The V surrounds us, it penetrates and binds us together. Through disciplined practice we are able to draw from it to push harder and go farther on the bike; what we do on the bike then informs how we face our lives. The masters, such as the Prophet Merckx and the Apostle de Vlaeminck, could channel this strength to overcome the greatest challenges both on and off the bike.

The question we must always ask ourselves is, how hard is hard enough? The answer is, you go until the lights go out, and then you go some more. Today’s lesson is that if you can still stand after the effort, you didn’t go hard enough. Nice one, Laurel.

Merckxspeed, my fellow Velominati.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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  • @frank

    @Haldy

    Does that make this, the greatest example of going hard enough, ever?

    Yes. Class dismissed.

    Yes but Hinault would have just pushed the O2 mask out of his face like Nacho Libre telling his buddy to "get that corn outta my face!"

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