalbe ZX 25C. Big & beefy but super grippy and supple (None of these words belon… »

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