Cobbles, Bergs, Beer, and Legends. Putting the V Back in Vlaanderen.
It has been a busy couple of weeks in the Velominati Boardroom as we’ve been scrambling to finalize a few partnerships and get all the products for the Keepers Tour customers designed and produced. Suffice to say, fists and beers were slammed in tandem as we feverishly worked out the final designs.
Producing V-Pints, V-Shirts, and V-Musettes seems a simple enough task; and we also needed a flag and banner to fly at the roadside of the various races we are due to watch from the roadside, including de Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. There was also a the small matter of getting our hands on musette bags, which aren’t commonly found on the market, as far as we could tell. Fair heart, never worry; Gianni and his VMH took matters into their own hands and made them up from scratch. If their other business ventures fail, musette-sewing may be a good fallback, they Look Fantastic.
The most significant effort due was for the Keepers Tour Cobbled Classics 2012 design; enter our graphic-design mastermind, KRX-10. We tossed a few emails across the net and settled quickly on the notion of using a variation of the Lion of Flanders. “Now we need a public-domain vector graphic. Race you to it”, was the last word from KRX10 on the matter before the design was finalized. Then it was on to deciding on a tag line, with the result being perhaps the best example of what happens when the Keepers argue long enough on such matters.
With that, we proudly present the official artwork for Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2012:
The last two weeks I’ve felt like a kid waiting for Christmas as orders were placed and we entered into the torturous period of time while we waited to lay our hands on the final products and see the fruits of our labor. And I have to say, this round may have produced our finest products yet; the V-Lion and tagline turned out magnificently, as did all the other items. The flag and banner are actually breathtaking – waving in the wind. We hope you like it as much as we do.
A few items of note: Attendees of Keepers Tour will receive a musette packed with their V-Shirt and V-Pint along with a few lovies from our sponsors, and will also have the honor of commenting for the next year with the V-Lion badge. Also of note is the matter that these products are not available for sale and will never be; the only way to get Keepers Tour products is to attend a Keepers Tour, so bear that in mind next time around. Finally, if you’re looking for a real photo of the V-Pint, you’ll have to wait until we arrive in Belgium, as they were shipped ahead while I was away on business and as such they have not yet been seen by anyone, even me.
Please also get yourself acquainted with our Twitter and Tumblr sites if you’ve not done so already – we’ll be reserving the site for major updates, and will be posting minor updates in those to locations throughout our trip, with Twitter being used for small updates, and Tumblr for the ones that are too much for a tweet and too little for the V.
VLVV.
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@Sauterelle
Hi.
No, really.
You’ve hit upon the veritable land of the Bike Dork (the cool ones).
Great to have you here contributing.
Wow, looks like such a good time! Keep the pics and commentary coming for those of us experiencing the trip vicariously. This is about as close to Velominotpia as it gets, hunh?
@sthilzy
I rode 7 bar and was happy with it. A load of people were riding a bit lower, but no one below 6 that I know of. We were all on tubbies (except those who brought their own wheels) and with the latex tubes inside, they lose about a bar, so we arrived in Roubaix with about a bar less all around.
Arms are OK now, but my goodness my guiness that was painful.
@frank
Classic. Curious of your take on riding/walking the Oude Kwaremont after watching the big boys and girls today. Pics look like you did well with setting up accommodations. Excellent work.
Here’s the bike post-Roubaix. (Forgive the frayed cable on the front shifter, its the only casualty from the packing.)
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Here is the first batch of photos from Jesse Willems on Facebook (you may need to be logged into FB for the link to work.)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150748102110155.448142.615385154&type=1
@frank
Just awesome seeing these pics when the rest of us are on the other side of the planet going green with envy…can’t wait to see some footage care of the GoPro & hear Marko’s take on snapping his seat post off.
@frank
Excellent pics. Sure would be nice at some point to know who’s who..not the keepers, we know your ugly mugs!! BTW I too saw the flag and had to pause the Tv and rewind to see it. I even had to wake my wife up to show her because I was so excited. As you can imagine it totaly made her day….
@frank
A bit dusty but looks to have held up well. Keep it coming
@allkeeperstourists
Fantastic photos, I really enjoyed seeing the flag, it was fleeting but the orange cog grabbed my attention and my VMH heard me shout with glee, “there they are, it’s the velominati!”
The race was awesome too, I’m coming around to Boonen. I didn’t have anything against him, just thought that after a fallow season or two it was over for him.
@paolo
I’m going to respect people’s privacy and not name them. If they’d like to let you know who they are, they are free to point themselves out.
Ok, I’ve looked at all (so far) the photos here and on FB and I really can’t express how unbelievably awesome this whole thing is. Too bad you’re not Catholic Fronk because you’d definitely be up for sainthood. Being somewhat of a lay-theologian I will share that the Hebrew word for glory (Kabod) brings with it the connotation of great weight – that when you are in the presence of the glory of God you are pressed down (more like crushed) by the weight of His glory and that’s how I feel about all this stuff. I know that it is merely a bunch of fucktards riding bikes around but I long to be there as a pilgrim on his way to the Celestial City longs to be “home”. The black and white photos only add to the “weight” of the event and bring a sense honor and tradition that I think escapes the average American cyclist and that I am just now coming to understand.
Fronk, you pondered why I sent you a custom built frame – it is because of this – if you’ve been paying attention to little hints I drop here and there and the imagery/language I sometimes use in my articles (and the conversation I had with Marko in your kitchen) you know that I believe certain things about a realm outside the temporal, but in the here and now you have “created” a worldwide community of like-minded people that has given me a sense of pride and purpose to be considered a part of. In this “realm” you have been a mentor and someone I look up to. I may be a somewhat portly 50 year old Cat 4 that is just some punter dicking around in relation to the real giants of cycling but I’m having fun in this “new birth” and you guys embrace and even encourage my delusions of grandeur and I really appreciate it. I also appreciate that behind the facade of “arrogant roadie prickishness” that is the joke that runs through the veins of this site is in reality a humility and acceptance of everyone (trolls excepted) that has even the slightest interest in the tradition and history of racing/cycling. In other words, Fronk, you are worthy to be praised and this Cobbled Classics tour just proves it. This is the event of a lifetime and you guys will remember every cobble, every pint, every laugh for the rest of your lives. Hopefully the gods will smile on me and I will be able to make a future edition of a Keepers Tour but in the meantime I will live vicariously through you guys and bask in your “glory”.
One more thing, Fronk, I notice that Marko has a GoPro on his helmet – believe me when I say that if there is not some sort of DVD/download made available of all the shenanigans your chickens WILL pay.
@mouse
HAHAHA mouse!
@Cyclops
Well-written, Cyclops. The only thing I can add is VLVV.
Good Lord, would you like some frites to go along with that mayo?
@Cyclops
+1. I am currently only a shell of the cyclist I hope to someday become, but I have this site and many of the great people I’ve met here to thank for the strides I have made thus far. Truly an awesome community for everyone who “gets it”.
@frank
Frank, the photos are beautiful – you were truly fortunate to have such a photographer capture part of your trip.
If he is providing you with the full-size photo files, I’d make one of those cool bound photo books that you can make online these days. They deserve to be printed.
+1 to Cyclops. I couldn’t agree more. Keep the photos coming all – its great to experience vicariously through like-minded souls.
@scaler911
Dude, where were these shots taken? I tried to figure it out but I can’t place the locations.
@Cyclops
Hey One-eye,
I can spec out the wheels. I need to go on KT 2 as well!
And agreed, you magnificent bastard! I love the air of superiority that the road culture breeds when the reality is humility in extremis. Unless you are one of those wheelsucking tools that don’t get it.
@Cyclops
How much for a 29er frame?
@mcsqueak
Mt Scott area. Places I’ve never ridden before. Couldn’t tell you the names of the roads. SE is like a foreign country to me.
@Cyclops
I’m not personally a man of faith but +1 badge nomination, Cyclops.
@scaler911
Mmm. Looks miserable!
@Cyclops
+1
Well I’ve just got back from my extended weekend at the Keepers’ Tour and just the first 2.5 days were truly awesome – wish I could have stayed the whole week.
Riding the cobbles was quite unlike anything I expected. I anticipated a sore arse, but it was the hands and arms that take the punishment.
You can see why some pros hate Roubaix – so much of it is down to luck. There were times when I was trying to get past someone riding on the crown and dived down but found myself running into even more lumpy bits and having to check the speed and go back up. Get behind the wrong wheel in race and lose a few metres and it is a massive effort to get back up.
As I think Roadslave said, the effort of riding them makes it like a series of sprints.
Getting to Roubaix velodrome was just a sense of relief and chapeaux to any rider who does that course – it would be so demoralising to be dropped and have to go through that pain with nothing to fight for.
It was great to meet a whole load of Velominati, and the Keepers themselves, and the Pave guys William and Alex were fantastic. Also merci beaucoup to Genevieve, Williams’s mother-in-law for her brilliance in looking after everyone.
Other things I learned about the Keepers…
Frank is just as brilliant in person as you would expect but even more sweary – his energy and enthusiasm is truly infectious.
Marko is a Dude – if the Velominati story becomes a film only the Coen brothers could do him justice.
Brett is as dry as sandpaper – he could let down tyres with a single comment but is a pretty awesome cyclist (apart from his sense of direction).
Gianni is like everything I imagine about Hawaii – laid-back and sunny, he needs an aloha cycling jersey.
More later, but it was a great few days and I’m so happy I got to do it.
A few shots, sorry my photo(shop) skilss aren’t as good as other’s…
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@ChrisO
Please tell me you were rocking the V kit?
@RedRanger
Oh yes, much V kit was on show. I had white kit – plus white socks with Belgian tricolore on top.
In Jesse’s group photo in Roubaix velodrome I’m the one sitting in the middle on the ground with legs crossed – by that time I had my softshell back on and was still shivering uncontrollably.
I would have been more distinguishable in the photos if I had worn my cap as planned but the Pave guys made me wear a helmet… under protest.
As it turned out there were no pave incidents, which was quite amazing but at one point the Velominati nearly lost their glorious leader.
Frank and I were riding along on the front (Frank on the right and me on the left) and just picking up the pace a little as we came to a corner where we were going straight ahead.
There are some really weird traffic rules in that part of France and for some reason the people coming around the blind corner had right of way, which clearly the lady driving around the corner was counting on, much to our surprise.
Frank went to the right, which was the direction the car was coming from, and he just grazed the side of the car. I decided (in so far as one actually makes a decision) it was best to go hard left and into the curb. Just as well because if Frank just grazed it I would have gone straight into it. Better to come off on the footpath than across the bonnet, so I did a roll and escaped relatively unscathed apart from bumps, bruises and a sore hip (and I didn’t hit my head).
The stupid old bag was more worried about her car than that anything might have happened to us. Stick your pas de priorite up your arse madame.
@RedRanger
29er = anethama
Oops, I mean “Anathema”
@brett
More great shots. Terrific! Whose bent-ass wheel is that?
@ChrisO
You mean they didn’t clear the route for you guys? Sheesh.
Some shots from the Merckx factory…. didn’t get any great ones of the bikes… One of Boonen’s bikes was there, as was Chavanel’s from the TdF… and a rather cool limited (and very expensive) bike done for The Prophet’s 65th b’day…. but the “factory” was quite cool, in a minimal industrial chic way… although slightly depressing the number of boxes shipped from China waiting for assembly… maybe it was just me… fun trip
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And you have to love Belgium: you buy a newspaper, and you get a free beer with it. Rockin’
Lunch in downtown Brusselles… this cafe hadn’t been decorated since the sixties (so was AWESOME)… and who knew Gerolsteiner had a lion in it’s label?… not sure there is EPO in the water anymore, but here’s hoping for Saturday….
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Sorry for the repeat posts of some of the Merckx photos… but finally, couple of shots from our evening ride this evening, through French and Belgian countryside in late evening sun… taking in the legendary cobbled Kemmelberg….. twice. Simply stunning ride, with everyone glad to be back on their bikes… Thanks to Alex and William from Pave Cycling… these photos don’t do the countryside justice, but you get to see a windmill….
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yup, definite balls-up with the uploading. sorry.
Finally! A calendar that does away with all that antiquated day of month information to make more room for the models.
@itburns
you know what… That calendar was the only thing that gave me hope that what we saw was a real workshop… I’m just a journalist, I report what I see without filter, but God, she has good abs
@ChrisO
You’re 11 speed, seeing that I have judged your wheel (pic) correctly ?? And your wheel (pic) that is now somewhat furq’d’up ?? Glad to hear that you escaped total harm from the ‘old bag’.
@Vin’cenza
The wheel is Brett’s – one that had been specially built up by Oli. And Brett also had the snapped seatpost. He needs to find a decent mechanic ;-)
I was on one of the Cyfac bikes and it was fitted with Sram so I have no idea how many gears it had. The bike was good but I hated the Sram and basically changed as little as possible.
There are a load of brilliant photos! Looks incredible. Love the group shot on the V-drome! Way to represent the V, lads!
Not sure where to post this but I have a question for my trip to France this June for the Paris-roubaix cyclosportif going on on the 10th: Is there anywhere to rent a nice bike for these events? My VMH is thinking that bringing the bike, along with the five kiddos, might be a bit much and I can see her point. Just starting to try to figure if I can actually rent a bike for the ride. Of course, nothing will compare to my own bike, but thought I would check it out the same. I am going to be arriving in Lille from Paris the morning before the actual day of the ride (24 hours before the event). Thanks!
@ChrisO
Assumed to be yourn, after the “old bag” incident.
@ChrisO
Ahem. Two points:
One, I built Brett’s wheels but that is the sum total of my mechanical input into his machine – as he works in another bike shop I’m presuming either he or one of his mech-droids work on his Progetto.
Two, the snapped seatpost wasn’t Brett’s. This should be clear, as he wasn’t riding a Time.
@Oli, @ChrisO
Isn’t that @Marko’s BMC seatpost? And who swapped their rear wheel with @brett’s when brett wasn’t looking?
@Nate
D’oh, did I say Time? I totally meant BMC.
It took me some time getting used to Sram but I like it now. Have a mix/match of it on my cross bike.
But, I still think I like Campa, Sram, then Shimano. But, I can’t complain about Shimano, has always functioned well for me. I have the new 105 10-s on my backup cross bike & it’s pretty nice stuff. Hidden routing is nice too.
Then again, everyone’s tastes differ. But, I have all three and like them for different reasons.
@roadslave
Isn’t that Gianni on the bottom left front cover as well? Excellent!
@Cyclops
Are you aware that Factory Five Racing is a thing? Any legal problems there? I’m assuming you do know.
@DerHoggz
Did not know.