Author Archive for marko
Mark 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".

Velominati Super Prestige: Gent-Wevelgem 2012

by Marko / Mar 22 2012 / 329 posts

Gent conjures up images of the quintessential Flemish city. Age-old medieval architecture rising from the river’s edge is classically Belgian. Gent is also firmly tied to Belgium’s greatest gift to the world, cycling tradition. Many a pro-expat cyclist has relocated to Gent with the hope of testing their mettle in the seat of cycling...

Keepers Tour Update: Contact Point Supplier: fi’zi:k

by Marko / Mar 5 2012 / 338 posts

It’s crazy to me how fast two months from peaking goes by. At Christmas time I remember thinking how distant the Keepers Tour 2012 felt and that I’d have plenty of time to train. Now that time is measured in weeks instead of months and my feelings tend more toward doubt about my form. Cycling in Northeastern Minnesota in January, Februa...

Anatomy of a Photo: Take a Look While You Still Can

by Marko / Feb 28 2012 / 125 posts

FDJ guy: Is that the new fi'zi:k Kurve in Bull?Fast Phil: Oui. Continue reading...

2012 Velominati Super Prestige: New Riders, New Races, New Rules

by Marko / Feb 18 2012 / 79 posts

Focus groups are forced marches out of the safety of our locked and darkened offices to delve into group work that would certainly be accomplished by one person, namely you, with much more efficiency and elegance. As it happens, the suspicions you’ve had about the dude you’ve successfully avoided conversation with for three years in the...

Reverence: TRP R960

by Marko / Jan 21 2012 / 62 posts

By now you’ve probably figured out that our Reverence series is not about reviewing gear in the classic review sense. The very word “reverence” connotes that the author of the article holds a certain affinity for the product whereas reviews are meant to be “objective” analyses. Nor is the point of the series necessaril...

Reverence: Velox Fond de Jante Rim Tape

by Marko / Dec 18 2011 / 59 posts

The very first time I ever pulled a tire and tube off of a rim it made an impression on me and it still does. I’m not sure I expected to find anything other than the tube between the rim and tire but there it was, some sort of tape. The French words, “Fond de Jante” and latin “Velox”, written in blue, lightly stamped u...

La Vie Velominatus: The VVorkshop

by Marko / Nov 27 2011 / 127 posts

If the road is the cathedral where we go to worship at the altar of Merckx then the workshop must surely be the rectory. The workshop of the Velominatus is semi-sacred space where one goes primarily to sharpen one’s tool of worship. In so doing, the workshop also provides a space in which to meditate on the machine, make repairs from rides go...

Reverence: Fi’zi:k

by Marko / Nov 21 2011 / 94 posts

Three is a big deal.  There are three constituents to an atom, there are three main classifications of galaxies, we live on the third stone from the sun, we perceive the universe in 3D, we have the holy trinity, there are three goals in a hat-trick, there are three little pigs (and bears),  there’s the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (yup, thre...

Rule 8: It’s Gotta Be The Shoes

by Marko / Nov 15 2011 / 208 posts

What Gianni humbly omitted from his last article is that once he finishes ranting about sock color (actually, the lack of need for any color other than than white), he recovers quickly and we wrap up the Keepers executive board meeting with him tearing our legs off on the ride home from the bar with his Magnificent Stroke.  Because after all, he i...

Biography of a Velominatus: Gert-Jan Theunisse

by Marko / Aug 1 2011 / 27 posts

The last Dutchman to win the KoM in le Tour was Gert-Jan Theunisse.  He was also the last Dutchman to win atop Alpe d’Huez.  The year was 1989 and I was too busy riding crotch-rockets, water skiing,  and coiffing the plumage of my mullet to notice much else besides an American and fellow Minnesotan had just won the closest tour in history...
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