Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: asyax

Order: Winner of the Velominati Super Prestige Paris-Roubaix

Location: Darlington, Western Australia

I have been on bikes since a young tacker, and enjoy all things cycling. Whilst preferring to ascend (and descend) the slopes of Mount Velomis by the tree rooted, rock strewn goat tracks, I adopted the n+1 principle and bought myself a nice roadie - I am now spending about half my time on this. Whilst not having raced as a young bloke, I enjoy entering events (road and MTB) for the cameraderie and banter, and seeing how well I can place. Am a much better swimmer than I'll ever be a cyclist, but I acquit myself OK. Still not Rule 33 compliant though!

@asyax's activity:

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...

@asyax's posts:

  1. @frank A few year back I did a group charity ride – 1000km’s over 5.5 days  at ave 30 kmph – about 36 riders. My most memorable moment from that ride was the sound of the collective wheels – a dull roar really – no one talking, just “silently suffering… »

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...

@asyax's posts:

  1. One change only – hope i can pick up place points VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps): 1. Wiggins 2. Nibali 3. Uran Uran 4. Evans 5. Gesink »

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...

@asyax's posts:

  1. @piwakawaka Been smiling all day since I saw Jens’ post race interview – also found this post by Bryn @ http://tarckbike.com/node/15595 “Jens no longer has a shadow because he dropped it repeatedly until it climbed into the Saxo Bank team car claiming a … »

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...

@asyax's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Evans 2. Gesink 3. Nibali 4. Scarponi 5. Henao »

I’ve taken exactly one economics course in my life. If the fog of time isn’t too thick, I recall two theories that account for value. These theories posit value as being either (A) intrinsic or (B) subjective. That is to say that commodities are valuable in and of themselves and that value can be established objectively by the market. O...

@asyax's posts:

  1. »

  2. I picked this up last week, pretty bog standard at the moment (not sure how you guys feel about mech discs). Aim was to get a rain bike, and a second “roadie’ in the stable for my young fella to join me with a pair of slicks on. Took it on the grave’ yest… »

We’re heaping coals on the Giro frenzy that’s burning in all corners of the Cycling world by issuing the second installment of the monthly BigRingRiding Sur la Plaque series while at the same time kicking off the Six Days of the Giro series where we’ll post six articles on the subject of this, the best Grand Tour of the year. Y...

@asyax's posts:

  1. »

  2. Bugger! »

  3. Ok, ok – if one is to truly enter the order of the Velominati and become Rule #33 compliant, where does one, ahem, stop? »

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...

@asyax's posts:

  1.   Stock at ; http://www.bookdepository.com/Maglia-Rosa-Herbie-Sykes/9781408190012 VSP PICKS: 1. Wiggins 2. Nibali 3. Hesjedal 4. Evans 5. Gesink »

  2. This book does not appear in The Works, however it is a cracking read – well written and some of the stories are laugh out loud. Talk about machiavellian scheming and hard bastards…. Recommend it during the add breaks or whilst staying up waiting for … »

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...

@asyax's posts:

  1. @Beers I looked into this when trying to determine if my 28-11 was too much for my shortcage (SS) derailleur. Found this on the interweb; Rear Derailleur capacity should accommodate the difference between the smallest and largest chainring in the front p… »

  2. @Rob I am currently running a standard crank – 53/39, and prefer to run 23-11 on the back. This suits me if doing a lot of riding on the flats. However, on my “winter” wheels I have fitted a 28-11, and I also use these if doing rides whicjh involve a fai… »

@asyax's posts:

  1. To all WA Velominati – I know you’re out there!

    What be better way to celebrate The Prophet’s birthday than riding with a bunch of like minded souls through the diversity Perth has to offer. As we near the winter solstice , this is perhaps the most Flandrian Perth can get!

    Starting at the Narrows on our beloved Swan River we’ll head out to the Hills through JFNP, Mundaring Weir and the Bickley Valley, down the sweeping decent of Canning Mills, through deepest, darkest Kenwick to swing on to the Shelley loop back to the Narrows. We can then recount the days exploits at the Belgian Beer Cafe, drink a toast to Eddie and all avow to be on KT2014!

    Let’s make it happen!

    VLVV

    asyax

    Event Details

    Loading Map....

    Date/Time
    Date - June 16, 2013
    7:05 AM - 4:50 PM

    Location
    South Perth Parasailing. West of Narrows Bridge

    Cogal Details
    Route Details

    Ride Classification

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 &#...

@asyax's posts:

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

@asyax's posts:

  1. To all WA Velominati – I know you’re out there!

    What be better way to celebrate The Prophet’s birthday than riding with a bunch of like minded souls through the diversity Perth has to offer. As we near the winter solstice , this is perhaps the most Flandrian Perth can get!

    Starting at the Narrows on our beloved Swan River we’ll head out to the Hills through JFNP, Mundaring Weir and the Bickley Valley, down the sweeping decent of Canning Mills, through deepest, darkest Kenwick to swing on to the Shelley loop back to the Narrows. We can then recount the days exploits at the Belgian Beer Cafe, drink a toast to Eddie and all avow to be on KT2014!

    Let’s make it happen!

    VLVV

    asyax

    Event Details

    Loading Map....

    Date/Time
    Date - June 16, 2013
    7:05 AM - 4:50 PM

    Location
    South Perth Parasailing. West of Narrows Bridge

    Cogal Details
    Route Details

    Ride Classification

Last year we saw Evelyn Stevens out-last Marianne Vos at the top of the Mur de Huy. The take home message is don’t start one’s charge too early. Vos should know this finish, having won it four times already. It’s hard to know who is on form in the professional women field as the races are too far apart to infer much from the last...

@asyax's posts:

  1. Out of my depth here – stuck with those showing plenty of “V’ VSP PICKS: 1. Vos 2. Van Dijk 3. Stevens 4. Van Vleuten 5. Van der bruggen »

We came tantalizingly close to adding a foray up the Mur de Huy during our excursion to Liege-Bastogne-Liege during this year’s Keepers Tour. But good sense and The Anti-V prevailed, as they are wont to do, and only two of us were left wanting a dig at the most notorious finishing climb in the Classics season.I write this, then, woefully igno...

@asyax's posts:

  1. Don’t know on this one – hope they’ve all recovered well from Amstel. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Valverde 3. Contador 4. Gerrans 5. Sagan »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert »

Yes it is a race named after a barely drinkable Dutch beer. I have enjoyed Amstel beer, brought to our table by a nice waitress, sitting outside in the Dutch spring. Atmosphere is everything. Do the Dutch brew awesome beer? I drank some good stuff in Amsterdam last spring but I’m pretty sure it was Belgian.Now we begin the Ardennes three race...

@asyax's posts:

  1. @ChrisO  – was this to do with the National Road Series last week? Went out to watch it on the hills road Stage – alas no V-kit spotted. No it wasn’t me – i was wearing my V-T-shirt though! »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Sagan 2. Van Avermaet 3. Gilbert 4. Gerrans 5. Moser »

While the Northern Hemisphere Velominati were busy arguing about who injected what in the old races they’d been using to distract themselves during their indoor torture sessions, down South a bunch of like minded strangers from the internet decided that coffee, hills, sunshine & beer seemed like a great excuse to meet up for a ride̷...

@asyax's posts:

  1. @harminator no worries – I was wondering if xyaxx would pipe up. Perhaps we are related – I do hail originally from Tasmania……… »

  2. @Daccordi Rider  Not bad idea but the Nat Road Race series is this weekend. Stage 3  – the Kalamunda road race, goes pretty much past my place on Sat,  however we also have the “5 Dams” on Sunday, which is a bit of an epic; 235km with 2300m climbing. I’m … »

  3. Mikael – Thanks again for organising this and getting the report together - I see Frank pinched your by-line today DR – any possibility of viewing the video footage Also given my V-juices are surging around at present, I’m thinking (loosely) of organisi… »

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...

@asyax's posts:

  1. @Daccordi Rider  no, cant get through to cogal article either! »