Anatomy of a Photo: And He Parted The Waters

De Vlaeminck parts the waters in the Trouée d'Arenberg.

No double wraps of bar tape. No arm warmers or bandages for an injured left arm; just some wrappings borrowed from an Egyptian mummy he sent back to the underworld earlier in the morning. Nothing special for Roger on a typical race day in Hell. Just unmeasurably enormous helpings of Rule #5.

The most remarkable thing about this photo? He did that to the water before he rode through it.

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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View Comments

Marko says:

Nov 7 2011 at 7:07 am

Is my back flat?
RedRanger says:

Nov 7 2011 at 7:40 am

Fuckin love these old black and white cycling pictures. I don't know the history behind this but it has extra impact that he riding solo.
Cyclops says:

Nov 7 2011 at 7:43 am

I'm jealous of his sideburns.
Noel says:

Nov 7 2011 at 7:57 am

Okay, this doesn't really pertain to this awesome photo, but can anyone direct me to some good tutorials on how to wrap bars in some manner other than the crappy one I use? I've only done it a half dozen times or so and have yet to be successful. Fully rule compliant except for this (is A+ bar tape even a rule?). Frank, maybe you could film a tutorial? You certainly seem to be a master at it.
Frenchie says:

Nov 7 2011 at 8:12 am

Superb for so many reasons...
936adl says:

Nov 7 2011 at 8:25 am

Just epic!

Great picture.
Ron says:

Nov 7 2011 at 8:44 am

Awesome photo! Makes me want some crappy weather conditions to ride in.
Wes says:

Nov 7 2011 at 8:50 am

The Moses of Arenberg!
mcsqueak says:

Nov 7 2011 at 8:54 am

@RedRanger

Yeah, old pictures in general are great. Up here in the PNW there are lots of museums with pictures of guys cutting massive trees in the forests, or fishing, or carving roads, or doing all the other hard-scrabble crap folks did around here in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Definitely a sort of weird "romanticism" about those times when you look at cool old photos.
Chris says:

Nov 7 2011 at 9:06 am

It certainly doesn't look like he hit the first part of the puddle, looks more like the footage of water being thrown up by military jets.

Love his expression "mountain bikes, cross bikes? who fucking needs them? And I'm going to catch that bastard on the motorbike!" Amazing position on the bike as well.