Velominati Super Prestige:
Giro D'Italia 2013
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Velominatus: Mason

Order: Level 4 Velominatus

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@Mason's activity:

Whidbey Island Cogal-2012, Part Deux

On 10/13/12, we return to the scene of the crime – the site of the very first Seattle Cogal in 2011. The Anniversary ride starts at V-past 9am, so plan ahead to be sure to get on the correct Mukilteo/Clinton ferry so as to arrive at the starting point in Langley with ample time for the obligatory pre-ride espressi. The route is planned to be...

@Mason's posts:

  1. On 10/13/12, we return to the scene of the crime – the site of the very first Seattle Cogal in 2011. The Anniversary ride starts at V-past 9am, so plan ahead to be sure to get on the correct Mukilteo/Clinton ferry so as to arrive at the starting point in Langley with ample time for the obligatory pre-ride espressi. The route is planned to be the same as last year’s, and Merckx Willing, I will make it around the entire course now that my Jan sized ass has gotten a few more miles in 2011 that it did in 2012. We plan (as usual) a Casually Deliberate pace, but this really only serves to mean we will be regrouping for the people that don’t bring maps or that decide to drop @eightzero, their Garmin 705 armed buddy (I’m looking at you, @frank.) Pre-ride revelry on Friday will be discussed in the comments, as well as post ride amenities to be researched by @eightzero and Mrs/Dr Eightzero.

    We ride. VLVV.

    Event Details

    Loading Map....

    Date/Time
    Date - October 13, 2012
    9:05 AM - 3:00 PM

    Location
    Island Coffee House and Books

    Cogal Details
    Route Details

    Ride Classification

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris Tours 2012

The final race of the 2012 Velominati Super Prestige season is upon us. It’s not the most inspiring race, supposedly a race for the sprinters. The long straight final run in to the finish line begs for a mass sprint. It should be called Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais-Tours. The route is 235.5 km of small rollers through the French countryside. The...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Boom 2. Degenkolb 3. Van Avermaet 4. Flecha 5. Maaskant »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro di Lombardia 2012

Il Grillo gives it some stick in 06. Photo: actionplus sports images[/caption]Lombardia is a beautiful race. Taking in the majestic shoreline of Lake Como and climbing past the shrine to the Madonna del Ghisallo, its stunning Italian-ness bookends the Monuments along with Milan-San Remo which started them way back in March. And it’s a coming...

@Mason's posts:

  1. I am predicting that Damiano has been simply training to peak at Lombardia. VSP PICKS: 1. Cunego 2. Phil Gil 3. J Rod. 4. Ryder 5. Uran »

Velominati Super Prestige: Mens World Championship Road Race 2012

I’m quite upset about it, actually, all this racing that’s been going on in perfectly good weather. Vlaanderen, dry. Roubaix, dry. We were nearly guaranteed shit weather with the Olympics in London, but even then, only the women got to get all Rule #9 on our asses – and only for one race. Damnit, I want Epic, and if we keep insis...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Rodriguez 3. Nibali 4. Gerrans 5. Valverde »

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s Road Championship 2012

It seems like just weeks ago that Cav won his rainbow stripes, things were said, umbrage was taken. Luckily we have found more umbrage so we are good to go. This course is not like last year. It’s not exactly a sprinters finish. It’s a 128 km rumble in Valkenberg and the Dutch team is there for Marianne Vos. She has finished second in...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Pooley 3. Arndt 4. Stevens 5. Borghinin »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Contador 2. J. Rod 3. Froome 4. Grsink 5. JVDB »

Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2012, Stage 16

Which bold rider has this stage circled in their tour bible? Wednesday July 18th, Stage 16, 197 km. The day after a the final rest day. A climbing day with two HC climbs followed by two Category 1 climbs and a serious descent toward the finish. The Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde: you better be a fearless climber and a good descender, bu...

@Mason's posts:

  1. Nibali shall ride into our hearts forever! VSP PICKS: 1. Nibali 2. Pinot 3. Froome 4. JVDB 5. Evans »

Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2012, Stage 11

During the 1969 Tour de France, Felice Gimondi and Ray Poulidor were fined for taking a ride from a lorry up the Tourmalet. What about Merkcx? Well, he was towing the lorry.Its an old joke, but like any good joke, it stays funny no matter how many times you hear it. I bet it’s even funnier if you know what a lorry is. I knew a girl named Lori...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Evans 2. Froome 3. Pinaud 4. Nibali 5. Wiggins »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Wiggins 2. Evans 3. Nibali 4. Valverde 5. Leipheimer »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Scarponi 2. J. Rod 3. Kreuziger 4. Hesjedal 5. Gadret »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Phil Gil 2. J. Rod 3. D. Cunego 4. Valverde 5. Sammy Sanchez »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. J. Rod 2. Gilbert 3. Uran 4. Vanandert 5. Valverde »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Rodriguez 2. Valverde 3. Voeckler 4. Gerrans 5. Sagan »

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’...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Tomekke! Tomekke! Tomekke! 2. Flecha 3. Pozatto 4. Vanmarcke 5. Thor »

In Flanders Fields

You don’t have to be in Flanders very long before you start to breathe in the history of the area. Horrible things have happened in the fields across Northern France and Belgium, like the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of the Bulge. These are the kinds of things that hang in the air for centuries; they seep into your blood.There is a famou...

@Mason's posts:

  1. It really is a pity at how the First World War gets so easily forgotten, when it was so fundamental in shaping the modern age. I spent three weeks while teaching High School World History explaining the break in western society that happens at the First W… »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. Oh man, what a race. I was racing myself this weekend, got home, and sat down for dinner and de Ronde. Stayed the hell off the internet so I didn’t accidentally see who won. Then I cruised over here ’cause I knew I picked up some points. What a way to cap… »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Tomekke 2. Faboo 3. Pozzato 4. Van Avermat 5. Sagan »

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...

@Mason's posts:

  1. I am currently in violation of Rule #54. This is a temporary thing due to the fact that several of the “Tour de” races on my schedule have a time trial in them. I have been 98% rule compliant (I have 7.5 mm of stack under the stem) since removing my EPMS l… »

Velominati Super Prestige: Gent-Wevelgem 2012

Gent conjures up images of the quintessential Flemish city. Age-old medieval architecture rising from the river’s edge is classically Belgian. Gent is also firmly tied to Belgium’s greatest gift to the world, cycling tradition. Many a pro-expat cyclist has relocated to Gent with the hope of testing their mettle in the seat of cycling...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Faboo 2. Tommeke 3. Gilbert 4. Boss Hogg 5. Sagan »

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Nice 2012

It’s right around this time of year when the little voice in my head that spurs me on in cold, wet, Rule #9 conditions starts getting overpowered by all my other personalities who at this stage are gathering stones and crowbars and getting ready to enforce their will on him regarding their preference for riding in nice, warm, sunny conditi...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Cunego 2. T. Martin 3. Wiggins 4. L.L. Sanchez 5. Anton »

Velominati Super Prestige: Strade Bianche 2012

The Monte Paschi Strade Bianchi is happening this Saturday and it is such an interesting race we are putting it into the VSP.  The route is a mix of pavement and white marble sectors that roam through the hilly Tuscan country and finishes in the middle of beautiful Sienna. It seems early to me but that is because the Giro had an epic stage on the...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Philipe Gilbert 2. Peter Sagan 3. Alessandro Ballan 4. Fabian Cancellara 5. Ryder Hesjedal »

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

We kick off the first races of the 2012 VSP with a double-header as we open the picks for the VVomen’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Aside from an early hiccup, the new software has been running as expected, though I should have known better than to declare something as “tested”; as the first few picks went in sideways, there was more co...

@Mason's posts:

  1. Hmmm. All the former champs in the field and a few randoms. VSP PICKS: 1. Suzanne De Goede 2. Irene Van Den Broek 3. Kirsten Wild 4. Emma Johansson 5. Katrien Van Looy »

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

The 2012 Velominati Super Prestige kicks off in proper form this season with the debut of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as part of the series. I’m tempted to stubbornly refer to this race as Het Volk, but I’ll toe the line and refer to the race by its bewildering new(ish) name.This is a tricky race to predict because the big races in April ar...

@Mason's posts:

  1. Wow, and Thor complained about Garmin having too many leaders? Are you kidding me… VSP PICKS: 1. Juan Antonio Flecha 2. Stijn Devolder 3. Philippe Gilbert 4. Lars Boom 5. Johan Van Summeren »

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro di Lombardia

No event of the year is more likely to provide piles of Rule #9 in the Five and Dime than il Giro di Lombardia. A hilly circuit around Lake Como ensures lots of climbing and that the bunch is blown to bits before the finish. Add to that its position as the last classic of the season, nestled in amongst the falling leaves of mid-October, and you...

@Mason's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Cunego 2. Fast Phil 3. J-rod 4. Sammy Sanchez 5. Rui Costa »

Velominati Super Prestige: 2011 Men’s Elite Worlds Road Race

A clatter of the metal grate rolling up signals another opening of the Velominati Bookmaker’s Office. The gaggle of skinny (and not so skinny, you know who you are) jabbering cycling addicts rush the door, each with their dream of a bumper sticker dancing in their heads. Before the office opened the bookies have consulted the oracle; a garble...

@Mason's posts:

  1. I’m figuring for a sort of weird sprint finish… VSP PICKS: 1. Greipel 2. Boss Hogg 3. Spartacus 4. Goss 5. Thor »