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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Velominati.com is less about the articles and more about the conversation. Those of you who read more and poster more, become an integral part of the discussion and help carry the momentum forward. There are several levels of Velominatus*:
Level 4 Velominatus: The casual observer and occasional poster.
Level 3 Velominatus: The regular reader and casual poster.
Level 2 Velominatus: The devoted reader and regular poster.
Level 1 Velominatus: The most committed of reader and poster.
Gray, Black, and Orange Order Velominatus: Once having passed Level 1, the inducted among the Order wear three color badges, based on their rank.
We strive to foster an open, fun, critical, and censure-free environment. Any criticism of our writing, spelling, grammar, or intelligence is welcome and nothing said will ever get you suspended from the site. That said, the code of conduct is governed by Rule #43 and the Piti Principle. Members consistently exhibiting behavior that falls outside these parameters will be warned to check themselves; should warnings go unheeded, we may elect to issue a suspension. The first offense will result in a one-week suspension, the second in a two week suspension, and the third in a three week suspension. A fourth offense will result in a lifetime ban.
Velominati reserves the right to edit posts with the express interest to preserve the spirit of the conversation and the community. Regarding posts that address a grammatical or typographical error, Velominati may elect to take their input, correct the error in the articles where appropriate, and editing posts that point them out. This editorial action is not to serve as a censure entity, but to preserve the spirit of the conversation. That said, we endeavor to only edit those posts that point out a minor issue and only in the event that we make the edit before the post has yielded further discussion. Furthermore, when possible, we will strive to acknowledge said poster for their correction.
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*Levels are calculated based on the previous year’s activity.
View Comments
@xyxax
^^^ Gold. It must be Friday.
Joking aside, I know Frank has got a lot on his plate these days. It's quite a juggling act he manages to do, so I can't get animated about the spam.
@Mike_P Yes some of them are unintentionally funny in a surreal way.
At a certain level I agree it isn't something to worry about but when nearly all the Latest posts are spam it just looks bad. Someone coming to the site for the first time might well think it's a ghost town.
And also I think it has a dampening effect on the type of comment and discussion which is one of the joys of the site. Longer term I fear it would have a very negative effect if left unchecked.
@sthilzy
Changed your email address, most likely.
@xyxax
Somehow trashed your post in the midst of clearing out spam.
@ChrisO
Agreed, not sure what's causing the spike - the spam filters should be catching this stuff. Made a little tweak and maybe its better now?
The site overall has so many comments overall that Wordpress really isn't very good at handling it all anymore, so it might also be time to move away from Wordpress in general.
@Mike_P
Not only Friday but the last day before vacation. I've cracked a little more than usual.
@frank
No worries. The spam filters must be fed or they wither.
Alright folks, due to the massive amounts of SPAM making it through the filters, I am requiring - for the time being - that a post needs to be approved by a Keeper prior to you being allowed to have your post becomes publicly visible; its a sad measure to have to take, but but the spammers are getting more clever and until we can figure out their game, we'll have to take it at a brute-force level.
I'm disappointed to have to take the free-speech spirit of the community down a notch because of a few (thousand) bad apples, but it is distracting from the conversation, and we should be able to clear out the legit posts within a half day or day at the most; newcomers please don't be discouraged; your voice will be heard.
@frank Fair enough - anything to get rid of the spam.
You may have considered this but would it not be possible to just apply the clearance to someone's first post? And once they are 'approved' as non-spammers be able to post freely.
That would also reduce the workload on the Keepers.
@ChrisO
Agreed. Maybe the first couple of posts get checked, then the light turns green. Checking every post seems like a LOT of extra work for the Keepers. I have no clue how these things work, but I'm sure Frank can work it out.
A shame the spam bots can wiggle their way through and be so annoying. Hope you get it worked out, I don't envy the Keepers at this point (I've been there myself as a forum mod, it's not fun)
I am hoping that the current formatting of including photos in the Recent Posts column is a temporary glitch. FYI, it is happening across iPad and Mac. Thanks.
Excellent! That seems to have been a quick fix.