Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: Nate

Order: Orange Order Velominatus

Location: Berkeley, CA

Velominatus Paterfamilias. 2011 Vainqueur du Velominati Superprestige.

@Nate's activity:

My wife and I live in subtropical Maui. We moved here partly to break the horrible cycle of fall fitness followed by winters of undersubscribed gym memberships, eleven minute turbotrainer sessions, weight gain followed by depression and a complete loss of cycling fitness every f’ing spring. Bib knickers worn until May to ride exhausting littl...

@Nate's posts:

  1. I had been fighting with my fit on the bike recently.  A midweek roller session (to reinvigorate the souplesse) and a 2mm change to the seat height have got things dialed in much nicer. »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. Fucking DiLuca. »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. FYI if it applies to your setup, I read somewhere recently that most of the carbon clincher manufacturers do not recommend using latex tubes with their carbon clinchers due to heat dissipation issues. »

  2. Latex tubes are nice if you run thin, supple tires.  If your tires are more like a garden hose (e.g., Gatorskins) there is no point. »

  3. @DerHoggz As others have said, depends on your local roads.  I am quite fond of the 320 tpi Vittorias.  Although they can be spendy, somewhat prone to puncture, and wear quickly, they are quite supple.  Even better are Veloflex. »

In most situations, silence is an ominous thing that signals impending doom. Having never been in any danger myself, I base this largely on my experience watching box-office movies. As a general rule, I use Hollywood as the principal source of information on all subjects as they relate to doom and politics, principally because I’m loath t...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @frank You don’t need a  quantum computer, you need a torque wrench.  And if you don’t have  a high-range one, don’t worry, it’s not a SRAM lockring, you can tighten it till the veins pop out on your arms.  That will be about right, and disabuse @G’ril… »

We close out the 6 Days of the Giro with our sixth and final installment.A body at rest, stays at rest. A body in motion, stays in motion. Things get a bit more ambiguous when it comes to a body on a bicycle tearing down a twisty mountain descent at speed, particularly in the rain. But it is here, on the boundary between clarity and ambiguity, wher...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @frank As @frank says, better to just pass the fucker.  I did that this weekend at 70 kph.  The look on the driver’s face was priceless.  Also, keeping that car behind you over the top of the climb is a great Sur La Plaque training technique. »

In most situations, silence is an ominous thing that signals impending doom. Having never been in any danger myself, I base this largely on my experience watching box-office movies. As a general rule, I use Hollywood as the principal source of information on all subjects as they relate to doom and politics, principally because I’m loath t...

@Nate's posts:

  1. That’s what she said.  Or was it a he? »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @Ron I have a rosa Rapha wind jacket.  It is stunning. »

We close out the 6 Days of the Giro with our sixth and final installment.A body at rest, stays at rest. A body in motion, stays in motion. Things get a bit more ambiguous when it comes to a body on a bicycle tearing down a twisty mountain descent at speed, particularly in the rain. But it is here, on the boundary between clarity and ambiguity, wher...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @frank Love the feeling I get descending on my Golden Tickets.  They are not the lightest, meaning more work getting up the hill, but the gyroscopic feeling is so stable going down. »

  2. This one bears study as well.  If only the resolution were better. »

  3. @Ron Casually Deliberate is crucial on the drop, you have to be relaxed on the bike so you can carve the turns and let the bike absurd the irregularities in the road. @Mikael Liddy That’s awesome.  I think that stage is when I first realized the breadt… »

  4. @G’rilla I think it is “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @Cyclops Cool jig. The very experienced guy who built my frame does all his miters by hand.  In the spirit of the Giro, Avanti Deacon! »

We close out the 6 Days of the Giro with our sixth and final installment.A body at rest, stays at rest. A body in motion, stays in motion. Things get a bit more ambiguous when it comes to a body on a bicycle tearing down a twisty mountain descent at speed, particularly in the rain. But it is here, on the boundary between clarity and ambiguity, wher...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @Chris That sounds like a cool method.  I am not sure I totally grasp it but I will have to give it a shot. @frank I hope you did not think I was trying to suggest otherwise, but I did want to point it out for those of our brotherhood who have the misf… »

  2. My understanding is that bicycle turns are also initiated by counterstearing, but that the effect is so subtle that it is pretty much automatic.  Then again, I don’t ride  motos, so I don’t have that basis of comparison. »

  3. @PeakInTwoYears I think it might do more for leaning the bike.  I honestly don’t know the theory, I have just observed that it is a common piece of advice, and one that I find very helpful. »

  4. The important things aside from weighting the outside pedal and pushing down with the inside bar are (1) get in the drops to get low; (2) brake before the turn; and (3) start wide, and hit the apex so you can take the right line on the exit.  The reason (… »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @Chris Nipple… lube. »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @LA Dave Heh, some of what you wrote there about the place of cycling in Columbia reminded me of the coke-binge story from We Were Young and Carefree. »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @Chris I’m no expert but you’d need to match the number of holes in the rims to the number of holes in the hub. »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @DerHoggz These are not the droids you are looking for. »

  2. @Mikael Liddy Uran says “We are not like Froome.” »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. @frank Well, the Columbians were big at the top level, then went away for most of the EPO era, and now seem ascendant again, if you will excuse the pun. »

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...

@Nate's posts:

  1. Buh bye, Watto.  Has he started issuing polemica about how Uran is not the team leader, or threatened to drop out of the Giro to get ready for the Tour? »