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

Velominatus: Lepidopterist

Order: Level 4 Velominatus

@Lepidopterist's activity:

Velominati Super Prestige: L’Eroica/Strade Bianche 2013

Until the 70′s it was common to race on gravel roads, but the Paving of the Planet has led to nearly every road being graced by smooth, black tarmac. As is the case with most things, once we are shown the easy path, it is difficult to return to more arduous ways. So it is with gravel roads; we take measures to avoid unpaved roads and in doi...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Faboo 2. Boom 3. Phinney 4. Sagan 5. Cunego »

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...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. @Ron Yep, Went out and bought the tools to change bearings on Powertorque crank cos I had a click on each pedal stroke. Changed the bearing and it was still there. Turns out the freehub needed greasing is all. Why that should only click only on a left ped… »

The New V-estament

During the birth of The Rules, just like the Big Bang, there was a flurry of new activity, too much expanding and not enough contracting; certainly not enough thinking. It’s hard to keep the throttle back when divining the Word of Merckx in real time. The interweb tubes whistled with new Rules shuttling back and forth, beers consumed, genius...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. @Lepidopterist Ignore the “might be” and learn to delete »

  2. @harminator All valid reasons of course but never forget, when you are going up Alpe d’huez or the local equivalent  a Casually Deliberate wave to someone descending can do much to put your buddys under psychological pressure. Fucked I might be am but … »

In Memoriam: Fiorenzo Magni, December 7, 1920 – October 19, 2012

The Velominati mourn today the passing of Fiorenzo Magni, perhaps one of the Cycling world’s greatest living example of the spirit of The V and all that surrounds it.Magni was the original Lion of Flanders, a feat heightened somewhat by his being Italian, not Flemish – though the Flemish had little to argue with after he won de Ronde th...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. The embodiment of The V. RIP »

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 ...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. The cleaning ritual is the one thing carbon or black parts can never beat polished metalnon. The satisfaction of cleaning polished crankset and mechs is one that is hard to beat. I once asked Mrs L if I could  temporarily store the No 1 in the bedroom, “… »

Velominati Super Prestige: Vuelta a España 2012

One of the loveliest things about the Grand Tours is that you get a feel, by the nature of the route, of the country’s landscape and physical qualities. Italy is littered with mountains and coasts, France is bordered by mountains with large swaths of open landscape throughout, and Spain is like Tatooine; mostly desert with some rocky outcropp...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Froome 2. Contador 3. de Gent 4. Gesink 5. Anton »

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Olympic Road Race 2012

You can all wave “goodbye” to your Post GT Depression Syndrome, because the Men’s Olympic Road Race is only three days yonder. I don’t typically give two shits about this particular event; while contested by national teams, unlike the Worlds it appears as just another one-day race on a calendar filled with events that carry...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Cav 2. Sagan 3. Griepel 4. Goss 5. EBH »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile 2012

It seems a disservice to start the Women’s Giro right before the Tour de France. Even at Velominati’s main bunker HQ, the new TdF VSP sponsorship excitement has overshadowed this race. But at least it is starting (the race and the VSP), nine stages, a time trial, some sprinting, some climbing and some serious transfers. The race starts...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. I dont know Im just guessing »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Pooley 3. Arndt 4. Bronzini 5. Cooke »

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...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Wiggo 2. Cadel Evans 3. Schleck the elder 4. Nibbles 5. Ryder »

International Cogal: Festum Prophetae

It came to me in a moment of absolute clarity, the kind of clarity which only arrives to one in an oxygen-depleted state and at high speed – usually down a steep descent. It would be awfully nice to justify wearing my Molteni jersey, rather than having it hanging in my workshop all the time.It had been suggested a few times already by the tim...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. @Buck Rogers No idea about that paticular jersey but if you ask me Merino wool is the dogs, great to ride in. »

  2. Brilliant idea @Frank. June 17th happens to be the day I am riding a 246km sportive, nearly double my previous record for distance so I recon that will do to honour The Prophet. @Mikael Liddy Perhaps there should be a rule amendment, something like “….. »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2012

After a winter of long training rides that offered more in the way of numb extremities than it did in acute enjoyment, I have to say that the warming of the air and brightening of the skies have served to remind me that while I love riding in bad weather, I certainly don’t have anything against riding when its nice out.But dont think for...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps): 1. Scarponi 2. Basso 3. Uran 4. Visconti 5. Pozzato »

Anatomy of a Photo: Sean Yates V. 2.0

Sweet Jesus, here is a DS you can’t bluff. Having Raas, Tchmil or Sean Yates as a director must make you a better rider; you will be getting little sympathy from the team car with one of these guys behind the wheel. Some ex-racers really let go when they retire but only Sean Yates looks meaner and leaner after he quits the pro peloton. This p...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. From Wikipedia “For a rouleur Yates climbed very well for his weight.” OK so which joker is going to fess up to that. Mind you I bet he did/does. »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2012

After a winter of long training rides that offered more in the way of numb extremities than it did in acute enjoyment, I have to say that the warming of the air and brightening of the skies have served to remind me that while I love riding in bad weather, I certainly don’t have anything against riding when its nice out.But dont think for...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Scarponi 2. Basso 3. Schleck the elder 4. Visconti 5. Pozzato »

Velominati Super Prestige: Luik-Bastenaken-Luik 2012

I thought I’d take this opportunity to move en danseuse on Rule #89 and to refer to Liege-Bastogne-Liege by its less-common Flemish name. It also draws into sharp relief that fact that while Dutch may be every bit as expressive and subtle as French, it certainly sounds less sexy.Some races seem to foster a romanticism that other races of e...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Voeckler 3. Sanchez 4. Schleck the elder 5. Cunego »

Velominati Super Prestige: Flèche Wallonne Femmes 2012

During the Ronde von Vlaanderen, we of the 2012 Keeper’s Spring Classic Tour were right on the Oude Kwaremont climb as the women big-ringed it up the cobbles. Kristin Armstrong (US Women’s Team) was burying herself to get on Judith Arndt’s (Greenedge) wheel. It looked like the winning break was going right in front of our eyes. Se...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Pooley 3. Arndt 4. Cooke 5. Mcgrath »

Velominati Super Prestige: La Fleche Wallonne 2012

I just had to use this pic of Tom Simpson in 1965 wearing the Peugeot kit as the title pic for this year’s VSP for La Fleche Wallonne. Rigid hooked himself up on the Keepers Tour with the same kit he purchased at the Flanders Cycling Museum and it’s Grade A nipple lube. Although victory eluded Simpson in this Classic he still looked dam...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Voeckler 3. Frank Schleck 4. Anton 5. Cunego »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Voeckler 3. Frank Schleck 4. Sagan 5. Cunego »

Velominati Super Prestige: Amstel Gold Race 2012

When people think of the The Netherlands, they generally think of flat lands, windmills, and a topography where people claim to “live at elevation” when their home on the third floor of a building. Never the less, this is not entirely true as The Motherland does, in its most southern reaches, boast quite hilly terrain; the province of...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Schleck the elder 3. Sagan 4. Voeckler 5. Cadel »

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix 2012

We rode the Pavé of Roubaix in the dry, and any comforting feelings we might have been carrying about with us that suggested we had somehow prepared for them were summarily vaporized as we hit the first secteur. Riding together in a group, unable to reach for the brakes or the shifters, we all were hit with the same realization: these aren’...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. The Thunder God 2. Boonen 3. Ballan 4. Big George 5. Flecha »

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

The Velominati Super-Prestige continues with our second Women’s event of 2012, the Women’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. This one is made even more exciting for me by the fact that I now have some small connection to the Women’s Tibco Racing Team, as I watched with envy as they each pulled their bikes off the oversized baggage carrousel...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Pooley 3. Cooke 4. Armstrong 5. Arndt »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

The Keepers and Rigid rolled into a region in France called Flandres which, without doing any further research into the matter, we assume is the coloquial French term for this region of the world. If its anything like the other regions in Europe, these places have roots that extend way past any modern country’s border and situate themselves i...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Tom Boonan 2. Spartacus 3. Boason Hagen 4. Gilbert 5. Sagan »

Guest Article: My Journey from Milano to Sanremo

While the rest of us where bickering over the style in which the finale of one of the most exciting editions of Milano-Sanremo played out, @Pedale.Forchetta was busy behind the finish line, living and breathing the reality of the race. He spent the day following the race to photograph the riders and tifosi and generously shares his story and photos...

@Lepidopterist's posts:

  1. Fantastic photos, great write up. Thank you. Just totally captured the feel of the race, from the start to the looks of exhaustion at the finish. Just fantastic. 19th photo,could those guys be any more Casually Deliberate? Loved the family who put out the… »