Author Archive for frank
Frank Strack, Founder and Editor

A lifelong Velominatus, the history and culture within cycling fascinates Frank (pronounced in Dutch and Flemish as “Fränk”) and, if given even the vaguest of excuses, will discuss it ad nausium. A devoted cycling aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Question? Email me.

Portrait of a Hardwoman: Nicole Cooke

by frank / Jan 21 2013 / 100 posts

Cycling is hard; I’m not leaking any trade secrets with that statement, but it feels good to say it anyway. No Cyclist avoids suffering, but of those who venture into our world, there are some who seek to limit it while others choose to embrace it. Then we have a handful of characters who consider playing Whack-a-Mole with the Man with the Ha...

Voices and Echoes

by frank / Jan 14 2013 / 62 posts

Doubt. It speaks in whispered tones but echoes in our actions and lingers heavy on the mind. It is a thing that weaves itself into the seeds of our dreams and erodes vision into whim. Doubt leads to uncertainty; uncertainty to fear; fear prevents us from reaching as high as we might.Doubt is a clingy thing. Like a snowball dropped down a mountainsi...

La Vie Velominatus: Perched Eyewear

by frank / Jan 9 2013 / 105 posts

There is something supremely Fantastic about a precisely manicured set of sunglasses, particularly when they’re not being used for their intended purpose. Certainly, there are times when circumstance offer no alternative but to actually look through them, but for the most part, it’s a bit pedestrian to use sunglasses for seeing through...

Frank vs. The Volcano, Part Trois

by frank / Jan 7 2013 / 91 posts

At some point, I reckon the idea may dawn on me that I’m not a climber. Eighty kilos and standing something just shy of two meters, I’m not clear on why climbing is what speaks to me most about Cycling; I’m certainly not built like a grimpeur. But there is no question about it; I love riding in the mountains. I only have to catch...

V And V Makes VV: Haleakala Round IIV

by frank / Dec 31 2012 / 145 posts

I can’t really call it an obsession. If it was an obsession, I would have commissioned a bloke I’ve never met to build me a set of ultra-light wheels and I would have spent an outrageous amount of money to upgrade my handlebars in an identical shape from aluminum to carbon in an effort to shave a few grams off the top end of my machine...

2012 V-Moment of the Year: Boonen Goes Long

by frank / Dec 26 2012 / 107 posts

Yes, I know, I have a major thing for Boonen. But come on, wouldn’t you? Look at those guns. Look at that position on the bike. He even makes that ugly Specialized helmet look good. He even makes that ugly Specialized Roubaix look good, come to think of it. And those White Ladies? Kill me now.Picking The V-Moment of the year is always a tough...

Velominati Photo Contest: Season 2012

by frank / Dec 21 2012 / 252 posts

Truth be told, how many of us can resist a photo of ourselves Looking Fantastic on the bike? How many of us can resist the temptation of taking our eyes off the road and stealing a glimpse of ourselves in a shop window as we pass by? Not me, but then again a strong case could be made for my being a narcissist and I freely admit that I love looking...

Peer Pressure

by frank / Dec 17 2012 / 144 posts

Eight point V bar. From the moment I bought my first set of high quality road clinchers, I’ve ridden at that pressure. I started with that number because that’s the pressure the sidewall told me to pump them up to; I didn’t yet understand much about balancing the benefits of high and low pressures to optimize comfort and friction;...

Anatomy of a Photo: Six Days are for Closers

by frank / Dec 7 2012 / 47 posts

What do you do during the off-season when your name is Roger de Vlaeminck and you’re a certified organic free-range studmuffin?You roll down to the local Six Day in your Chick MagnetTM tweed suit and bring the ladies in for your pals while you stay Pre-Race Kelly, that’s what. Continue reading...

Gelukkig Sinterklaas

by frank / Dec 6 2012 / 59 posts

December 6th is possibly the biggest holiday of the year for the Dutch. We put out our shoe, we write gedichten, we play pranks on each other, and we exchange gifts. As luck would have it, the good old Sint made a stop by the Velominati Headquarters in Seattle and left me an absurdly large bottle of dry lube; the the point where I felt like I need...
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