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

Velominatus: Routier

Order: Level 4 Velominatus

@Routier's activity:

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...

@Routier's posts:

  1. So much for The Rules… »

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...

@Routier's posts:

  1. I wonder what Uran is going to spend his €100,000 on? »

  2. I toyed with the idea of having Boonen for gold but his recent injury makes him a bit of an unknown. I think he’ll have a good go though. VSP PICKS: 1. Cavendish 2. Sagan 3. Greipel 4. Boonen 5. Boom! »

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...

@Routier's posts:

  1. Back in the 80s/90s Yates was the coolest of the cool. I used to love watching him in the Tour – once he was on the front of the peloton setting out to reel in a break you just knew that they’d be strung out behind him within minutes, riders being shelled… »

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...

@Routier's posts:

  1. Fantastic stuff. Many thanks for posting it for us. »

The Bikes

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...

@Routier's posts:

  1. @Vin’cenza Force group, Ultegra wheels (will be upgraded at some point), Ergosum bars, ARX Pro stem, Toupe Expert, Pro Race 3 SCs. I went with red tape just to lighten up the cockpit, the front end would have looked too dark with black. »

  2. Here’s my newish ‘rig’ as I believe the colonials like to call them. It rides beautifully and goes like a stabbed rat. The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed the odd saddle position – this is because it had slipped during the first ride without m… »

CA Cogal Report: It Takes Two to Cogal

@nate’s take: When @sgt announced the California Cogal I knew a road trip was in my future. Unable to make it for both days for velominatus paterfamilias reasons, the first question was which day. Solvang is a bit closer to the Bay Area but the temptation of a Big Climb was too much and I decided to do Saturday in Santa Barbara. The week ahea...

@Routier's posts:

  1. @936adl I may join this yet, although Shifnal is about 1.5 hrs drive so it would make for a very long day! How many do you expect out? I noticed a post from you on PH earlier – small world, eh?! »

The Shropshire Hills English Cogal

April 2012 promises top be a special month for any Velominatus. While the current icons of our great sport do battle in spring classics, many of the Velominati will be enjoying The Keepers Tour.Meanwhile, in the quiet county of Shropshire, another event promises great things. Epic scenery, some pretty serious climbing, an imperial century, and fine...

@Routier's posts:

  1. @zac Awesome idea! I fancy doing the Shropshire Cogal but a local one would be perfect. »

Guest Article: Joe vs The Mountains

Last week we announced a new section on Velominati devoted to the great cathedral of our sport, The Rides. More than just a listing of the must-do rides for any Velominatus, this section also houses the accounts of these rides. Today, we submit the first of these articles.Last summer, longtime community member Joe worshiped in the cathedral of th...

@Routier's posts:

  1. A great read, especially the ending with the local club hookup and the Stones on the radio. Thanks for posting it. »

Rule 28: Dissenting Opinion

Rule #28: “White is old school cool. Black is cool too, but were given a bad image by a Texan whose were too long.  If you feel you must go colored, make sure they damn well match your kit.”You bet white is old school and for good reason, it is the only color of cycling socks that is truly acceptable. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,...

@Routier's posts:

  1. @Gianni Yes, that’s Barry looking sheepish, and added to the shoe/sock combo is the red shades! Shamefull. »

  2. Things get a little tricky though when a rider wears dark kit and light coloured shoes. Here we have three guys with three different answers: Obviously they should be sporting dark shoes but personal sponsorship deals cannot be ignored. Modern life can b… »

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...

@Routier's posts:

  1. Apologies for the watermark, but there’s a shit load of Casual Deliberateness going on here from Moser in particular. Italians somehow manage to do it just that little bit better. »

Belgian Affirmations: Andrei Tchmil

Andrei Tchmil got so tired of the palpable disappointment of not being Belgian that he decided to become one. Envision the world the way you want it to be, then make it so.People are cynical when I talk about Belgium. They think I’m only Belgian on paper. That is not true. Yes, I was a Russian, even a proud one…. Now I am proud to be Be...

@Routier's posts:

  1. Bob Roll getting it a bit wrong In 1970 Merckx attacked with 31km to go and won with a 5+ minute gap on RDV The 1000 yard stare »

  2. Here’s Tchmil at P-R in 1994, powering along ‘roads’ so rough that the bikes are in the process of falling off the team car. Possibly. You’ve got to love the old RockShox SLs, there’s something very cool about them along with P-R tech in general. A sub… »

A Study in Casually Deliberate: Wait Properly

We spend a small enormity of time waiting. We wait for lights to turn green. We wait for riders to arrive to the ride. We wait for riding partners to finish repairing a flat or mechanical. Due to various practical considerations including the perceived notion that armchairs don’t stuff well into jersey pockets, we generally find ourselves d...

@Routier's posts:

  1. Mr Yates simply oozing casual disberateness »

Training with the Pros

Training with the Pros, it sounds like fun but it can’t be. Pros are genetic freaks; they put more kilometers on their bikes than any of us civilians do on our cars each year, they ride around whole countries at an average speed greater than 40km/hour and they can dish out such Rule V style day-after-day-after-day. We all dream about it but w...

@Routier's posts:

  1. @wiscot Yes they’re oats, and yes it’s a UK thang. Make sure you stock up! »

  2. Kellogg’s Elevenses, the ride fuel of champions Mug of coffee optional »

The Language of the Peloton

I can’t understand the American obsession with finger food in general and sliders in particular. Finger food, in its strict interpretation, should be food for your fingers, not food which is eaten with one’s fingers. While “finger food” is inaccurate as a generality, sliders are basically just hamburgers that never got the...

@Routier's posts:

  1. Some more French ones: Routier, meaning ‘Road man’. It generally applies to truck drivers but can also be used to describe any man of the road including a cyclist. Persuivant is so much more exotic than ‘Persuer’, not that any English speaking person w… »

Anatomy of a Photo: Awkward Adolescence

Evolution is a slow, gradual process, punctuated by sudden change. For the first 80 years of our sport, riders rode contra la montre on their regular road bikes. For certain, the bikes were carefully cleaned and tuned to remove all possible resistance, but these were their standard, daily machines. Then, in a span of barely ten years came the s...

@Routier's posts:

  1. Hi, I’m new here *waves* I, along with I’m sure many other perusers of this fine website, would love to read an article about the God Of The Road that is S Yates. This true Hardman epitomises everything that we mere mortals aspire to be: incomprehensibly… »