Cycling is a mighty sport with a rich and complex history. Every company, racer, piece of kit, and component has a legend, a story behind it; in many cases it also has a personal and nostalgic connection to our lives. While this particular sport is steeped in tradition, it is also fiercely modern, a fact that serves only to deepen its complexity.
All these factors combine to provide an unique atmosphere and breeds devoted and loyal disciples of our great sport. We are of a peculiar nature; we seek out the highest mountains and the roughest roads on which to worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer. Our legs are what propel us; our minds are what drive us. We refer to our shaved legs in the third person – the legs – and speak of distance in kilometres and measure sizes in centimetres regardless of what country we are in. We adhere strictly to the Canon of Cycling’s Etiquette: The Rules.
A Velominatus is a disciple of the highest order. We spend our days poring over the very essence of what makes ours such a special sport and how that essence fits into Cycling’s colorful fabric. This is the Velominati’s raison d’être. This is where the Velominati can be ourselves. This is our agony – our badge of honor – our sin.
I have a unique way of looking at bicycles. A good bicycle and it’s components are beautiful things to me. I’m not just talking about appearance, but also how the frame and components show the dreams of those who made them.
– Gianni Bugno, Hardman and Italian cycling legend
Perhaps we are too wrapped up in the past, but the Velominati don’t believe that to be the case. After all, the greatest lessons can be learned from the past and those lessons can then be applied to the present and may then allow us to more fully experience the future.
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View Comments
@mouse
It was interesting because 70 kph really is not that fast. I have hit much higher on this bike before. I figure it had to do with the combo of slightly under inflated tube with the slow leak and the chip seal with grooving. The thing that was so scary was the harmonic effect in the bike that made it get worse and worse by the second until I was really looking for a spot to take it into the woods. Really crazy. I have gone close to 100 kph in a group racing down the back side of Smugglers Notch (Rob knows the place!) but never was as nervous or close to really getting hurt on a decent as yesterday.
And I know right where I caused my flat as well.m a few k earlier I hit a hell of a hole in the road and had been watching the wheels for a bit but the leak was really pretty slow.
Pretty crazy but I still love descending and will be back there in the next few weeks so will check it out with full tire pressure and see how it goes. But I will definitely be careful as well.
So here's a question for the KoC...
Friends of mine were counting their 2011 mileage. Some argued that "miles" on the indoor trainer should count. Some of of scoffed at such a ridiculous notion, but some, even those who live by rule 5, said indoor miles count.
I've since disregarded them as riding partners, but what do the Velominati say about indoor miles counting toward an overall mileage count? My take is unless it's a mile that actually passes under the bike, outside, it doesn't count as "mileage."
@CBontheMV
Amazingly this question doesn't seem to have come up in the Indoors article a few months back... even more amazingly I spent ten minutes trawling through to check.
My tuppence worth... your former friends are wrong and you are right.
There is no doubt riding on trainers/rollers is hard, mentally and physically, and may even constitute an act worthy of Rule #5.
But they are not miles and you are right to disassociate yourself from anyone who regards them as such, particularly if they do so in comparison to people who have actually ridden all the miles they logged in wind, rain, snow, heat etc.
In that case you may need to take further action such as writing to their employers or informing their families that they have been placed on a register - you need not be specific about which one.
@ChrisO
I totally agree. Furthermore, typically peeps measure trainer effort in time, not distance.
@CBontheMV; @ChrisO; & @marko:
The fact that we're measuring in miles makes it very clear that these don't count. End of.
@Steampunk@marko@ChrisO
I think measuring all training in time is the way to go. Distance and speed mean nothing alone. then there is the matter of rule #68
@CBontheMV, @ChrisO, @marko, @Steampunk
I'm going to disagree to a certain extent and suggest that if you spend much time riding your bike indoors a tally of road kilometres ridden and total kilometres ridden should be kept. There is certainly a need for the road kilometres to be counted on their own and there should be no attempt to compare roller miles with road miles but when I ride the rollers I'm not just spending time sat on my bike. The effort might be a bit different, it's easier to turn the pedal to get Xkmh than it is on the road, granted, but I feel so much more pain over an equivalent amount of time on the road.
Similarly, the effect on the bike, trundling along in it's own little alkaline rain shower isn't the equivalent of having done zero km.
@RedRanger
Good point but taking Rule 68 further, measurements in time would themselves hold little meaning without an indication of effort in the same way that "a flat ride of 150km at 23kmh is not something that should be discussed in an open forum" might not be viewed as an epic ride*. If we're to get into quantification, there needs to be at least three dimensions, Speed, Distance and Gradient and that's before you factor in weather and the like. Rule 5 x Rule 9 x Rule 10 would be the way to go but we'd all measure it differently, it'd be like mixing km and miles without noting the units.
*I'd suggest that the sentiment contained within that part of the rule is misguided as it makes no account of the particular rider, to some, 150km at 23kmh might summon up every last once of Rule 5.
@CBontheMV
"Count" ... count for what? Time in the saddle? Definitely counts. Time riding outside, obviously not. Time toward fitness--oh yeah.
I can tell you that it "counts" for something.
If you are worried about a special number of kilometers achieved, then do whatever you want, but if you are measuring in "V" units, rollers/trainers definitely count in my opinion.
Am I one of us yet?