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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frank says:

Feb 2 2011 at 7:54 am

@Oli Brooke-White, @Jeff in PetroMetro
Ah, the good old days. The DT shifters generally also had a friction mode and I remember being so perplexed that most Pros left them in friction. Then it dawned on me that the super loud CLICK every time you shifted was a bit of a bummer in terms of sneaking in a shift. Got nostalgic about this a few years back.

STI (Shimano Total Integration) was a turning point as well in cycling componentry since they designed their groupo to only work with other Shimano parts. Before that, you could chuck some Simplex shifters on your Campy drivetrain and use a Suntour freewheel. These days, you can hardly even use a different crank or brakeset.

There were companies like Bridgestone who fought it for a long time; still mix-and-matching parts to their fancy. Very cool.

I loved SunTour; never understood why they weren't popular. It was light and worked incredibly well. Maybe not sexy enough, but super reliable. I ran XC Pro on my MTB and Superb Pro on my roadbike. I even used their weirdo shifters that were mounted next to the brake levers. Can't remember what those were called, but they did - in fact - suck a good deal.
frank says:

Feb 2 2011 at 7:55 am

@Fredrik

Needless to say, the people in the cardio clinic at Rutland Hospital had never seen a fit person on their machines. I broke all the records in terms of output, max heart rate, whatever, and the doctor told me to stop wasting his time and drink more water next time.

Classic. Great story!!
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 2 2011 at 7:57 am

@Rob
Wow! I have never even heard of that race. Buckfield used to be a great one. I remember racing againast Frank and Mark McCormack there a few times. That Maine International sounds like a super race.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 2 2011 at 8:13 am

@Fredrik
I definitely saw stars in the middle of the day a few times going up and over Killington on Rt 4 into Rutland or via Rt 107/100 from the Satfford area. My sister and brother-in-law lived in downtown Rutland and I lived along the Connecticut River in Newbury and I would do a long ride every now and then from my house to theirs. Those climbs were doozies!
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 2 2011 at 8:20 am

@Jeff in PetroMetro
I own the WCP one hour video coverage of this race. It is an AWESOME race to watch. The last lap alone had sooooo much intrigue: Fignon attacking across to the leaders (which included his fellow Frenchman Thierry Claveyrolet), Kelly bridging to the leaders on the descent, Steven Bauer flatting on the last descent (that man had NO luck), and then the sprint finish. Man, that whole race was epic.
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Feb 2 2011 at 11:12 am

@Marko
Love the idea of The Hour. I guess we have to tweet these guys. Phinney tweets constantly. Don't know about Jacky Bobby. They should do it early in their careers while they're still track guys. Also, I think the attempt can be mentally and physically punishing. The younger riders mend better.
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Feb 2 2011 at 11:21 am

@Buck Rogers
Yeah. That's one of my favorite races. Everyone on that last lap wanted it sooooo badly and were willing to kill themselves for it. My wife has a standing offer from this past Christmas to buy that finish photo in the big format--framed--for me. One of my closest friends has it--autographed.

Another one I would like is the picture of Hampsten nearly frozen to death at the Giro. Breukink won the stage, but Hampsten won the Giro. Epic.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 2 2011 at 11:37 am

Jeff in PetroMetro :
@Marko Love the idea of The Hour. I guess we have to tweet these guys. Phinney tweets constantly. Don't know about Jacky Bobby. They should do it early in their careers while they're still track guys. Also, I think the attempt can be mentally and physically punishing. The younger riders mend better.

What did Merckx (or was it Moser) say, "An attempt takes three years off your life?" or something like that.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 2 2011 at 11:43 am

Jeff in PetroMetro :
@Buck Rogers Yeah. That's one of my favorite races. Everyone on that last lap wanted it sooooo badly and were willing to kill themselves for it. My wife has a standing offer from this past Christmas to buy that finish photo in the big format-framed-for me. One of my closest friends has it-autographed.
Another one I would like is the picture of Hampsten nearly frozen to death at the Giro. Breukink won the stage, but Hampsten won the Giro. Epic.

Yes. I have that finish photo in a large framed poster in my bedroom. My wife was kind of skeptical about having it there at first but then I explained about how that photo captures the passion of that moment; the moment that defines a life; the moment that so many of us are looking for in our lives and very few actually get to experience. Not so much winning an event but a life defining moment that changes everything, and esp the person, forever. And, b/c she is so cool, she gets it and now loves the picture herself!
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 2 2011 at 11:45 am

@Jeff in PetroMetro
Also, I DREAM of getting it autographed, at least by Leman and Kelly.

And the photo of Hampston surrounded by those snowbanks in the heavy snowfall at the Giro ... epic.