Anatomy of a Photo: Agony

Paul Sherwen after the 1983 Paris-Roubaix; Photo Graham Watson

Sitting at the top of Haleakala, I thought of this photo with the staunch realization that there are no words to describe the agony of exhaustion, except Graham Watson’s caption in Visions of Cycling:

Paul Sherwen’s mother cried when she saw this picture of her son, taken after the finish of the 1983 Paris-Roubaix

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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mcsqueak says:

Jan 31 2011 at 9:31 pm

@frank

Also, a problem on Haleakala and other tourist destinations is you'll have people trying to cram in a visit as fast as possible... Why on earth would someone want to spend 4.5 hours cycling UP a hill??
Fredrik says:

Feb 1 2011 at 1:49 am

Amazing photo. It also appears in introduction that Paul Sherwen wrote for the book The Spring Classics by a group of French authors -- a must for the Velominati library, both for the photographs and the text, describing the origins of the classics and their current form.

The idea of the glory of suffering is incomprehensible to tourists and the general public. It's not just that it feels good when you stop, the joy is in the suffering as well. This always becomes apparent when you do a climb, or a hike to a mountain top, where it is possible to arrive by car, or cablecar, and at the top you find tourists who fear straying more than 100m from motorised vehicles. It is also apparent at work on Monday morning when faced with the natural question: "so what did you do this weekend?" The look of incomprehension that follows a tale of mountains, races, crashes normal cycling stuff, has led me to stop talking about it with non-cyclists.
Marko says:

Feb 1 2011 at 4:53 am

Fredrik: ...has led me to stop talking about it with non-cyclists.

Or just simplify things for them.
Clueless co-worker: "What did you do this weekend Marko?"
Me: "Went for a bike ride."
Clueless: "Oh, fun."
Me: "Yup, have a good week."
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 1 2011 at 7:56 am

mcsqueak :
@Buck Rogers
I'm not Frank (OBVIOUSLY...) but go to gravitar.com and follow the instructions.

Thanks!!! Finally figured it out. And a HUGE thanks to Frank for posting the image and inspiring me to purchase the book in the first place!
Gianni says:

Feb 1 2011 at 11:11 am

@Jeff in PetroMetro
Oh it was my great pleasure to host Frank vs the Volcano. It is weird being in a car instead of on a bike in these circumstances but much easier. Frank is editing the video and a wacky little movie should be out in a day or two.

I wanted to try his zipp 404s on my merlin but never got a chance. It may be a blessing as now I don't have to burn money for awesome looking carbon wheels, yet.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 1 2011 at 11:54 am

frank :
@mcsqueak, @Buck RogersIt was amazing to see the expressions from people on The Hill. Fit people would wave and honk and be cool, fat people just had a completely blank expression or be annoyed that I slowed them by 5 seconds. Except the fat guy at the top who asked it I'd come from the bottom. The fact that he talked to me within 200 meters of the finish is enough evidence that he also didn't get it.
@Oli Brooke-WhiteThanks - corrected.

Yes. It is like you are playing by a completely different set of rules, in another dimension, when you mention some things to people and they just cannot even begin to understand what you are saying. It's like trying to speaking swahili in a gas in Tennessee--no comprehension on so many levels.
CFADave says:

Feb 1 2011 at 12:15 pm

@Marko
Wasnt it Vaughters on a Versus Tour de France commercial?
Marko says:

Feb 1 2011 at 12:24 pm

@CFADave

Bingo. You and Gianni called it. I remembered hearing it but couldn't remember where.
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Feb 1 2011 at 1:04 pm

@mcsqueak

I think the mistake comes because you are "sitting" (to the layperson) and the bike is propelling you forward, the non-cyclists somehow mistake that for making the sport easier, somehow... (in their mind) as if having to haul your own fat ass up a hill, PLUS the weight of a bike makes it easier, just because it has wheels.

Back in the Dark Ages, I stole LeMond's explanation so non-cyclists could understand. It went something like, "If a runner gets to the point where he can't go on any longer, he falls down and lays there until he can get back up. A bike racer gets to that point a couple of times each race where his legs would give out or cramp up if he were standing. But he's on a bike that keeps rolling. So he recovers a little bit, starts pedaling again, and keeps going. No other sport allows the athlete to completely deplete himself and not fall down and quit."
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Feb 1 2011 at 1:17 pm

@Fredrik
Exactly. At some point, you think, "Why bother trying to explain"--especially to a person who is 35 but looks 55, weighs 130 kilos, eats for two, plays golf (poorly), smokes cigars, drives a Hummer, and has a comb-over. He's already made up his mind about cycling (adults riding children's toys).