Gotcha. If the bike and the ride are not enjoyable, you need to make it so. I understand.

I often times have to take my Garmin off the stem and put it in my jersey pocket. That way I don’t obsess about it but still maintain a decent log of my riding. I can see a day when I would tire of it though….

-Dinan

@Dinan

@frank

Amputating the computer today, by the way. The thrill is gone.

I’m curious why you are ditching the computer, Frank?

Tired of looking at it? Enjoy riding by feel alone? Just want to get back to basics?

I’ve had a couple friends do this the last few months as well without much explanation. I am curious why I seem to be running into this more incidents of this lately….

-Dinan

Because it drives you fucking mental being off when its supposed to be on and vice versa – and the stats it produces are frankly depressing

It’s been easy to eliminate a cyclo-computer on my no.1 bike because there’s never been one on my no.1 bike. -Vince

@frank

Amputating the computer today, by the way. The thrill is gone.

I’m curious why you are ditching the computer, Frank?

Tired of looking at it? Enjoy riding by feel alone? Just want to get back to basics?

I’ve had a couple friends do this the last few months as well without much explanation. I am curious why I seem to be running into this more incidents of this lately….

-Dinan

Because it drives you fucking mental being off when its supposed to be on and vice versa – and the stats it produces are frankly depressing

Amputating the computer today, by the way. The thrill is gone.

I’m curious why you are ditching the computer, Frank?

Tired of looking at it? Enjoy riding by feel alone? Just want to get back to basics?

I’ve had a couple friends do this the last few months as well without much explanation. I am curious why I seem to be running into this more incidents of this lately….

-Dinan

Dead sexy Cervelo right there!

@Marcus Chapeau mate.

@frank

FMB Paris-Roubaixs are glued up to my new Cafe Roubaix Arenbergs. Bring that shit on!!

Fuck, first Tommeke gives up on the Golden Tickets, now you? We may have to mount a coup d’etat while you are out of the country!

Golden tickets are most certainly coming and will be my primary wheelset, though I expect to ride these on the first Roubaix day simply to send a wheelset built by a company called “Café Roubaix” down the trench. These wheels will be for the group to ride etc. I couldn’t resist the temptation to load them on the #1 though. It looks badass and the wheels are very light.

By the way, *I’m* calling them the Arenbergs. No idea what @Dan_R is calling them.

FMB Paris-Roubaixs are glued up to my new Cafe Roubaix Arenbergs. Bring that shit on!!

All dressed up and ready to go, Dam those wheels are hot. I need to talk with Dan R.

@frank

FMB Paris-Roubaixs are glued up to my new Cafe Roubaix Arenbergs. Bring that shit on!!

Fuck, first Tommeke gives up on the Golden Tickets, now you?  We may have to mount a coup d’etat while you are out of the country!

Holy Shiet! That’s a monster time. Do not come on any Keepers Tours, you too fast.

@frank

Holy Shiet again! It’s Tom Boonen’s brother Frank, flying over the cobbles. I guess this means the golden tickets are riding backup? That is a mean looking machine.

Thanks for your well wishes. Looking forward to ridding bike#3 of its aero bidon, it’s rear cage and a not inconsiderable amount of urine – and using it in real TTs.

BTW, is Brett your separated at birth twin?

@Buck Rogers

Great effort considering the 30 – 35kmh North, Nor-wester wind here in Melbourne. The bike leg travels north out, south back. He’d have a head wind out, tail back x2. The marathon run home is pretty much a head wind straight on.

Now we all need to say a few prayers for him on the dreaded marathon!

Not too much prayer. Too much might lead to this;

Now THAT is just a bad fuckin day at the office!

I had you and 1066 going head to head in div 4044 and you’ve bolted in.

Anybody who completed in those conditions did well.

Great effort considering the 30 – 35kmh North, Nor-wester wind here in Melbourne. The bike leg travels north out, south back. He’d have a head wind out, tail back x2. The marathon run home is pretty much a head wind straight on.

Now we all need to say a few prayers for him on the dreaded marathon!

Not too much prayer. Too much might lead to this;

I can confirm he has signed on. Racers are you ready.

@gaswepass

@freddy

just saw the documentary. good stuff. Do we have any south africans who can vouch for the album being that important in the day?

I wondered the same after watching the film. According to my girlfriend’s South African dad, it was indeed. He wasn’t quite interested in politics at the time, so he couldn’t say if it indeed was a resistance thing, but he knew half the songs by heart after several decades…

The first song that comes on in this vid is Crucify Your Mind. That’s the message for you guys on the KT:

Were you tortured by your own thirst
In those pleasures that you seek…

…I’ve seen your self-pity showing
As the tears rolled down your cheeks

When the cross comes into view as you round the corner on the Kapelmuur and all thought vapourizes from your mind, just know…that we are with you in spirit.

-f

I’m pretty sure it’s the same photo, theres a small rise on the horizon just in front of his nose that’s in the same distance in both as far as I can tell. I’m pretty sure that they didn’t have motordrives that quick on the cameras back then.

Best I could do. The pictures do appear to be identical or nearly so, but the proportions are slightly different… it is quite possible that they were taken in rapid-fire succession one after the other, or just cropped and edited over time. Who knows.

I agree through – a full shot including the guns would be fantastic.

You forgot Greg Welch Brad Bevan Loretta Harrop Kate Allen (yes she is Australian just like Froome is  Kenyan) Michellie Jones Erin Densham etc etc

Good luck man. 16km is not enough to properly run it, but with the cutoff times being the way they are, run as much as you can and then run-walk whatever’s left. One way or the other, it’s an amazing experience – I just competed in my first Half-Ironman in January after two years of putting up a decent fight at short-distance racing. The levels of pain and preparation required are an order of magnitude bigger…

The way I interpret Rule 42 is that a bike race shall not be preceded by a swim, but it’s not a bike-race and I’m never calling it such.

@Marcus

@Kiwicyclist get fucked Stu – not sure why you posted that. This is a fucking cycling website. Nothing worse than fuckers getting on here and rabbiting on about other sports (of course the exception to that is any sport that an Australian is winning – which are few and far between at the moment, except for R Porte).

In my defence, if you dont count the inadvertent sprint training i receive when running out the back door of kiwicyclist’s house when he gets home from work early and unexpected, I have been doing my best to observe Rule #42 by keeping my running down to a bare minimum. Exactly 10 training runs done, none longer than 16ks.

I am fucked.

I was wondering about this! I will be down there cheering

I’m confused, are you talking about cheering on @Marcus as he parades around in his rubber suit then speedos or @Kiwicyclist as he goes over @Marcus‘s back fence?

Not sure where to post this so I will throw it up here (maybe we could have a permanent link at the top of the page for “Current Races” or something that is always open to remarks about stuff going on in the present not related to a thread?)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ciclista-a-catalunya-2013/stage-4/results

How awesome is this?!?!?! Not only does Dan Martin win the stage on snowbanked roads and take the overall lead, Valverde abandons! Now I truly never wish a crash on anyone, not even Piti, but at least they say he is not hurt that badly at all and should be fine.

I suppose it was all okay as he had so many blood bags available for immediate transfusion.

I’m seconding this, a page, FRO, for racing only, great coverage here of the finish

http://www.steephill.tv/volta-a-catalunya/

These guy’s not only ride up to a ski field at ridiculous speed but they attack and throw in even bigger efforts in bids to escape, and catch the lone leader, great to watch! I dream of riding ski field roads, but race up them?!?

@Kiwicyclist get fucked Stu – not sure why you posted that. This is a fucking cycling website. Nothing worse than fuckers getting on here and rabbiting on about other sports (of course the exception to that is any sport that an Australian is winning – which are few and far between at the moment, except for R Porte).

In my defence, if you dont count the inadvertent sprint training i receive when running out the back door of kiwicyclist’s house when he gets home from work early and unexpected, I have been doing my best to observe Rule #42 by keeping my running down to a bare minimum. Exactly 10 training runs done, none longer than 16ks.

I am fucked.

I was wondering about this! I will be down there cheering (in my first ever, or close to, comment I confessed to being one of ‘those’ people so don’t get into a flap about it). Have a blast! We have a few racing on the day so we will be loud. Enjoy every bit of it. It will be hard but one serious achievement!

But with only ten runs with a max of 16km you may be a little fucked.

(Comment about sport other than cycling over).

i assume you’ll be playing DS and riding ahead of Marcus in a canoe/car/motorbike?

In my defence, if you dont count the inadvertent sprint training i receive when running out the back door of kiwicyclist’s house when he gets home from work early and unexpected, I have been doing my best to observe rule 42 by keeping my running down to a bare minimum. Exactly 10 training runs done, none longer than 16ks.

I am fucked.

Although off topic (and I’m not sure if he already mentioned it, – suspect not)  Marcus will be taking part in his first full Ironman this weekend (Sunday morning) in Melbourne, ‘Stralia. 

For the uneducated that is (a) a fvcking long swim followed by (b) a very fvcking long bike ride (180km) followed by a full marathon (42km).  We have a small wager going which I expect to lose that he wouldn’t make the start line (he will).  Getting to the finish is another matter.

Although as we all know a bike ride should never be preceded by a swim, this is nevertheless pretty huge.

You can follow his progress online if you are so inclined here:

http://www.ironman.com/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=melbourne&y=2013#axzz2ODT8GYPU

Last name: O’Callaghan.

@ChrisO Cyprus Ok, but what is your cash management strategy?

@tessar

@ChrisO Halloumi! The one place (other than Greece) where this heavenly cheese is actually affordable.

Now that you mention it, the halloumi sitting in my fridge is from Cyprus, but I can’t say I’ve ever thought it was expensive – we get it pretty easily and cheaply here. I always have some around. Maybe the Arabs are trying to starve you out.

I do love it – grilled, on manaeesh flatbread with zataar spices. Cypriot food is mostly the same as Lebanese from what I can see.

Zaatar cheesy bread! One of my all time favourite snacks, though my version features sharp cheddar on whatever ‘good’ bread is in the house. Zaatar is the greatest spice mix ever, toss onto salad, stir into spaghetti sauce, grill on bread…. drool.

I’ve never seen a Velominatus in the wild. I wonder when it will happen?

It would be fun to have a page to post all sightings on. It has to happen more and more. Frank keeps selling the kits to someone! Our numbers grow. 

@frank

What does the expression, “prepare ourselves physically to the nth degree” try to convey. Is the convention to assume a high value for n? But if n is zero and you prepare to that degree, you’ve not prepared at all.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible?

I’m so confused.

Correct.

If the 3rd degree is the most severe grade of metaphorical degrees in common language (3rd degree burns or your mums interrogation to the 3rd degree when you were a nipper), then surely the Velominatus aspires to the 5th degree of preperation?

@mcsqueak

Neither, they are self-motivated. They seem to know where to go. My wife saw them as she was driving into town and was so surprised to see men in v-kits that she had to stop find out more information. There are only 5 v-kit owners on Maui, total, me and wife included so to see another pair is big news.

I’ve never seen a Velominatus in the wild. I wonder when it will happen?

We need a Lexicon entry to describe the lingering intrigue while aboard one of the n+1’s regarding whether or not today will be the day. Will they have a EMPS? Faux denim bibs with their Zwarte jersey?

What does the expression, “prepare ourselves physically to the nth degree” try to convey. Is the convention to assume a high value for n? But if n is zero and you prepare to that degree, you’ve not prepared at all.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible?

I’m so confused.

Could it be conveying that you are giving training 110% yet, don’t want to sound quite as cliched as a woozy headed lineman giving an interview while sporting nothing but a towel?

@Bianchi Denti

Maybe you’ll ride faster if you just stay in your summer kit.

Check out how little Oscar Gatto needed to wear to win Dwars door Vlaanderen yesterday, and how much unnecessary kit weight all the losers are carrying.

That is a quality victory salute!

While we’re on crappy weather, it’s been bloody awful in WI this year. Last year I had fresh tan lines by now. Today, in the second half of March we’re still in the teens with near zero wind chills. Not to mention ice and crap on the roads. I checked #3 yesterday and found I had a rear flat from Sunday. Thank Merckx it didn’t happen on the day as the wind chills on Sunday were in the low teens and switching out tubes would have been a real bugger.

This is all I see when I look at this…

@Sauterelle

@Buck Rogers

Fuck me, it’s going to be epic! Not only the Keepers Tour but the Spring Classics! Should be one hell of a Belgian Spring!

It’s KILLING me that I can’t move until fall! I would love to be there for the Classics this year!

You and me and about 1,000 other cashed strapped Velominati!!! But, it is a matter of priorities and I suppose I could sell a kid or two (hell, I have five) to get there if I REAAALLLYY wanted to.

I need to unload my house then I will be moving to Belgium!  I’ll be able to go on all the KT after that!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/volta-ciclista-a-catalunya-2013/stage-4/results

How awesome is this?!?!?!  Not only does Dan Martin win the stage on snowbanked roads and take the overall lead, Valverde abandons!  Now I truly never wish a crash on anyone, not even Piti, but at least they say he is not hurt that badly at all and should be fine. 

I suppose it was all okay as he had so many blood bags available for immediate transfusion.

@Buck Rogers

Fuck me, it’s going to be epic! Not only the Keepers Tour but the Spring Classics! Should be one hell of a Belgian Spring!

It’s KILLING me that I can’t move until fall! I would love to be there for the Classics this year!

You and me and about 1,000 other cashed strapped Velominati!!!  But, it is a matter of priorities and I suppose I could sell a kid or two (hell, I have five) to get there if I REAAALLLYY wanted to.

Fuck me, it’s going to be epic! Not only the Keepers Tour but the Spring Classics! Should be one hell of a Belgian Spring!

It’s KILLING me that I can’t move until fall!  I would love to be there for the Classics this year!

@ChrisO Halloumi! The one place (other than Greece) where this heavenly cheese is actually affordable.

Now that you mention it, the halloumi sitting in my fridge is from Cyprus, but I can’t say I’ve ever thought it was expensive – we get it pretty easily and cheaply here. I always have some around. Maybe the Arabs are trying to starve you out.

I do love it – grilled, on manaeesh flatbread with zataar spices. Cypriot food is mostly the same as Lebanese from what I can see.

@freddy

just saw the documentary. good stuff. Do we have any south africans who can vouch for the album being that important in the day?

I wondered the same after watching the film. According to my girlfriend’s South African dad, it was indeed. He wasn’t quite interested in politics at the time, so he couldn’t say if it indeed was a resistance thing, but he knew half the songs by heart after several decades…

Long range forecast suggests it might be a little warmer but rain looks more than likely.

Walter says Rule #9, fucktard, you’re waterproof.

BTW this has got to be my favourite cycling photo. Everything about it is beyond words. It’s just a shame about the crop. I’d love to find a copy of the original. Judging by the profile of the skyline this is a different crop of the same photo.

Fuck me, it’s going to be epic!  Not only the Keepers Tour but the Spring Classics!  Should be one hell of a Belgian Spring!

@Chris

@ChrisO Great time to be visiting Cyprus! Take lots of hard currency with you and the worlds your oyster. Either that or you’ll be mugged by the locals and expat residents in the peloton who haven’t been able to use an ATM for a week.

Totally – it’ll be like visiting Soviet Russia with US dollars. I’ve been trying to think what I might want from Cyprus but since I don’t like Ouzo…

I’m hoping there might be some tall local who will trade me his Pinarello with Enve SES 3.4 if I tuck a few Euros down his bib shorts.

It’s a good thing you don’t like Ouzo, combined with your recent weight loss, you’d be more likely to find a short, round, bearded lady who would let you tuck dollars down her pants.

@ChrisO Great time to be visiting Cyprus! Take lots of hard currency with you and the worlds your oyster. Either that or you’ll be mugged by the locals and expat residents in the peloton who haven’t been able to use an ATM for a week.

Totally – it’ll be like visiting Soviet Russia with US dollars. I’ve been trying to think what I might want from Cyprus but since I don’t like Ouzo…

I’m hoping there might be some tall local who will trade me his Pinarello with Enve SES 3.4 if I tuck a few Euros down his bib shorts.

Walter says Rule 9, fucktard, you’re waterproof.

BTW this has got to be my favourite cycling photo. Everything about it is beyond words. It’s just a shame about the crop. I’d love to find a copy of the original. Judging by the profile of the skyline this is a different crop of the same photo.

Having survived the four days of the Tour of Sharjah our team is now doing the Tour of Cyprus.

I’m assured it is a much lower-level event although still quite competitive – like a cyclosportive in France with most people doing it for the ride, but a decent bunch racing it over timed sections. What I didn’t realise is that ALL the time sections are uphill…

Anyway I’m feeling as good as I could about it, even the climbing.

My weight is down to 78-79kg, from the 85-86kg I was carrying last year at the KT and in Sharjah and I’ve had a good and uninterrupted block of training. Without a radical lifestyle change I don’t think I could have done anymore.

I will be nowhere near the overall classification, even in my age group, but we are hopeful of doing well in the team classification which is based on best three results.

I’m not sure what access I’ll have over the weekend (the race is Sat to Mon) but will post some pics and a report when I’m back, to whet the appetite for the KT.

Keep it on the crown, fucktards.                                                                                             (Jealous)

just saw the documentary. good stuff. Do we have any south africans who can vouch for the album being that important in the day?

In Belgium, even tandems are cool:

Try again: 

@PeakInTwoYears

@frank

What does the expression, “prepare ourselves physically to the nth degree” try to convey. Is the convention to assume a high value for n? But if n is zero and you prepare to that degree, you’ve not prepared at all.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible?

I’m so confused.

Frank, I admire how you take nothing for granite.

+1 Badge to you, given that the KT will be riding granite cobbles in a week!

Go fucking get some, you insane bastiges. I am all envy.

@frank

What does the expression, “prepare ourselves physically to the nth degree” try to convey. Is the convention to assume a high value for n? But if n is zero and you prepare to that degree, you’ve not prepared at all.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible?

I’m so confused.

Frank, I admire how you take nothing for granite.

+1 Badge to you, given that the KT will be riding granite cobbles in a week!

Velominati News Flash! Sighting of Alien Velominati on Maui! Two pasty white Canadians, Phil and Scott are here, riding their brains out. Summit, check, West Maui, check, check, they are covering the island in V-style. That’s the way to ride.

Fucking hell! FANTASTIC!!

What does the expression, “prepare ourselves physically to the nth degree” try to convey. Is the convention to assume a high value for n? But if n is zero and you prepare to that degree, you’ve not prepared at all.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible?

I’m so confused.

Correct.

@Dinan

@Dinan

@Tobin

Where there’s no sense, there’s no feeling…

There’s a penis joke in there somewhere. I just can’t find it……

-Dinan

That’s what she said?

Ba boom…

@Gianni

Now I need to pony up for a full-on V kit, on the off chance some random VMH will pull me over and chat me up.

That is but one of the many benefits of having the full v-kit.

Chicks will dig you.

Cars will respect you

You will look ‘core.

Why would you want to look otherwise?

What does the expression, “prepare ourselves physically to the nth degree” try to convey. Is the convention to assume a high value for n? But if n is zero and you prepare to that degree, you’ve not prepared at all.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible?

I’m so confused.

My brain now hurts and my ears are bleeding

@Dinan

@Tobin

Where there’s no sense, there’s no feeling…

There’s a penis joke in there somewhere. I just can’t find it……

-Dinan

That’s what she said?

What does the expression, “prepare ourselves physically to the nth degree” try to convey. Is the convention to assume a high value for n? But if n is zero and you prepare to that degree, you’ve not prepared at all.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible?

I’m so confused.

Frank, I admire how you take nothing for granite.

Now I need to pony up for a full-on V kit, on the off chance some random VMH will pull me over and chat me up.

Or, are we talking degrees of a sphere or ciricle? If so, depending on your goal, is the assumption that you try to get n to be as close to 180 as possible? 

I’m so confused.

[dmalbum: path=”/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/Marko/2013.03.21.00.08.37/1/”/]

Good call, sthilzy! Absolutely love the embrocation stuff from Mad Alchemy. In the cold it’s either the Mellow or the Gentleman’s Blend. All other times I slather on the summer stuff (non-warming).

-Dinan

Neither, they are self-motivated. They seem to know where to go. My wife saw them as she was driving into town and was so surprised to see men in v-kits that she had to stop find out more information. There are only 5 v-kit owners on Maui, total, me and wife included so to see another pair is big news.

Nice! Are you pacing them on a scooter, continuously spraying them down with SPF100 sunblock?

Have a great KT2013! Looking forward to the stories that will become legend!

Where there’s no sense, there’s no feeling…

There’s a penis joke in there somewhere. I just can’t find it……

-Dinan

Like Ron says March snow in Italy is not a good indicator for better weather in Flanders. Bring your wool De Feet gear. Go crazy.

Awesome lead photo! Reminds me of a church on a hilltop in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. Walked up there with my VMH & had a nice look over the city/town.

Hmm, snow in Milan, rain & wind in Flanders…the KT might get the weather it deserves this year!

But if I was a retired wall street investment banker, I could afford Flandrian Best, and not need to labour under the lash of a Mr. Kim wannabe.

Keep the reports coming, mates.

Nice one Brett, I heartily cheer a man who can insult his own countrymen, we need more of that here like saying those who are stoopid enough to live in L.A. deserve the Oscars and the Fault. But having said that it must be like being from 2 nations when your made up of 2 islands?
As to the Keepers Tour at least you have had some sort of summer to get ready… If I pulled the trigger now my only front of the group would be at the pub.
As I said last year soo jealous and maybe someday…

Brett’s not a fucking New Zealander he’s from the Criminal Isles to the west. As for insulting his own countrymen, well he did leave Australia to  live in Enn Zud, so I guess that counts.

Do you call yourself ‘Brett’ or ‘Britt’?

He calls himself “Breet”. Us kiwis call him “Britt” or “Brutt”.

Maybe you’ll ride faster if you just stay in your summer kit.

Check out how little Oscar Gatto needed to wear to win Dwars door Vlaanderen yesterday, and how much unnecessary kit weight all the losers are carrying.

That is a quality victory salute!

While we’re on crappy weather, it’s been bloody awful in WI this year. Last year I had fresh tan lines by now. Today, in the second half of March we’re still in the teens with near zero wind chills. Not to mention ice and crap on the roads. I checked #3 yesterday and found I had a rear flat from Sunday. Thank Merckx it didn’t happen on the day as the wind chills on Sunday were in the low teens and switching out tubes would have been a real bugger.

I’ll see you next year, wherever the KT is!!

Check out how little Oscar Gatto needed to wear to win Dwars door Vlaanderen yesterday, and how much unnecessary kit weight all the losers are carrying.