Cogals (pronounce it correctly: kog-al) are meetings of like-minded misfits brought together by the promise of beer, preceded by a bike ride. Cogals are free, open to all, organized by our fellow Velominati and are always followed by consumption of post-ride recovery ales and merriment. These are gatherings of unbridled observance of Rule #4.
Cogals differ themselves from other group rides by the meeting the following criteria:
- First, Cogals are free, organized and supported through Velominati, though not necessarily a Keeper. Anyone is welcome to join a Cogal. Legally speaking, however, we have no involvement, so if you crash or die, it’s your own problem. Please be careful to study the route previously and take precautionary measures to stay safe.
- Second, a Cogal is a day-long undertaking that focuses 100% on the bike. The rides are categorized (Casually Deliberate, Rule #5, Rule #10, for example) but are long. This is what you’re doing today, nothing else; see Rule #4. Rides can be any length, but a minimum distance of 130km should be expected.
- Third, Cogals always include a session of Malted Recovery Beverage Consumption after the ride. Whenever possible, it should also include a pre-ride espresso.
Not all the events in The Cogals are actual Cogals. We also post rides and events that are of interest to the community, as well as Keepers Tours, which are Velominati-hosted, paid cycling Tours tailored to the tastes of a velominatus.
Any member of the community is welcomed to organize a Cogal. If interested, either post your interest below or email us with the following information:
- Date of Cogal
- Starting Address (ideally somewhere neutral, like a café or park)
- Route (MapMyRide, Bikely, or Strava)
- Ride Classification (Casually Deliberate, Rule V, Rule VV, or suggest another)
- A paragraph describing the Cogal
Upcoming Cogals
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Submit Your Own Cogal:
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View Comments
@frank
Alright McSqueek. The gloves have been thrown down. Candy asses pedaling around the desert south in winter does not a hardman make. The weather is just going to get shittier, and it's holiday beer time here in the land that has more breweries per capita than anywhere else in the world. We should hookup next week and get it done! I'm going out for 4.5 hours in this shit tomorrow, it'd be a pretty great write up here on the site, and bragging rights for a year (plus I love me a challenge).
@scaler911
The Cogal that is, not my sufferfest tomorrow........
@Steampunk
Your post has Rule 11 all ass backwards. As a fellow velominatus paterfamilias who recently set his form back to the Stone Age by shamelessly violating Rule 11 and taking time off the bike for a family weekend trip, I feel obliged to correct your post as indicated below.
@Nate
Sorry. I'm confused: are you chastising me for begging off June 19, or are you encouraging me? Ah: I think I see now. My original post was actually me asserting that June 19 would involve my breaching Rule 11.
@Buck Rogers
If you're to be in VT through the summer, July could be even better. Kids are in school through the end of June; getting away in July might be easier.
@scaler911, @mcsqueak
Do it with some proper lead time and I'll try to unshackle myself from chronic Rule 11 noncompliance and make the trip up from NorCal.
@Steampunk
To miss the ride for your daughter's birthday would violate the letter of Rule 11. Which I suspect was not written by a velominatus paterfamilias.
@Nate
Where in the State of Jefferson you from? I grew up in as NorCal as it gets. Yreka. Cool if you can make it I might add.
@scaler911
Peoples' Republic of Berkeley. Which probably isn't NorCal in the Jeffersonian sense, not to open a can of worms.
@Steampunk
I'm actually there only for two-and-a-half weeks as I have to head back to work starting the day after 4 of July weekend. My wife and kiddos will be there for the whole summer.
We have a family place in North Ferrisburgh where a bunch of Velominati can crash on the floors, etc (3 season, three bedroom camp on the lake--pretty decent but not large but definitnely open to anyone that is doing the Cogal).
But, you can all plan it for anytime that works for you. I'd love to be there but my travel plans are in flux and I do not want to screw up everyone else just b/c I am gone until the 16th of June. I should be in VT from the 15th (day before the wedding) until the 4th of July. At least that is the latest. Originally we were suppossed to go to VT from 2 June until the 16th and then head to France for two weeks. Dates are currently switching but it should not stop what ever is best for everyone.
If it is all the same, I'd prefer the very last week in June, sometime mid-week (27th or 28th) but, like I say, whatever works best for the majority is fine by me.
@Nate
No. Indubitably not. Having said that, I have a theory that Velominati paterfamiliae are 127% more endowed in the V (note the use of >100%, just to rankle Frank). I'll spare you all the virility angles to this, but:
1. Our time is invariably limited, so we hammer harder.
2. Our windows of opportunity are equally reduced, so Rule 9 become a fact of life.
3. We have a built-in morale sucker (typically referred to as the VMH); if you can still stand upright after Mrs. Steampunk's withering tirade, you can eat cobblestones for breakfast.
4. We are responsible for raising the next generation of Velominati. There's a Darwinian element to this.
As a result of all this, Velominati paterfamiliae (love that, by the way) tend to fall more heavily into the cognoscentus camp. I don't mind breaching Rule 11 from time to time, because to adhere to all rules all the time would tend towards Rule Holism, which isn't the Hardman way.