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

Steampunk says:

Nov 7 2011 at 11:15 am

@Noel
This is almost a Rule 58 kind of moment, learned best at the feet of your LBS mechanic. Had a great time chatting with the guys at my LBS about a slightly tricky wrapping technique on bullhorns. By the end of the conversation we had three different approaches (four of us involved), and fifteen minutes spent in serious debate. Great stuff!
chubster says:

Nov 7 2011 at 11:27 am

back then the earth was warmer and oxygen content 2X today. cyclists had to flee predators and chased down small prey. today, our goal is to look good in spandex.
Oli says:

Nov 7 2011 at 11:34 am

I'm pretty sure it's actually one of a pair of woolen arm-warmers, the other of which has probably sagged down his wrist and is hidden by the photo crop. Either that or he is halfway through removing them but decided to hold onto his 'bars at this moment for understandable reasons!
itburns says:

Nov 7 2011 at 11:40 am

There I go assuming again and showing my stupidity. At least that is an acceptable trait in cyclists - dumb and dumber
Oli says:

Nov 7 2011 at 11:40 am

Belay that, I'm wrong and Frank is onto it - he had thirty stitches in his arm from an earlier fall, so that is a covering of sorts! Hard man...
frank says:

Nov 7 2011 at 12:04 pm

From a Sunday in Hell

@Souleur

hmmm...why one arm warmer??
love the pic, he is definitely in the zone and couldn't care less what the Norde throws his way, he's above it.
but why one arm warmer?? any hints?

I read somewhere he had an injury, but I'll be buggered if I can think of where I saw it or even if I imagined it. From the looks of the shot, though, I'd say he's only got one on - seems the right arm would show some sign of a crumpled warmer.
frank says:

Nov 7 2011 at 12:08 pm

@Gianni

Great shot. He jumped the puddle because the front edge is untouched. Maybe the rear wheel caught the puddle as he landed. Even the wheels look a little out of tracking alignment like he just landed his bike, all at 40km/hr, head up, looking up the road. No gloves either? Oh they were tough buggahs back then. We so need a nasty wet Spring Classic season in 2012.

That's it! He jumped it! What a stud. I thought he'd done something supernatural. Which I suppose he did if you consider the circumstances.

@Mikel Pearce

Note also that he is not actually sitting on the seat. And that it doesn't seem to matter to him in th slightest.

This is because of the jump, but they pretty much hover over the saddle on the cobbles anyway. Always ride the stones Ã¡ bloc and in a big gear. This allows you to pretty much unweight the saddle as you're pushing on the pedals and turns your leggs and not your ass into the shock absorbers. We used this technique mountain biking as well before suspension bikes. Let your bike bounce around under you and use your body as the shock absorber.
frank says:

Nov 7 2011 at 12:12 pm

@Oli

Belay that, I'm wrong and Frank is onto it - he had thirty stitches in his arm from an earlier fall, so that is a covering of sorts! Hard man...

Cool! I didn't make it up! I *thought* I'd read that somewhere. What year is it? I want to say it's 1977 on his way to his last win as well, but its hard to verify.
Oli says:

Nov 7 2011 at 12:18 pm

@frank
No, it's a non-winning 1973 according to my copy of "Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell".
brianc says:

Nov 7 2011 at 12:30 pm

@frank
Not exactly sporting at around 1:17.