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Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: Overijse

Order: Level 4 Velominatus

Location: Overijse, Belgium

American expat living in Belgium, on a three year assignment and loving every minute of it.

@Overijse's activity:

La Vie Velominatus: A Rule #25 Reasoned Decision

There was no clear indication that Rick’s car had actually come to a complete stop. It wasn’t that the car hadn’t stopped its forward trajectory – it had – it was just that the car hadn’t actually stopped moving. Long after the vehicle had come to rest in what could only be considered a legitimate parking spot by...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. @Chris Yes trailers are wildly popular in Belgium in fact if and when we move back to the US I fully intend to purchase a trailer.  They drive dinky diesel cars with giant 4×8 trailers for Home Depot (Brico here) runs, etc.  Its a really good idea.  Howev… »

  2. I was able to stash away my Yakima roof rack in the sea container when we moved to Belgium and made it fit on my Euro 6 speed manual mini-diesel engine 3 series station wagon.  For some reason the trend over here is to use the European phallic looking tra… »

Reverence: Malteni

Cyclists can (and usually do) go on for hours as to why they ride their bikes, and most of their reasons can sound, well, a bit flakey to anyone not enamored with shaved legs and being done up in lycra. “I do it to keep fit”, “It keeps me slim”, “I’m a competitor, I love to race”, “It’s the free...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. @brett Yes for sure!  Belgian mud wreaks havoc on mtb bikes.  They ride mtb in the winter and road the other three seasons (actually there is only one other season called rain).  I think it is Belgian law or something – at least in the Flanders region, I … »

  2. My favorite, only to be served in its intended glass – Leffe Tripel.  It makes bike maintenance so much more fun: »

Meditations on the V-Meter

There was no need for Rule #74 until the cyclometer showed up on our handlebars. According to the late Sheldon Brown, the cyclometer has been around since the early 1900s.“Star-wheel cyclometers, such as the Lucas unit, suffered two serious problems. They made an annoying “tink-tink-tink” noise. At high speeds, the star wheel would s...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. Being new in Belgium I bought a Garmin Edge 500 just to find out where the hell I went on my Sunday morning rides with the local club (http://www.twc-hoekske-maleizen.be/).  There were so many killer climbs that they routinely took me on I had to know whe… »

Anatomy Of A Photo: Professeur Pavé

Despite being a bald, visually challenged Velominatus, I envy only one other man from the peloton past. The only man who could pull off the historically near-impossible chrome-dome/ponytail combination, and couple it with a pair of wire-rimmed reading glasses yet still manage to exude a lethal concoction of Gallic style, hardness and pure V that co...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. @frank Yes, unfortunately these banners were all over the Q8 gas stations which, consequently, are all over Belgium.  I had to do a double take on my way home from work one day when I saw this.  Disturbing… »

New Rule: 52 (Plus a Guest Reverence)

With the writing of our first book supposedly well underway (but in reality being discussed ad-nauseum in the Boardroom rather than actually committed to text), The Rules have at least been getting some form of attention from The Keepers. When deciding which Rules each of us were to curate, no-one really had much idea what exactly was in there; ask...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. I have two cages and two 750 bottles in them, sometimes only water, sometimes some random hydration drink I mix at 50% called Isostar that I buy at the local Delhaize.  It gives me the salt and sugar i need, it tastes good (at 50% of suggested mix) and it… »

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 ...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. I don’t know how you guys feel about Bicycling Magazine but their web site actually had a really good video of a BMC mechanic cleaning a team bike and discussing tips – the process and tools he used were very simple and easy to replicate.  I learned more … »

  2. It’s awesome to have a very clean and waxed bike with a perfectly lubed chain in preparation for the A group Sunday morning ride only to have it rain the night before (which is standard in Belgium) and the leader of the club ride takes us through 90km of … »

La Ruota

Its hard to say precisely where the line lays, but I’m certain I’m well on the wrong side of it. I never notice lines as I pass over them but I can usually tell after I have because it feels suddenly liberating to leave reason, sensibility, and convention behind. I find them very restrictive – claustrophobic, almost. They force me...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. A few years back I made a horrible choice and sold my first set of wheels.  They were hand built by Steve at Cycle Cellar in Ann Arbor Michigan where I was working while I attended school (Univ of Michigan (Go Blue!)).  They were Mavic Open 4 CD rims with… »

The Great Debate: Pump or Chuck

I’ve said it once before, but it bears repeating now: adherence to Rule #29 carries with it the ultimate mission of the aspiring Velominatus, which is to geek out endlessly over the minimum amount of gear which yields maximum security in the event of a mechanical incident while riding.The goal here is twofold. First, with no European Poste...

@Overijse's posts:

  1. This may be off topic a bit but what about a tire boot if the damage (to the tire) is too severe?  Do you carry money (i.e. a Dollar or Euro) or the Park tire boot? http://www.parktool.com/product/emergency-tire-boot-tb-2 I am new to this site so please… »