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.

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View Comments

Nate says:

May 23 2011 at 10:06 pm

@Oli
All in good fun and not surprised you have corroborated your analysis. Thanks as always for the history lesson. Also, that thing looks like the primary design criteria was mortification of the flesh both on the bike and off. Catholic? I'd guess Signore Bartali was a full fledged member of Opus Dei or something.
il ciclista medio says:

May 23 2011 at 10:08 pm

Oli :

Bartali's running a Vittoria Margherita .

Isn't that a pizza?
Nate says:

May 23 2011 at 10:09 pm

@il ciclista medio
Vittoria evidently learned that metal bits were not their forte.
Oli says:

May 23 2011 at 10:19 pm

il ciclista medio:

Oli :
Bartali's running a Vittoria Margherita .

Isn't that a pizza?

Haha!

I think Italians named a lot of things Margherita, after their Queen in the early part of the 20th century. Slightly related, one of the stories of how the famed Celeste colour of Bianchi was arrived at was that it was supposed to be the colour of Queen Margherita's eyes...either that or it was a job lot of paint left over from painting Italy's fleet of battleships.
jrt1664 says:

Jun 13 2011 at 2:04 pm

They stopped a Grand Prix yesterday because of rain......tut.tut.tut
wiscot says:

Oct 23 2013 at 7:50 am

Though more than a few Velominati might find this interesting: http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Long-overdue-honor-for-righteous-Christian-Italian-cycling-great-Bartali-328174

Seems like Bartali was more than just a great bike racer but a great human being too. I tend to eschew having "heroes" in favor of people I strongly admire, but in this case I might make an exception.
Teocalli says:

Oct 23 2013 at 9:03 am

@Ron

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.

Fenders.............
Drive-by honky says:

Apr 5 2014 at 10:29 pm

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