Anatomy of a Photo: Col de la Croix de Fer

The Col de la Croix de Fer. Photo: Offisde/L'Equipe

Today’s stage of the Giro finished on a steep dirt road. But when we talk about dirt roads – even the ones in of the Strade Bianchi – we are still generally talking about well-maintained roads. Leafing through CycleSport this morning after the stage, I noticed this shot of the Croix de Fer.

Before jumping instinctively to your inevitable conclusion, have a look at the full-size shot. We’ve got it all: 16 kilo bikes, riders with tires tied round their shoulders, big rings, loose chains, primitive derailleurs, and thick, sloppy mud. It looks like the road was cleared the day prior by a bulldozer with a bent blade and one track.

I rode the Croix for the first time in the late eighties; they’d just rerouted the road to roll along a reservoir about halfway up (coming from the Bourg d’Oisan side) and even with beautiful fresh pavement, I arrived at the top a few centimeters shorter.

This photo makes me die a little bit.

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.

Next Riders on a Storm »

Previous « Guest Article: Murray to Moyne, Part II

View Comments

wiscot says:

May 23 2011 at 11:43 am

I know we spend a lot of time lauding the riders of yesteryear for their toughness and how easy today's riders have it (which, in many respects is true), but the last rider to finish yesterday, Matthew Wilson, finished at almost 45 minutes behind the winner. That makes for a ride of 8hrs and 12 minutes! That's tough no matter what era. Add to that, only 6 riders didn't finish after three gruelling mountain stages. Kudos to all of them. To put it into perspective, that's the equivalent of half of a regular season worth of football - in one day - and these guys go no time outs, half times or fannying about.
Ron says:

May 23 2011 at 12:01 pm

Very cool photo, for sure. That does look like a miniature fender on Bobet's front wheel.

Hmm, definitely a challenge to compare, but I think it's the truth: suffering is suffering, no matter what the pressure is like, how your gear is, or what the roads are like. They suffered in different ways, but yes, riding at your limit requires a serious dose of Rule V no matter what the year is.
brett says:

May 23 2011 at 12:09 pm

Oli:

brett:
Looks like Bartali's bike doesn't even have a "primitive derailleur"!

Bartali's running a Vittoria Margherita derailleur system.

I knew that...
Pedale.Forchetta says:

May 23 2011 at 12:12 pm

frank:
@brett
I also note with satisfaction that there are no shirtless dudes, no one wearing a the slingshot, and no one in sumo wrestler suits along the roadside. Aside from the mud, that photo is refreshing on several levels.

Ahah! I'm with you on that!
frank says:

May 23 2011 at 6:48 pm

@razmaspaz

I don't know, yesterday's stage looked like a lot of suffering for a long long time. That was a lot of climbing.

7.5 hours. That's a proper stage. But theirs were longer. And, the roads were muddier, evidently. Still harder. And their bikes sucked more. And some of them used the Vittoria Margaritaville mech which got it's name from the fact that you needed a one-beer buz inorder to operate it successfully.

Oh, right. And their energy drink? Champagne. Fucking headache material, right there. Can't imagine downing a bodon of that shit in the hot sun during a ride.
Collin says:

May 23 2011 at 7:06 pm

Suffering is certainly just suffering. The heavier, less advanced bikes meant they climbed slower and longer, but your rivet is the same as my rivet. They both meaning the joy of a hypoxic mind and that full body tingling as muscles gasp is frustration.

In two generations, our DNA hasn't changed such that they felt suffering any differently. We like to romanticize the mud, but is the mud really hard on your or your bike? Rain then is like rain now, wet and cold -- maybe our rain is more full of acid now? External conditions might not have been as nice then, but on the bike, we suffer alike.
Collin says:

May 23 2011 at 7:55 pm

@razmaspaz
Indeed. Read about the first stage through the Pyrenees. The winner took 13 hours! It was over 300km.
Nate says:

May 23 2011 at 9:36 pm

@Oli
You're either taking it to an entirely new level, or confidently banking on the fact that the ignorant masses (myself included) will try to plaster over their ignorance by pretending to know what you are talking about. Or both. Well done.
Nate says:

May 23 2011 at 9:39 pm

@Collin
To sum up, it doesn't get easier, you just go faster.
Oli says:

May 23 2011 at 9:50 pm

@Nate - would I shit you? The stories of Bartali persisting with this antiquated design long after the parallelogram derailleur was being used are legion, despite it costing his some races and causing no end of frustration. Must be a Catholic flagellation thing.