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Velominatus: jimmy

Order: Level 4 Velominatus

@jimmy's activity:

Come the Rain

The northwest has just experienced a spell of dry weather over two months long. It’s been enough to make a man sick.That’s all over now, thank Merckx. Commuting home today, I was caught off guard. No jacket, no gloves– nothing. A few drops hit, heavy and plump like ripe fruit. Then the drops became steady. By my half-way point, I...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @RedRanger Was that when someone dropped a 750ml bottle on the shoot-out? »

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...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. Consider changing the wording from “rear mounted” to “seat tube mounted” as images of those rediculous seat rail mounted suppository hydration systems come to mind.  Isn’t  the seat tube cage for carrying  puncture repair kit and avoiding both the EPMS a… »

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...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. I had an old coach (who was old school 30-years ago) insisted on not just riding a fixed gear all winter, but changing the gear daily by extremes based on other exercises like weights and hill running. The objective was to increase the gear size I could r… »

Best Kit Ever?

What is the best pro team kit ever? I’m talking team kit only, not a leader’s jersey, national team jersey or the national champion jersey. Not the worst either, for those are legion and worthy of a much longer article than this. @wiscot and I exchanged emails about Urs Freuler and the fantastic Atala kit which led to quick discussion o...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @brad, good choice gone wrong… »

  2. »

Guest Article: Bikes Smell Awesome Too.

@snoov moves the topic away from Lance, doping, EPMS, and Berty’s Spanish adventures. Our brains are so crammed with nonsense our childhood memories get jammed deep down into the center.  A memory waits to be released and sometimes it’s a remembered smell that floats it up to the surface. VLVV, Gianni…...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. Fantastic post. I cut into a bell pepper recently while prepping dinner and smelled California’s central coast where I logged thousands of hours of training rides in my youth. The memories of cycling  innocence and discovery are gold  given the current bu… »

The Rise and Fall of the Clipless Pedal

The modern cyclist, as they enter the sport, will find themselves purchasing a set of shoes which contain a cleat that clips into the pedals on their bike. It should come as no surprise, then, that the term we use for the action of engaging shoe to pedal is “clip in”. Obviously, this style of pedals is thusly called the “clipless...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @unversio Vanderaerden was a great rider and that Roubaix one of my favorites, but a climber he was not. »

  2. @jimmy Qualify. »

  3. @unversio VanVleit woulquail lift into Franks “short” category. Can’t be him. »

  4. @frank That’s a younger Hero card picture of Rooks. Skinny he was, but “Little”? Maybe to you, but he’s 20cm taller than me! I’ll retract my assesment of the lead photo being Rooks as I failed to recall that in 87 he went to PDM. It may be De Rooij after … »

  5. @unversio It’s Steven Rooks from Panasonic on Roche’s left. Anderson had a bad Tour that year and was sacked by Panasonic at the end of the year. Vanderarden as BADASS as he was would not have made it far enough in the mountains for the likes of Roche et… »

Defining Moments: My First Kit

As children, none of us were given an allowance. Instead, we were taught from a young age that if we wanted to buy something, we had to earn the money in order to do so. To facilitate the model, and possibly to avoid child-labor law infringement, we were paid to do chores around the house in exchange for a cash payment directly proportional but not...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. My first jersey was a LeCoqSportif wool in blue with a white band around the chest. I’ve hung onto it and 1 each of most of my old team jerseys. Also kept my first Sidi’s. Leather sole, cleat plate nailed on. Size 36 I think. Also the Hinault autographed … »

La Vie Velominatus: The Rain Bike

In our privileged stables of bikes, it ranks towards the bottom of the heap as Bike #2 or lower, but the Rain Bike is no slouch. This is, after all, the bike we rely on in bad weather, trusting it to carry us safely through what typically amounts to the most dangerous conditions we ride in. Provided you ride year-round, you likely ride this machin...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @frank When I was 15 or 16 I heard a story at a training camp from a national team mechanic who, along with all the other team mechs, midway a super rainy stage race, ran out of lube. They used bacon grease and it apparently worked well for the situation … »

Spitting Image

When I was but a young Velominatus, my poor mother was often horrified/embarrassed/disgusted by my typical boy’s habit of sucking back the mucous from the back of my throat and swallowing it… yes, I know, now you’re disgusted too. Taking me to seek a cure from the good Dr Edwards, he let her down somewhat with his prognosis that w...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. Excellent! From the more cerebral homage of the hour record essay to the grit of the ever present snot rocket. »

Velominati Super Prestige: Flèche Wallonne Femmes 2012

During the Ronde von Vlaanderen, we of the 2012 Keeper’s Spring Classic Tour were right on the Oude Kwaremont climb as the women big-ringed it up the cobbles. Kristin Armstrong (US Women’s Team) was burying herself to get on Judith Arndt’s (Greenedge) wheel. It looked like the winning break was going right in front of our eyes. Se...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. I think it takes balls to quit a well paying job, give up the health plan, stop contributing further to retirement funds, or buy a house, etc, etc, just to race bikes. Much less for a woman as women’s racing, pro or not, doesn’t get near the prize, sponso… »

Velominati Super Prestige: Amstel Gold Race 2012

When people think of the The Netherlands, they generally think of flat lands, windmills, and a topography where people claim to “live at elevation” when their home on the third floor of a building. Never the less, this is not entirely true as The Motherland does, in its most southern reaches, boast quite hilly terrain; the province of...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Valverde 2. Evans 3. Rodriguez 4. Gerrans 5. Westra »

In Flanders Fields

You don’t have to be in Flanders very long before you start to breathe in the history of the area. Horrible things have happened in the fields across Northern France and Belgium, like the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of the Bulge. These are the kinds of things that hang in the air for centuries; they seep into your blood.There is a famou...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. The articles title and introductory sentence indicate the subject as Flanders, the edits help some but the battles chosen as examples remain to confuse the subject. That said, The discussion that has followed is the kind that makes a long boring group rid… »

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix 2012

We rode the Pavé of Roubaix in the dry, and any comforting feelings we might have been carrying about with us that suggested we had somehow prepared for them were summarily vaporized as we hit the first secteur. Riding together in a group, unable to reach for the brakes or the shifters, we all were hit with the same realization: these aren’...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. The early break goes the distance in a nail biter of slick stones. Boonen slips free of wheel suckers but the sun finally shines for Sylvain. VSP PICKS: 1. Chavanel 2. Van Avermaet 3. Boonen 4. Pozzato 5. Rast »

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...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @frank Fantastic! I imagine that ride will be the most revered of the trip. »

In Flanders Fields

You don’t have to be in Flanders very long before you start to breathe in the history of the area. Horrible things have happened in the fields across Northern France and Belgium, like the Battle of Waterloo and the Battle of the Bulge. These are the kinds of things that hang in the air for centuries; they seep into your blood.There is a famou...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. Indeed the cemetery memorials are sobering reminders and worth a stop during your rides. I often rode through ones near Tielt and Ronse. However, Waterloo is in Wallonia and The Battle of The Bulge ocurred in The Ardennes. »

Cobbles, Bergs, Beer, and Legends. Putting the V Back in Vlaanderen.

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Velominati Boardroom as we’ve been scrambling to finalize a few partnerships and get all the products for the Keepers Tour customers designed and produced. Suffice to say, fists and beers were slammed in tandem as we feverishly worked out the final designs.Producing V-Pints, V-Shirts, and V-Musettes...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @frank Classic. Curious of your take on riding/walking the Oude Kwaremont after watching the big boys and girls today. Pics look like you did well with setting up accommodations. Excellent work. »

Waiting for My Bike

Points of complication are usually both surprising and completely predictable. Take, for instance, international travel. We don’t really have trouble cramming a few hundred people who don’t know each other in a small, confined space and chucking in the air at 9,000 meteres to a destination several thousand kilometers away. That bit, a...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @Oli Nonsense. That’s Eddy’s kid. Santa came through my chimney last Christmas and the Easter Bunny is gonna leave treats in my yard come Easter. »

  2. @Calmante I think the kid turned out ok… »

In Memoriam: The Tricolore

It was a simple time. Team kit was understated, with black shorts and a few colored panels on the jersey. Race Leader and National Championship jerseys were plain, and often even lacking in the name of the sponsor. National Championship jerseys in particular were a matter of national pride more than sponsorship; it was an honor to fly the colors o...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @frank Could’ve been a Fignon thing, or they maybe couldn’t find an iron until the finish in Milan. Here’s Visentini in 85, fully branded. That chick behind him in white is really grooving on his bottom bracket. But to your point, I think the bands wi… »

Cobbles, Bergs, Beer, and Legends. Putting the V Back in Vlaanderen.

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Velominati Boardroom as we’ve been scrambling to finalize a few partnerships and get all the products for the Keepers Tour customers designed and produced. Suffice to say, fists and beers were slammed in tandem as we feverishly worked out the final designs.Producing V-Pints, V-Shirts, and V-Musettes...

@jimmy's posts:

  1. @Ron I had to replace a water main the day of a local cogal. Can only imagine the house would fall down if I left the country! »