Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: Harminator

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"We used to live in a rolled up newspaper in a septic tank." Found the bike relatively late in life after a mis-spent youth. Now cured, living northern Sydney, soaking up the serenity and agony of the local gorges... Married, 2 kids, school teacher (design & tech) renovating the house and running the school MTB program.

@Harminator's activity:

This photo is perhaps the greatest of all time; it shows The Prophet riding in the 1969 Ronde van Vlaanderen, kit and machine perfect. Rule #9 conditions in abundance. He’s gone off the front with some 80km left to race, which predictably sent his directeur into a rage. Ordered to return to the bunch, Merckx calmly suggested he go screw hi...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. Late on this but… Just nitpicking that when The Prophet makes a long solo break, kamikaze is the wrong word. Homicide maybe. I prefer manslaughter. »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @frank But he hasn’t even told us how much his front skewer weighs. »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @Chris That explains it. Otherwise…She looks mighty peeved at the quality of the sprint train the team provided.. »

  2. @Chris One of these riders has been raised by a Velominatus… A perfect example of the importance of learning from the right people. »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @mouse Yep. A good showing for one day. Lets see if he can put a few together including a TT. And not insignificant that he lost very little on the long, slightly technical descent. »

  2. Sensational stage. @all should catch the last 20k if you can. I even found myself giving Andy a hearty “C’mon!” Rat pack buries himself! And the banner collapse on the frantic descent? Crazy stuff! »

This week’s Guest Article comes from our friend, @blacktoolpower (l) and our editor Drummond Moir (r). In anticipation of our book’s imminent release, these two donned their lab coats and headed out to the streets of London to assess the state of Rule Compliance in the city’s commuter crowd. Always remember: leave this kind of ins...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @blackpooltower Classic. Perhaps too clever to be an accident..? And Drummond? I always wondered what Where’s Wally did for a day job. »

La Vie Velominatus isn’t a part-time gig. La Vie means the life, and The V is my life. Otherwise, I’d be Some V Velominatus, some of the time.Even when I’m not riding my bike, like the last two weeks (for reasons which don’t really matter, and offering them only renders them excuses), I live La Vie through other avenues. Eve...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. What a nice little veggo love-in this is! I’m a meat eater with no real knowledge of where my food comes from or what experience the animals have had before I chew…that makes me common in my culture but an uncommon Velominatus it seems. Yesterday at t… »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @frank Pardon Monsieur? Je suis a la delicatessen avec mon frère. Would you like a sample or b sample. I have both ready. »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @Mikael Liddy Correct. No closer than than the split second you draw level with the Trek as you whip past in the bunch sprint…   »

  2. @Mikael Liddy I’m selling mine if you’d like to upgrade your Fondriest… »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @sthilzy Mate. We both know he’s a class act. TdF 2016. You saw it here first. Forget the thanks, just send beer. This week? Well… the big mountain stage and the ITT are a day apart… Is Ryder going to pull for Rat Pack? I’d have thought the reverse… »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Cameron Meyer 2. Ryder 3. Costa 4. Tejay 5. S Spilak »

Every once in a while, you stumble across a quote that changes your outlook on how you approach life. Of course, this requires that one does a good deal of “reading”, which is a problem for me, as reading anything that isn’t Cycling-related feels the same as doing “work”. I do the odd bit of it nevertheless, and in a r...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @Mikael Liddy Similar to my LbS enquiry in Sydney – July 7th. I wanted to ask how much it weighs and does it come in carbon but restrained myself. »

  2. @frank I assume the production team have been instructed not to call him Little Tommy. I guess that means Russell Crowe will have to settle for the part of Brett. And Gianni? »

  3. Astounding stuff, Keepers. I really don’t know how you fit everything in around your real jobs. I guess the next step is the screenplay… Will Andy play Frånk? »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @strathlubnaig As an impressionable teenager I devoured stacks of mountaineering literature in the 80′s. Haston and Scott, Boardman and Tasker blew my adventuring mind. Haston on the Hillary step is one of the enduring images of the time… But Scott’… »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. Good morning America. Its beer o’clock in Sydney and I’ve just stumbled upon a local supplier:- I could give up anytime… »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @ChrisO Me also. Two guys I ride with have had RD issues on long rides/races and had to finish with 60k slogs with 2 gears. Cadel’s comment after Wiggo’s trouble in Trentine was that some of the innovations / adaptions have yet to be fully tested. I won… »

  2. @Deakus Yep. Dura-ace Di2 9070. I think Uran runs that too. Some speculation that snow/ice build up jammed the RD shift in the last 3k. That was a remarkable stage. Shame  Nibbles won the TT. It would have been so much cooler (more believable?) for him … »

While all evidence points to the contrary, the 20th century’s greatest twatwaffle LE Gunderson may have got something at least half right after all. Of course it’s about the bike, otherwise we’d be runners. But there are other factors that contribute to what makes us Cyclists which can often be overlooked completely. Not the cloth...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. I was just contemplating this on my Tuesday night ride this week. Everything prior to roll out is extra effort – lights, kit, raising the energy to simply start. But the rewards are magnified too. As we strung out on a long desent, swapping off and spinni… »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. Replacing both Ryder from 3 and Beaker from 1. Still not right but I’ll gamble on Cuddles getting better and Nibbles blowing up on stage 19… VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps): 1. Cuddles 2. Nibbles 3. Uran 4. Santa mbrogio 5. Scared Pony »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @VanBrudenrijden +1. Very good. No angel greater than a mongrel. »

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...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. @strathlubnaig Love it. Just waiting for the “my rivals must have hacked my wireless shifting” excuse from someone now. »

Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very m...

@Harminator's posts:

  1. This just in. A man in a brown jumper stole a power bar and electrolyte drink from the feed station during today’s Critical Mass event. Witnesses say he attempted a cunning disguise by pulling his trousers up to the knee and pointing his knees outwards. … »