Anatomy of a Photo: Injustice

The hair, the shoes, the slicks. That's enough for me.

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.

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

Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Jan 20 2011 at 9:06 am

@Cyclops
I think they must be quite pleased with their own crankarms, by comparison.
Geoffrey Grosenbach says:

Jan 20 2011 at 9:14 am

"Seriously, honey, it's not my fault! I was on my way to searching for 'how to adjust a brake caliper' and only got to 'bra' when it started showing results!"
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Jan 20 2011 at 10:49 am

@G'phant
That is an awesome story. I can picture it. An image slowly filling in from the top of the big screen to the bottom at 1200 baud in front of an audience. Oops.
Jeff in PetroMetro says:

Jan 20 2011 at 11:17 am

@Cyclops
Ludo Peeters says, "Here, hold this for me."

The guy smiles and gives thanks, "Thank Merckx he meant the bike."
Brett says:

Jan 20 2011 at 11:23 am

@frank
I think that you may need to change the title and the last sentence of this post, with the unearthing of 'Grim' Natwick's identity. Maybe 'Justice' would be more appropriate, as that what he served to the US 'cross fraternity for years on end...
frank says:

Jan 20 2011 at 12:14 pm

@Brett
Word. To be fair, it's still injustice that he rode during a time when the US Cross scene was hardly noticed. What a stud. I would have loved to see him race in Europe against the likes of Boom and Nijs.
Pedale.Forchetta says:

Jan 20 2011 at 1:13 pm

@Cyclops
Years later, nothing has changed.
G'phant says:

Jan 20 2011 at 1:31 pm

@Pedale.Forchetta
@Cyclops
No. Enough. Just ... stop. Sheesh ...
Geoffrey Grosenbach says:

Jan 20 2011 at 1:31 pm

All subsequent posts to this article that are not accompanied by a photo of a cyclist's ass will be automatically removed.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Jim says:

Jan 20 2011 at 2:43 pm

Club Endspurt...you can just make it out on Clark's jersey. Likely not on slicks; cross tires at the time were not much bigger than 25 mm. A file pattern would hardly show in the picture. The start line picture is Tilden Park Berkeley. Maybe '74. The start was 100 yards of grass, a stream crossing, a short single track, followed by another mile of wickedness.