Anatomy of a Photo: Injustice
One of my favorite pass times is to chuck a cycling term into Google’s Image Search, set the filter to Large, and see what turns up. It is incredible how much porn you have to sift through, by the way. I would really think words like “shaved” and “hardman” would be innocent enough, but take it from me – that is not the case.
I have found, however, that through perseverance, determination, and a dash of grit comes reward, and this photo is evidence of that. I don’t know who this strapping young stud is, but he wrote at least one of the chapters in the Book of Awesome. The hair, the cap, the brazen expression, the jersey, the guns, the Chuck Taylors, and riding cross on slicks. And that’s not a fucking compact, either. Well done, my son. It is an injustice beyond comprehension that you did not become a Giant of the Road.
@Jim
Neal and Mount; classic porn names I’d say!
@xyxax
Yeah. I didn’t do a damn thing on my bike for years here. Honestly, I was scared to death of the traffic and disgusted by the sprawl.
I started racing in high school in Dallas, raced all through college in Austin (until ’90), then moved to Houston in ’94.
It’s weirdly hot here from April through October. It’s a stale, humid, still, sour, acrid, chemical burn kinda hot. Until you step off a plane in Houston in early September, you can’t imagine its quality. It takes your breath away.
@Buck Rogers
I live in the shade of Downtown Houston–nowhere near San Antonio. I’m about 3 1/2 hours east of San Antonio by car.
San Antonio is pretty cool. You’ll be on the southern end of the Texas Hill Country. Lots of hills, big live oak trees, limestone outcroppings, spring fed rivers. Boerne, TX is northwest of San Antonio by about 40 minutes by car. It’s cool. That’s where the state championship road course was for a while. To the northeast by about 100 minutes is Austin.
San Antonio is really just a city, but I like it. Once you get out of the city and into the Hill Country, it gets really nice.
Mmmmm. Texas City and an off-shore breeze.
Carbon fiber is less useful as a lung component.
@xyxax
1. When I first moved here (August of ’94), I asked a person I worked with what that smell was in the air first thing every morning. His answer, “Money.” Actually it was benzene.
2. About five years ago, Houston made the top of three lists in the same year: fattest city in America, worst air quality in America, and worst traffic in America.
3. There is no zoning in Houston. You can have a topless bar next to a church next to a mansion next to a crack house next to a strip mall next to a used car lot next to a school next to a freeway.
4. Two years ago, my daughter’s elementary school had the 2nd highest number of confirmed cases of swine flu in any one school in America.
Come on back, xyxax. We miss you!
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Thanks for the info! Doesn’t sound too bad after all. Cannot wait to et there and start doing some riding in the area and figure out routes, local clubs, etc.
@Buck Rogers
San Antonio’s not too bad. The tourist stuff (the Alamo, the Riverwalk) is just that–for tourists. You owe it to yourself to see what the fuss is about. But when you start to go into the Hill Country, there are some places that are pretty special.
We’ll chat when you get here. I can be persuaded to drive to the Hill Country to ride. Just don’t expect me to climb well for my weight.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Man, you know I would be there in a heartbeat, but both my napropath and herbalist recommend a low benzene environment for me. I do visit my brother in Nacogdoches every few years.
Hats off to you for making cycling work in the town of Buffalo Speedway.
Ah, Buffalo Speedway. Yeah, I guess they shot all the buffalo before I got here. Makes things safer.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
We’ll see you this late summer/early fall out on the roads, then. And do not worry about the climbing wieght, I’m still about 5 kilo’s over my ideal weight myself!
@Buck Rogers
See you in the fall!
Frank, thank you for this article!
I love the random article feature on Velominati. Every once in a while (ok, everyday) something really catches my eye from previous years past. This AOAP has brought back memories of when I felt cheated that my family could not afford to get me a BMX. Thus, I would ride my father’s road bike (ten-speed was the term in those days) on the monkey trails (local pump track) to everybody’s amusement, including my own. Rocking the table-top or the S-turns on 700c wheels when I could barely touch the ground when straddling the tube top, I developed a bit of handling skills that paid off in the later mountain bike craze.
Injustice indeed.
Love the pic of Clark Natwick…. I know exactly on the course that pic was taken, but I am not the photographer. The tires may look like slicks, but they weren’t. Definitely knobbed ‘cross sew-ups.