Anatomy of a Photo: Drifting Stones
I would have put this under the new “Belgian Affirmations” category, but was overcome with fear that King Kelly would hunt me down and strangle me with his death stare for the crime of suggesting he wants to be anything other than Irish.
It is said that some people ride the cobbles with greater ease than the rest. It isn’t necessarily a skill that is learned; on the contrary, some simply ride with a lighter touch than others resulting in them going over the stones a few kilometers per hour faster. These are the riders who excel in the rain-addled editions of the Cobbled Classics. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I have no choice but to assume I have this skill.
King Kelly, on the other hand, got so bored riding shit-slicked pavé that he decided to start doing tricks and stunts on his way to his second victory in Paris-Roubaix. A moment after this shot was taken, he popped a one-handed Lone Ranger, causing Urs Freuler’s mustache to grow three sizes in amazement before temporarily falling off, ultimately leading to the loss of his ch’i and the race.
Unapologetic Cobblebone continues as I find myself thinking about little else other than Keepers Tour 2012: Cobbled Classics.
He probably used to BMX race.
Damn, no matter how often that now happens to me during cx riding, it still sends a momentary surge of fear through me when my rear wheel kicks out. I guess it’s because I’m more of a roadie than an off-roader, but maybe this never goes away?
That photo is stellar! That mustache chasing is boss!
His interviews in “Road to Roubaix” are awesome.
What a fantastic photo, and well earned place in its own article for sure. I have not yet ventured into the world of cx however I have done my fair share of cycling through all kinds of sh*t from animals (cows/sheep/deer) to manure from farmers tracks right through the oil slicked roads in the cities. Getting a slide on is something that I have always enjoye, ney looked for in such circumstances. Its like when I am driving in the rain I cant help but try and drive through the puddles. Yes I have more cleaning to do but i have the satisfaction of washing the muddy water from my face knowing nothing got in my way. Has to be said though, wheelspining your way up a 10% + is not quite as enjoyable.
damn crosswind….
I think you may have summed up my entire attitude towards life in that one sentence.
Truth! Although it didn’t happen on the cobbles, last week I took a pretty nasty spill during and fractured my femoral neck. I was only dishing out The V while adhering to Rule #9. See pic for greater understanding.
What a photo and what a hardman
Not having Cx in this area much, I still am in route to buying a cross bike for off road and the rare cx race that pops up.
Having raced some mtn bikes though, and having ridden enough in the snow/ice/sleet/rain, the occassional rear end drift does occur, and it is quite the feeling, I personally like it while I have control, but a little overdrift and confidence and you can find your self spinning in circles like the squirrel that gets hit by a passer-byer car…and thats not pretty
Kelly obviously couldn’t care less, isn’t scared and riding like he always does, and thats why I think he’s half belgian in heart
@MrBigCog
Ouch!
If only I had more weight to put on that back wheel to keep it in place. I knew I should have had that extra pint and that extra burger.
Done this on gravel, on wet leaves, and on snow. It does make the heart rate jump more than a little. I guess it takes a real hardman to take advantage of that adrenaline burst to push even harder; mere mortals are chastened and exhibit more caution for a few moments while they let their courage recover.
@Xyverz
Pain was bad last week. Hardly hurts this week. I luckily avoided surgery due mostly to me being 25 and the fracture didn’t displace. My Ortho said it is the first time in his 25 years of practice he has seen a fracture so bad that didn’t displace. I got way lucky and avoided a plate and screws which would have kept me from racing next season. I should be go for riding in about 6 weeks. I’m going to be weak as hell though.
@MrBigCog
Wow. Condolences. Instead of a Carbone, you may be getting a Ti-bone.
Heal fast. Big season ahead.
@xyxax
..or not.
MBC – Ouch is right! Rehab that thing, if/when you can. I’m sure you will have to rehab the leg/hip area. I broke a neck vertebrae playing college sports, didn’t do any strength/stretching and it’s the one lingering pain I still have. Gets really sore when I sit at my desk all day, and the position on a bike doesn’t help either. Just saw a friend last week who is a physical therapist. I must get it rehabbed now while I’m still young, lest I be on a recumbent before I hit 40…
For anyone thinking about a cx bike, GO FOR IT! Picked up my first one in the spring, now just decided to swap out one of my road bikes for a second one. Whether or not you ever race, they make wonderful additions to the stable. You can hit the trails, you can run your dog on gravel paths, or you can throw fenders on them and use for winter/rain training. I just couldn’t stand the lack of clearance on my road bike, nor riding 23s in the cold, when I’m trying to stay fit/warm, not hammer it at warpspeed.
@Ron
Doc says rehab will be minimal since I will only be on crutches for 6 weeks, so that was good news. I’m just pissed off that my team mates have taken falls very similiar to the one I took and they just walk away just some road rash. I’m a bit concerned about my bone density. I do no cross impact training to promote bone strength. I hate running with a passion.
@MrBigCog
Maybe you could work in some plyometrics in the off season?
Fantastic photo! I’m estimating that 95% of riders who might find themselves in Kelly’s situation would be on their asses before they knew it. Kelly, I’m sure, got shipshape immediately and on his merry way.
And yet again, in the thick of the action is the ‘tash with panache, the mighty Urs Freuler. You know Frank, someone should write an article about Urs . . .
Here’s a good photo to “anatomize”…
The legs of Katusha’s Aleksandr Kuschynski.
@J.Michael
I usually do strength training of my legs in the off season, but I live in Florida so the off season is very short and riding season is very long. By the end of the riding season I think my bone density drops quite a bit. Found this article on alarmingly low bone densities in competitive cyclists
@Cyclops
Twigs!
…and doing his best Hincapie impression. What’s with the booties? It can’t be that cold.
@Steampunk
What always gets me is climbing out of the saddle in wet weather, when you get rear-wheel slip as you lose and regain traction on the wet road surface – gotta watch your rear-front weight balance in those situations.
@MrBigCog
I just spent 4 weeks mostly off the bicycle. It was hell. Getting my strength back is one thing; getting my stamina back is a completely different beast… but I’m working on it.
@Ron
Many of my riding buddies on Strava have CX bikes. My coworkers are all MTB-ers. I’ve only got a single road bike (which I do know violates the rules, but I’m working on it – I’m a broke bastard), and a CX bike might just fill the gap between the two worlds. I’ve been considering it a lot, especially since my LBS currently has a wide selection of ’em on sale right now…
@mcsqueak
Getting out of the saddle on rollers will help with this. Forces you to focus on smooth weight distribution.
Highly appropriate for Movember
Before my first trip to Belgium a mentor/Pro who had ridden the Northern Classics took me for a ride on railroad ties. “Imagine that,” he said, “but without them being spaced evenly.” I had plenty of dirt, gravel and rough farm roads to ride on growing up. Rough roads were not a foreign concept. Washboard dirt descents on road, cyclocross and mtn bikes pre-suspension. But even after a few seasons, I couldn’t manage to get through more than a few hundred meters without losing many places in the field. When my son is old enough and if he cares, I would love to take him over on a trip like the VM Keepers tour but I’ll be walking in boots and coat through the sectors before I ever ride that shit again.
@MrBigCog
Rest well and heal well. This one was part of a total game changer for me.
1986 Colorado Springs. I walk into the hotel lobby after a evening of spectating the World’s at the velodrome. I was fit at the time and wearing a cycling jacket. Across the lobby Urs Freuler is staring at me with an expression that said, “who in the hell is he?” I am all, “shit Urs Freuler is staring at me wondering who the hell I am!”
@MrBigCog
That’s a shocker. Heal well.
+1 to that, heal well & best of luck MrBigCog
that nasty thing makes a fractured clavicle look like childs play
hats off to you and the real suffering you’ve been in
@MrBigCog
Yikes – take care of yourself. Heal right and you’ll be much quicker to recover than if you push it too soon.
Watch that bone density; you could have just had a flukish fall, but bone density is an issue you don’t want to let get out of hand, especially in cycling.
@Souleur
I’m glad you said it and not me. When he comes looking, I’ll point him in your direction.
I asked an Irish mate why the Irish pint is bigger than the others, and he said that when it comes to the Irish and their beer, you just don’t fuck with them. I’m assuming someone in Irland just made a pint glass a random size and no one has had the guts to ask why it was that size ever since.
@Steampunk
Yeah, and when I was riding the Schwalbe Ultremo slicks, it would happen to BOTH WHEELS any time I’d get caught in a wet corner. That’s unnerving.
I’m not sure if Kelly raced ‘Cross, but most Belgians/Dutchman do and that’s why they’re good at racing the cobbles – you learn to control these things and actually just work with them. Mountain biking gives a similar quality to your riding and one of the main reasons it so important to ride the tarmac as well as the dirt, in whatever form you can find it.
Oh, and you have to not care if you crash. That helps. That HR thing you’re mentioning is just an artifact of you being concerned for your welfare.
@Rookie_Roubaix
VMH in Kenya, so I’m watching Cycling videos almost non-stop. Road to Roubaix has got to be the best cycling film made. Awesomeness.
@wiscot
All in good time, mate – its due for it’s glory before too long. Getting to a regular pattern on the guest pieces so they come out more predictably. Gianni’s got it covered for me so I can focus on other things.
As for Urs, though…what happened to the big guys in our sport? Seems like the 80’s had loads of ’em. Check out Rogiers, dude is truly massive. I like him, obviously. But Kelly – KELLY. Talk about a magnificent stroke!
@Jim
Awesome!
@frank
check out the 7 minute vid i just posted in the Rules. Gold!
@itburns
Well, luckily I’ve never had it cause a crash but those moments when you push down on the pedals and they don’t “push back” like you’d expect are interesting, to say the least!
@Marcus
Awesome video Marcus, thanks for posting.
@MrBigCog
Sorry to see this Mr Big Cog. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
@frank
It’s so damn awesome that I grabbed it via a bit torrent, which a friend kind of explained to me, but which I’m not that informed about, and watched the whole thing a bunch of times…before my computer had a massive issue. I had to get a friend to help me fix it and adamantly claim that I was watching cycling vids, not porn. And I really was.
There are so many different parts from it that give me the chills. I need to put that on my holiday gift list. Of course, the only things I’m asking anyone for are cycling-linked.
@itburns
Hell, man! I can hardly get my water bottle out of the cage and back again without shooting through the wall on rollers! That takes some skill, there.
@itburns
Ha, best work up to this type of riding on rollers. It ain’t easy, but does get easier. A lot of stuff on rollers makes you positive you’ll kill yourself, even just getting on them the first time. But yes, it will help for sure.
You know what else helps bike handling skills? Cross racing after only a handful of proper cross rides and absolutely zero background in off-road riding. Whistle blows, some fat, slow fucko cuts you off and forces you to sit in for a bit, and then you just start to hammer it and go as fast as you can, while keeping it upright.
After just a bit of cross racing I feel like I’m a much, much better bike handler. Shoot, even corner on the road now seems vastly easier, smoother, and improved.
@Xyverz
I might get shouted down for this, but if funds are low at the moment, but you need the n+1, I’d say get a cross bike and run it with wide road tires or some light cx tires. A second, third, or fourth road bike is awesome, for sure. I kept on buying more road bikes, since I love road riding and everyone needs a carbon, a steel Italian, a classic bike, et cetera.
But, you can get a pretty solid cross bike for a great price, especially on sale. Not worth it to get a so-so road bike, best to save for something slick you really like and lust after. And, if you only have two bikes the cross bike is key. You can use it for winter train, you can throw on full fenders, or, you can do some cross racing.
I have four road bikes & one cross bike I picked up in April. Just last week I saw a cross bike on sale and couldn’t pass it up. As an all-arounder, cross bikes make far more sense than a road race machine. More versatile, more air in your tires, cheaper, less sensitive about care, etc.
Road bikes are great, but if you already have one and would like a second bike, a cross bike just allows for more applications. I tried to turn an Italian steel road bike into my do-it-all bike, but the geometry wouldn’t allow for full fenders + bigger tires. And, it’s a shame to lock up such a nice bike. And, no matter how much I told myself it was my n+4 road bike, I still couldn’t just ride it in rain and be done with it.
That’s just my input for someone who has been bitten by the cx bug and decided to trade out a road bike for a cross bike. I truly admire people with just one bike. And sometimes it makes me kick myself, since the more bikes you have the more options/headaches you have.
@Ron
Just don’t get it too dirty so you can trade it in for whatever’s in fashion next year.
Snarky, I know, sorry. And they do make a lot of sense.
Just really noticed how CX has taken off this season.
This is a year old, but relevant.
@Ron
Ron, it sounds like you should try riding a cyclo-cross bike – I have a feeling you might enjoy it.
@mcsqueak
I took a core sample of my knee like that mountain biking once. BUMMER! You know its deep when it takes a solide minute or two before it bleeds. And then…whooosh!
As @itburns says, it’s all about balance. That, and learning when to put more on the back wheel versus the front, because different road surface, as you’re discovering, won’t accept the same balance. Finally, you can learn what we do in old school Mountain biking back when they still rode uphill (and I assume in ‘Cross) to stick your ass out over your wheel and keep your shoulders over your bars so you keep both ends weighted. That’s a beauty.
@Oli
Now you’re just making things up! How could you possibly know??
Ah ha ha. Nice work, lads. I’ll keep it clean. And, I might like cyclo-ing.
Oli, don’t get me all worked up!
Blah, I think I know what you mean. An interesting mix of folks ride/race cross. It IS pretty cool these days.
@Blah
I’m not so sure CX is a fad; it’s just a sport that’s gaining popularity. Fuck the hipsters. RDV did it. Merckx did it. That’s good enough for me.
And do debunk my earlier statement about best cycling movies, I have to admit I love this one an awful lot.
@frank
Too true. I did admit it was a snarky comment that, as you said, focussed on the quick rise in popularity of the sport.
And yes, fuck the hipsters. But that’s kind of implied in most comments posted here.