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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xyxax says:

Feb 1 2011 at 7:56 pm

@Jeff in PetroMetro
Thanks for that. It brings a question to mind for all you long-time racers about down tube shifters. How disruptive was it in attacking or trying to respond, out of the saddle, and having to reach down for a different gear (at one point Lemond sits down, shifts, and gets back up again)? And was there a competitive advantage in being able to so clearly see an opponent change gears?

Perhaps a bit thick to ask this question.
michael says:

Feb 1 2011 at 7:57 pm

@Rob, he was yelling at me for sitting down in the sprint ;) I got 6th he got 8th and I was leading the sprint for the first 100m then I couldn't see anymore so I decided I should probably sit down.
michael says:

Feb 1 2011 at 8:54 pm

@Collin
There's a good segment on Radiolab (I think) about what happens to people during the RAAM after a few days. So if you find monsters or zombies coming after you, use that as motivation to go harder.
Oli Brooke-White says:

Feb 1 2011 at 10:18 pm

xyxax:
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Thanks for that. It brings a question to mind for all you long-time racers about down tube shifters. How disruptive was it in attacking or trying to respond, out of the saddle, and having to reach down for a different gear (at one point Lemond sits down, shifts, and gets back up again)? And was there a competitive advantage in being able to so clearly see an opponent change gears?
Perhaps a bit thick to ask this question.

Shifting was all about looking ahead at what was coming up and/or what was about to happen - we take shifting on demand so much for granted, but back in the day it could be a real game-breaker if you got it wrong.

And you're right when you say there was an advantage to seeing the shift so clearly, and reaching for the lever as if you were going to change gears could make other riders react unnecessarily...subterfuge was rife.
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Feb 1 2011 at 10:22 pm

Because everyone was on the same playing field Before Click shifters (BC), it just was what it was. Everyone knew where their gears were supposed to be. Most of the time, everything was fine. You sat down because the levers were on the downtube, but no big deal. It was only really awkward if you were climbing standing up.

You were careful to pick your gears early for a sprint or a big effort to establish a break. You could be quiet with your shifts if you needed to be.

I ran 42x52 up front. The last year I raced, I ran 42x53. I ran 7-speed freewheels, 12x? (whatever was called for). I couldn't turn over an 11.

I changed out my Campy for Simplex friction shifters because they were just so much better and faster. They're still on the old Mercian. Simplex friction shifters really are terrific. However, the throw on the Simplex shifters was a bit longer than on the Campy, especially on the front derailleur. It took a little practice.

With the Arrival of Dura-Ace (AD), things changed a bit. The guys with Shimano (Dura-Ace, 600, 105) could hit the gear they wanted on the freewheel without searching. (I think the front shifter remained friction for a while.) That made things quicker for them. But it also made things noisy, especially if the rear derailleur wasn't set up right. With friction, at least you could adjust on the fly and the chain wouldn't chatter or try to jump cogs.

I remember Suntour having some stuff that worked pretty well, but I didn't see it on high-end bikes or in the peloton much.

Once the brake levers and shift levers were integrated, that's where the big difference happened. Shimano had the teeth on the rings and cassettes designed so the rider could shift at almost full stroke and hit the gear.

Campy's first attempts to play catch up were just not very good by comparison to Shimano.
mightyninja says:

Feb 2 2011 at 1:04 am

News: Bobridge breaks Boardman's record: Australian rider goes under magical mark http://bit.ly/eV8QBE

just had to post this somewhere considering a fellow Aussie just broke the record!! yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mightyninja says:

Feb 2 2011 at 1:06 am

Guessing he may have had a similar look on his face when he finished as well?
Oli Brooke-White says:

Feb 2 2011 at 2:57 am

It was posted in the "Buninyong Nights: Jacky Bobby" thread earlier.
Marko says:

Feb 2 2011 at 6:44 am

@Oli Brooke-White

@mightyninja
Hour Record anyone? Certainly a different beast but one's mind certainly goes there. I'm going to enjoy seeing youngins like Jacky Bobby and Phinny usher in a new generation.
Fredrik says:

Feb 2 2011 at 6:47 am

Buck Rogers:
@Rob
Wow! Bringing back memories there, mate! I raced all of those as well as the Bolton Valley Ski Resort access road Hill Climb and the Newport race. Was the Buckfield, Maine race also known as the Maine International? I know that the Buckfield race was a good one when I raced it! You were racing about 7 years prior to me. Great races in great hilly country. Man, I miss VT cycling (but not the taxes and politics!)!

I used to train and race in VT back in the 80's. Great memories.
Towards the end of one long, hot training ride, I blacked out and woke up in a meadow most of the way up Brandon Gap. I rode home, then, upon my parents insistence, I had a full physical, including cardio stress test. 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.