Rouleur
Growing up, I imagine my dad did his fair share of worrying about me getting into trouble with chemicals and girls. Like with most problems in life, the solution lay in Cycling; training encouraged healthy behavior and once my dad convinced me to shave my legs, no one needed to worry about the girls anymore.
Cycling caused its fair share of problems of its own, but nothing that couldn’t be solved by more Cycling. I stopped spending as much time on my studies as I might have, and all my creative energies and capacity for remembering things were spent on Cycling. Who won the Tour stage on Bastille Day in 1989? Vincent Barteau. Who were the Founding Fathers? Washington, Franklin, Jefferson…Can I use a life line?
We’re big fellas, my dad and I, and that poses certain challenges in Cycling. A love for suffering and for a sense of accomplishment meant our hearts drifted towards the mountains, but our physiology pulled toward the rollers and flat terrain. We were never going to be the fastest, or the skinniest, or the best sprinters. But we could twist the throttle, watch the the needle rev up to just shy of the red line, and hold it there for hours. We could use our momentum to carry speed over the short, steep hills we found dotted along our routes. At one point in my youth, I remember looking at the little ring on my bike and wondering, in all earnestness, what it was there for.
The first time we went to France, I discovered quite handily why that little ring was there. We were not grimpeurs; we were rouleurs, and rouleurs use the little ring when the road points up for a long time. A rouleur, in Cycling, is a rider who goes well on the flat and rolling terrain. They are characterized less by their size, but by their style on the machine; a magnificent stroke tuned to sustained power, not high revolutions or bursts of acceleration. Rouleurs are good time trialists, they do well on short climbs, but are usually found in the laughing group when the profile starts to look like the cardiogram of a teenage boy who just saw his first pair of boobs. Some of them can climb well for their weight, but a rouleur is rarely at the front when the big mountains come along.
Translated from French, rouleur means having wheels, or to roll. But Hinault would use the word roule in conversation in the context of standing, or pushing, on the pedals. I quite like the sound of that. They have a wide power band, but can only win a sprint from a group of one or a small group of other rouleurs – although technically those tend to be more akin to “drag racing” than “sprinting”. They are characterized by being able to gobble up an enormous amount suffering, and are usually just dim enough to wear a wide smile on their face when its happening. And giggle maniacally when describing the suffering afterward.
Winning isn’t everything to the rouleur, which is why they’re often found among the ranks of the domestique. The rouleur needs to study the map, looking for the right terrain with the right kind of lumps if they’re going to have a chance of being at the front in a road race. They are possibly the most exciting to watch race; races of attrition suit them, as does bad weather – and when they’re in the break, they’re usually dumb enough to take their strength for granted and over-estimate themselves. Betting on the rouleur is a gamble, but their style of racing often means that even when they lose, it was a great show.
Merckx bless the rouleur.
@DerHoggz
I don’t believe the whole “bigger guys descend faster” line. Galileo anyone?
Even in air, a smaller person could probably get more aerodynamic. One thing is when pedaling, bigger guys can usually put out more absolute power, which could make a difference.
Me – I’m a diesel all day long.
I climb well for my weight but I’m crap at descending.
There are two reasons for my crapness:
1 – Fear
2 – Inertia – overcoming it it costs me more effort to get round corners and puts more stress on my tyre’s contact with the road making me more likely to have “a moment”.
@Teocalli
Now have a mental image of 30 seconds after the video ends some astronaut stubbing his toe and asking who left that fucking hammer on the moon as the oxygen rushes out of his spacesuit.
@ChrisO Well if you believe the internet it was probably the film crew who stubbed their toe as it was all (apparently) a fake.
Though after your post I now have the image of hoards of astronauts wandering around aimlessly in some sort of Monty Python’s sketch.
In looking for the above I had a look at the “they are on wires” conspiracy. The bit the “theorists” did not explain is that the wires did not get tangled as the astronauts circled around each other…….
Just loving the pictures of JvS. I was lucky enough to be at Paris Roubaix the year he won. After watching the race go by, we holed up in a bar which was full of crazy Belgians. The place went progressively wilder the nearer he got to the Velodrome.
An awesome day all round and he’s been a favourite rider of mine ever since.
@DerHoggz
Nope, he can’t. At least, not more aerodynamic for his weight. your surface area to volume ratio decreases by increasing volume.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-area-to-volume_ratio
Since aerodynamic drag is proportional to surface area, and weight is proportional to volume, your aerodynamic drag to weight ratio decreases with increasing weight.
@RVester
…although you still have more drag in absolute terms
@Teocalli
Let’s ask the Chinese to take a bike on their moon mission and see if a taikonaut in a space suit can ride faster than say Faboo over a given distance because of the total absence of aerodynamic drag and lower gravity.
@RVester
But surely that only applies for a given shape. I’d suggest there comes a point where physical characteristics come into play where a whippet might well be able to get a more beneficial aero position than say the below (borrowed from @Chris in a different thread)
@frank
Quite simply the best cycling commentary ever. Poetry in words and motion.
A great description Frank. Have you read vélo by Paul Fournel? It has a beautiful description of a Rouleur in there, beutifully illustrated too.
http://rouleur.cc/Velo?gallery=0
@RVester
Technically weight is only proportional to volume at like densities. A higher density at the same weight would produce less volume.
@frank
Maybe he was trying for a similar position to his TT bike – If you’re going to be on the front all day dragging the peloton you’re going to want to be aero. He does seem to be on the drops in most pictures.
So speaking of descending. Is anyone like me in that I can go WAY faster if someone is in front of me. I don’t feel comfortable going fast out front or alone on a ride. But it seems that if there is somebody right in front of me I’m not nervous at all. If I’m by myself I don’t like going much over 65kph but in races or even training rides with others I see 80+ kph all the time.
So speaking of dreams… I had a dream last night that I was in London for a London Cogal. I was staying at someones house and I was putting my bike together when I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses and that I hadn’t shaved my legs and I started to panic because @Frank was due to show up at any minute. But then things morphed (as dreams do) into me and some of the Velominati being at a mall and this crotchety old dude comes up to me and tells me that if I don’t stop scraping my feet on the floor I’ll have to got to the “moe – cah – seen” booth and I’m like “wth is a moe-cah-seen booth and I’ll scrape my feet if I want to.” So I start scraping my feet even more and then the old dude and his cronies start herding me toward this booth that turns out to be selling moccasins. They want to force me to put on these crazy looking over shoes that look like they are made out of shiny blue wrapping paper. They think I’m going to be mad but I play it up and put them on and start modeling them around and all the shoppers are laughing and then I woke up…
@frank
Amerckx. I’m closest to the roleur classification, but not at the level of the true roleur. However, I do aspire and dream. On my rides this fall I find myself drawn to riding the crap roads, and even the old railroad right of way now with crushed limestone for hikers, bikers, horses and snowmobiles. Rather than repaving a couple of poor sections of roads, the county maintenance folks has the wisdom (?) just to grade it and turn it to gravel (not sure if there’s a longer-term plan to chip seal or something else).
But I do love hammering those sections in the drops, and keep glancing ahead for the wheel of Sparticus, Summie, Tommeke, the Lion or others. But they’re just out of sight, so I keep hammering — until I can’t…
@Cyclops For me it’s more about the state of the road, really nice smooth tarmac and I’m flying but if the surface isn’t so good – especially in the braking zone – my confidence will be out of the window.
It probably doesn’t help that I live in a very flat area but find myself in the Pyrenees once a year if I’m lucky. Those roads seem to suffer a lot during the winter, both from the weather and the ski coaches. When you’re braking hard before a corner, it’s not much fun to find your front wheel skipping off the bumpy surface and locking up before hitting the road again.
I suspect better brakes might help.
@Cyclops WTF? That is awesome. I’m hoping the London Cogal will be memorable but maybe not quite that weird. I don’t think @Frank is planning on being there this time round but the start point is at the top end of The Mall .
Admiralty Arch at the beginning of The Mall passes under the bomb aimer’s hand at 0:12
That’s not quite right…
@Chris
and with a V2 at Clapham at 9.2V there could be a panic on…………..
In fact with this thread the Cogal could all be arrested as we turn up at The Mall.
@simonsaunders
Paul Fournel is the best Cycling writer ever. I have read bits and pieces of Velo, but I ready Need for the Bike cover to cover in one sitting. (Need is basically the unillustrated version of Velo.)
@Chris
That first picture was him on his TT bike…
@frank
Well there you go, he was pre-empting the advent of the TT bike.
@Chris
I near spat my coffee in my keyboard there – thought you were still talking about Lampre Man!
@Cyclops
Thanks for sharing . . . Shiny blue overshoes? Back in the 80s a lot of overshoes were made of vinyl and were quite shiny. I had some Sidi and Duegi ones. Didn’t keep your feet warm or dry, but looked pretty spiffy. As I was reading your piece I though crazy old mall dude was going to give you a nice pair of soft, tan leather overshoes. Hairy legs? Now that’s a nightmare scenario!
@frank
this is a shining example of ‘cant judge a book by its cover’. i unfortunately did read it in one sitting. in retrospect, i wish i had read a chapter a day, maybe even stretch it out to a week. should dig it out and bring it to the cogal as part of a book swap..
@Cyclops
When I read your posts, I feel like I’m on drugs. But this is avvesome, truly.
@frank
I checked this out from the LLS (why I always carry my full wallet, so I have my library card at all times) a few months back and brought it on my first honeymoon camping trip. Sitting in the woods around the campfire above a meandering river I read it to the one-year old VMH. She loved it!
She loved it so much, I picked up a copy for her as a birthday gift a few weeks after that trip.
June 19 = wedding anniversary. July 4 = VMH birth date. Two pretty sweet as days, I’d say!
@frank
You’re welcome. Who are you calling fat? I only said I was shit, so I’ll assume you mean everyone else, ha.
I steer clear of comparing myself in any way shape or form to a pro….it you see me it becomes self explanaotry….gorilla is probably the best description (although I most certainly do not have gorilla pants). However if I were ever to deign to describe myself in any way to those that I most admire, it would always be to the rouleurs…give me a head wind and let me find a rythm and I will work like donkey!
I certainly can’t compare myself with The Likes of Vansummeren et al but based on height and build (183cm and 82kgs), I feel I’m probably too densely built to class as a rouleur. I have always enjoyed the rollers and can certainly dish out my own humble fair share of V when the mood takes me but I lack the diesel engine to do this for any stretch of time. I sometimes feel the (perhaps misguided), notion that I an may be closer to being a puncheur or a Sprinter, except that most of the time I punch like a true sprinter and sprint like a true Puncheur.
No, I suspect in fact that what I may be is a fourthcateur.
@roger
This got me to re-read his Rouleur bit. He is the master. The Velo version of the book does help the book become more of a book that you pick up, read one or two bits of, and put down again. I shunned the new format at first, but revisiting it now I see its strength. That book is strongest in little bits when inspiration is needed.
@frank
I have a friend that rides with his bars and hoods just like that. I did some work on his bike and test rode it after. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. He doesn’t want it changed either.
@DerHoggz With Rule #43 in mind, I say:
Galileo spoke about bodies in freefall in vacuum… Cyclist are bodies on an inclined plane with air’s resistance: not quite the same thing!
The fact is, heavier bodies on an inclined plane do get more acceleration than lightier ones, assuming they all have the same drag! Furthermore, bigger cyclist can tuck into a more areodynamical position (because they are capable of riding with almost horizontal back, which reduces the surface exposed to air’s resistance).
That said, the difference is on a descent is made by skill, heart and nerves!
Four year old post, but at 65 and contemplating knee replacement I’m finally accepting that any grimpeuresque days are long past. Now as I grannygear up any incline, I look down and wonder what that large chain ring is for…