Author Archive for marko
Marko Carlson, Author and Partner Relationship Manager

Marko lives and rides in the upper midwest of the States, Minnesota specifically. "Cycling territory" and "the midwest" don't usually end up in the same sentence unless the conversation turns to the roots of LeMond, Hampsten, Heiden and Ochowitz. While the pavé and bergs of Flanders are his preferred places to ride, you can usually find him harvesting gravel along forest and farm roads. He owes a lot to Cycling and his greatest contribution to cycling may forever be coining the term "Rainbow Turd".

The Selection Equation

by Marko / Jan 18 2013 / 26 posts

In order to win one must first make it into the selection. The selection, as it were, can take many forms; a lone break away, a small group, or half the peloton. It can happen within the last 500 meters of a race as it does in a sprint finish or, more rarely, from the start line. Selections are a part of virtually all types of road bike racing exce...

2012 Anti-V Moment of the Year: Bullies are really just pussies

by Marko / Dec 28 2012 / 308 posts

As referenced in the 2012 V-Moment of the year article and ensuing discussion, it was a most Vawesome year for cycling. It’s been hypothesized here and on cycling sites with more integrity that the fantastic racing of 2012 may be, at least in part, attributed to a cleaner peloton. Unless you watched the Tour de France you’d think the da...

Confessions of a Keeper: Descension

by Marko / Dec 10 2012 / 207 posts

The only thing worse than being two months from peaking and Too Fat To Climb is being two months past peaking and in the middle of the season of rapid weight gain. At least with the former there is something to look forward to as you measure the incremental gains of your training as the almost daily rides of the season accumulate on your Strava pro...

In Memoriam: The Proper Head Badge

by Marko / Nov 23 2012 / 64 posts

The days of the proper head badge, I’m afraid, are numbered. It seems it used to be that any road bike with a pedigree that was really worth riding was festooned with an artful adornment on the head tube. By that I mean something made with a bit of heft, stamped or cast of alloy and riveted front and center. More and more though we’re s...

The Lexicon: A Retraction

by Marko / Oct 22 2012 / 167 posts

The recent headlines being made in the cycling world have honestly not garnered a whole lot of attention at V-HQ, at least where a certain COTHO is concerned. Yes, The Keepers have added to the usual discussions on the topic here, read the news, and given it some thought. But we really don’t feel the need to take any sort of official position...

Le Graveur: Pain-o-nomics 101

by Marko / Oct 10 2012 / 68 posts

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...

Rule 43: Don’t be a Jackass

by Marko / May 22 2012 / 147 posts

Not being a jackass seems simple enough in spirit but can be difficult to operationalize. Waving to another cyclist because they are on a bike and not ‘the right’ kind of bike reduces your jackassness. But what if that cyclist is clearly riding his daughter’s bike to work because he probably got a third DUI? Taking the time to at...

Anatomy of a Photo: Things That Are Hard To Come By

by Marko / Apr 22 2012 / 135 posts

Museeuw rockin’ the bands riding with Cipo decked out in yellow as he twists one up. There are only two things cooler than this and both of them are impossible to get. One is Led Zeppelin playing at your shitty graduation party in the late 70′s and the other is one of those awesome Coca Cola bidons. Fuck yeah!...

Keepers Tour 2012 Update, Part 3: Awesome, Kinda Weird, Awesome Again, and Solemn

by Marko / Apr 19 2012 / 77 posts

With Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2012 stitched up and in the history books, the challenge of documenting the trip became immediately obvious; how do you take the myriad impressions, experiences, and perspectives and put them down in a meaningful way – let alone in a way that can somehow be digested. Surely, to document even just the Keeper...

Velominati Super Prestige: La Fleche Wallonne 2012

by Marko / Apr 16 2012 / 221 posts

I just had to use this pic of Tom Simpson in 1965 wearing the Peugeot kit as the title pic for this year’s VSP for La Fleche Wallonne. Rigid hooked himself up on the Keepers Tour with the same kit he purchased at the Flanders Cycling Museum and it’s Grade A nipple lube. Although victory eluded Simpson in this Classic he still looked dam...
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