Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: Skinnyphat

Order: Level 2 Velominatus

Location: Stow, MA

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@Skinnyphat's activity:

Velominati Super Prestige: Luik-Bastenaken-Luik 2013

There is something to love about a race that makes a deviation to its route for the simple joy of sending a fleet of professional riders up a fiendishly steep and narrow ramp. The Cote du Stockeu offers zero benefit to the route from a logistical standpoint – in fact, all it does is complicate things. On the way down from the Cote de Wanne &#...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Valverde 2. Gilbert 3. Gerrans 4. Dan Martin 5. Iglinsky »

Cobbles, Carbon, Silk, and Dust

I hadn’t planned to ride them every day. In fact, I had planned to only ride them once and let other people ride them. But, genius that I am, I forgot my ceramic brake pads and had to source some new ones which was a maddeningly difficult process given that Europe observes something in the neighborhood of 363 holidays per year.I was more than...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. I sleep with my carbon wheels »

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix 2013

It looks so easy on the television. Well, no, actually it looks pretty bloody hard. We think we have some understanding of how they suffer, how their bodies can take the continual beating. But we don’t really know. Not even by riding these abominations they call roads twice in the space of a few days can we understand the scale of the thing...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. I have no chance of coming back VSP PICKS: 1. Cancellara 2. Phinney 3. Roelandts 4. Chavanel 5. Boom »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen Féminine 2013

Marianne Vos has never won this? She who wins everything all the time has never won this? Is it not hilly and tough enough? This seems like a tear in the time-space continuum. Someone is going to be wanting to add this to her palmarés. Weather sounds like a cold but dry day for racing. This is a big one, maybe worth two bumper stickers, so ponder...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Bronzini 2. Armistead 3. Vos 4. Johansson 5. Stevens »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2013

Imagine a world without the little things we take for granted; a house without a roof, a pub with no beer, a Keepers Tour without any clothes. The last one is a reality for me at the moment, five days in and still no trace of where the hell between Wellington and Paris my bag (filled with V-Kit, shoes, helmet, everything) is. The other thing that h...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Peter Sagan 2. Fabian Cancellara 3. Sylvain Chavanel 4. Geraint Thomas 5. Greg Van Avermaet »

Velominati Super Prestige: Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2013

This is the second round of the Women’s World Cup, the first being the Ronde van Drenthe. Laveno Mombello to Cittiglio, 120 km of racing in Italy. It is a very worthy course and we know who will be wearing the number 1 on her jersey. Enough already, I like Ms Vos as much as the next person but someone has to work her over on the climbs and ri...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Cromwell 3. Armistead 4. Johansson 5. Bras »

Velominati Super Prestige: Gent-Wevelgem 2013

Gent (Deinze)-Wevelgem, it starts with 130 km of cruising around Belgium and Northern France followed by a flurry of bergs and then a final 38 km of  flatter riding to the inevitable sprint finish. How hard can the climbing be if Super Mario got over them? Ask the riders from KT 2012, (the ones not in the following car) and they will tell you...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Cancellara 2. Sagan 3. Boonen 4. Roelandts 5. Geirant Thomas »

Velominati Super Prestige: Milan-Sanremo 2013

Finally, we have Milan-Sanremo. I hope pedale.forcetta is ready to shoot some pictures, especially black and white because it will be cold and possibly wet. Throw in a little wind and a race of this distance will weed out the less hardy. Recently, but not too recently, this race would be won out of a decent size field sprint. And yet, besides Fabs...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. Oops I guess I’ll add more than Sagan, although that may be enough VSP PICKS: 1. Sagan 2. Boonen 3. Gilbert 4. Cancellara 5. Nibali »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Sagan »

Passista

My first article on Velominati was to introduce one of my favorite cyclists, Eros Poli. I refered to him as a domestique on the Mercatone-Uno team. This faux pas was properly pointed out much later by @KaffeineKeiser, a commenter who suddenly surfaced and unfortunately submerged just as quickly, like Das Boot in the Straits of Gibraltar.*I do tak...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. Team Sky has a virtual monopoly on these guys.  Stannard tops the list for me… »

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...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Van Avermaet 2. Cancellara 3. Gasparato 4. Pozzato 5. VanMarcke »

Velominati Super Prestige: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Women 2013

Finally, some cold nasty Belgian one day racing. Oman, Qatar, does anyone brag about winning those stage races? Yes, they might but really, it’s a tune up for the real season which finally begins this Saturday. Will racing in China or Oman grow the sport? Will there be a new wave of inspired young racers from these countries. Does professiona...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Olds 2. Johansson 3. Stevens 4. Armistead 5. De Vries »

Velominati Super Prestige: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2013

Outside my window, its pouring rain. My bike is leaning agains the wall in my office, covered in grim and grit from the ride in, which was characterized by equal parts cold, wind, and rain. The spot in the locker room where I changed before my shower was marked by sand and mud, and when I walked to the shower, I left a trail of dirty footprints.It...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Boonen 2. Boasson Hagen 3. Van Avermaet 4. Fletcha 5. Pozzato »

On Rule #64: The Sudden Drop

The severity of a crash exists on two planes, the physical and psychological. The physical is the most obvious and one we busy ourselves with in the immediate vicinity of coming down. Our bodies need time to heal, our kits may need replacing or mending, and our bicycles may need repair work. For weeks and sometimes months, we may carry with us t...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. @roger Roger this is why you should join us out in the burbs »

La Vie Velominatus: Perched Eyewear

There is something supremely Fantastic about a precisely manicured set of sunglasses, particularly when they’re not being used for their intended purpose. Certainly, there are times when circumstance offer no alternative but to actually look through them, but for the most part, it’s a bit pedestrian to use sunglasses for seeing through...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. I never take my glasses off, especially when I’m on the rivet.  It’s like a professional poker player, I don’t want people to see my eyes or else they may know how tired I am… »

Frank vs. The Volcano: Part Trois

At some point, I reckon the idea may dawn on me that I’m not a climber. Eighty kilos and standing something just shy of two meters, I’m not clear on why climbing is what speaks to me most about Cycling; I’m certainly not built like a grimpeur. But there is no question about it; I love riding in the mountains. I only have to catch...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. Well done Frank. I feel equal amounts of envy and pity for you. »

Velominati Photo Contest: Season 2012

Truth be told, how many of us can resist a photo of ourselves Looking Fantastic on the bike? How many of us can resist the temptation of taking our eyes off the road and stealing a glimpse of ourselves in a shop window as we pass by? Not me, but then again a strong case could be made for my being a narcissist and I freely admit that I love looking...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. Me in my first CAT3 race, Grand Prix of Beverly (MA) – It was a rude awakening »

Gelukkig Sinterklaas

December 6th is possibly the biggest holiday of the year for the Dutch. We put out our shoe, we write gedichten, we play pranks on each other, and we exchange gifts. As luck would have it, the good old Sint made a stop by the Velominati Headquarters in Seattle and left me an absurdly large bottle of dry lube; the the point where I felt like I need...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. Festivus for the rest of us »

Guest Article: Racing, Not Riding

Is anyone else in need of some bike racing? I’m strung out and need a fix. @chrisO has come to the rescue by actually racing his bike and filing a proper report. He didn’t just jump into some Sunday Cat IV event either. He raced a stage race, the Tour of Sharjah, which might be part of Abu-Dhabi, no embrocation and Belgian booties for t...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. Great write up.  I couldn’t agree more about the mental aspect.  Its a stressful grind and you can’t afford to ever let your guard down.  Congrats on a solid finish and sticking it out after the crash. »

Anatomy of a Photo: Casually Deliberate Masterclass

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I’d need a thousand just to describe the carefully disheveled cap placement. I’d need another grand just to describe the positioning of the cranks or front skewer or downtube shifters. I’d be another mille mot in the hole to discuss the fit of the jersey or the white socks and b...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. Must grow sideburns »

Choose Your Parents Wisely

Evelyn Stevens was working on Wall Street four years ago and is now the best American women cyclist. How is that possible? Her parents must be enjoying dinner with pulses of 40 bpm and sky high VO2 maxes. Are they both professional marathon runners? Is that how they met? Maybe they have never attempted aerobic sports. If Evelyn has siblings and the...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. The Pros 70% genes 30% hard work +30% EPO Us 70% hard work 30% genes -30% BEER »

The Works

La Vie Velominatus. It is the life we, as Velominati, lead.  It is life as a disciple of cycling, of the greater meaning the bike holds and the lessons it teaches us. Along the path, one of our great duties is the wholesale consumption of the great Works related to our sport. From periodicals to books to films, herin lies the list of works consi...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. I read The Rider last night.  Needless to say I couldn’t put it down.  I highly recommend it if you race bikes… »

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...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. @gaswepass You are correct sir, it is an Izoard.  The Cento1 was/is my dream bike but I decided to upgrade Bike #1 to this instead because I got a rediculous deal on the frame/fork (they had just come out with the 696) »

Changer de Braquet

Some people are supremely good at it, reducing complex situations into matters of simple black and white. This isn’t my particular area of expertise; I enjoy wading through the pools of ambiguity a bit too much to go about bludgeoning this beautiful world into absolutes. In fact, I would venture that delighting in nuance is part of what dist...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. @frank Great article. I’ve always been a big fan of short steep climbs I can smash out of the saddle in the big ring. But as I widen my scope of climbs to things more “epic” I eventually came to realize that for long steep efforts nothing beats a high cad… »

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...

@Skinnyphat's posts:

  1. @graham The Boyd’s are a great purchase. Best deep dish on the market for $1000.  This is my second pair, I beat the snot out of my first pair training and racing in all weather, put about 25000kms on the before I melted them on a descent this summer. Whi… »

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