The Hardmen

The Velominati are the founders of a singular online community--velominati.com--which celebrates the history of road cycling with a distinctive point of view, best described as (ir)reverence. Their infamous The Rules challenge cycling fans to emulate their heroes in everything from training ("it never gets easier, you just go faster") and equipment ("the correct number of bikes to own is n+1") to sock length and coffee choice. Frank Strack, the Editor-in-Chief, appears at bike shows worldwide and writes a column for Cycling magazine.

It's time we all stopped whining and learned a thing or two from The Toughest Cyclists Ever. Including:

Stephen Roche, whose cure for exhaustion was to go up a gear and fight harder, all the way to the ambulance. Eddy Merckx, who hurt himself so badly in breaking the Hour record that, he estimated, he shortened his career by a year. Beryl Burton, who crushed her (male) rival's morale with the offer of a piece of liquorice, before speeding past to victory. Nicole Cooke and Edwig Van Hooydonck, who rejected dope and became legends.

The Hardmen tells the stories - the good bits, anyway - of the 40 most heroic Cyclists ever. Their bravery, their panache and their Perfect Amount of Dumb.

It reminds us that suffering on a bike liberates us from our daily lives, and that, in the words of Lance Armstrong "pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever"; proof that even assholes can be insightful.

Stories of the toughest cyclists of all time, told by The Velominati, originators of The Rules