Anatomy of a Photo: Just Go Faster

Phil Anderson does the Cipolini "Where are you guys?"

This photo of Phil Anderson’s genuine surprise at the gap between himself and the guy who won at losing reminds me of a story my dad tells of a crewmate from his boat at Laga. My dad was the stroke in a boatful of guys who went on to the compete in several World Championships and the Olympics, some of whom actually won medals there.

Two of the guys even became World Champion in the double one year, winning the race by a few boat lengths. During his post-race interview, one of the two was asked what the secret was to their dominating win. In all seriousness, he responded as follows:

For an important race like this, I’m a little surprised the other guys didn’t pull on the oars harder.

I loves me a good, Stead Up with More Speed Paradox.

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

Ron says:

Oct 18 2011 at 7:45 am

Thanks, Chris! I'll have to check it out.

As someone who grew up following the big, mainstream sports in the U.S., I love catching up on all the cycling history & stories I missed, as well as those before my time. While it's almost impossible to avoid an information overload on some sports in the U.S., I crave cycling news.

And now I follow cycling, a bit of ice hockey, and some international soccer. I can't stomach the slowness & corporate feel of the NFL. The NBA is one step from wrestling (entertainment, not sport) and baseball, well, it goes without saying that it's insanely boring.

Never would have imagined this switch, but most ball sports, as we call them 'round here, hold zero interest for me these days. Watching skinny dudes race bikes...give me more!
frank says:

Oct 18 2011 at 9:05 am

@sthilzy

Winning-Bicycle Racing Illustrated.
Illustrated, which led me to be my silent Cycling Sensei.
I'd spend hours at a time studying each pic until the next edition came out.
The bikes, the gear, the hand positions, pedal strokes, climbing positions, crash positions, background scenery (that's how I learn;'t geography!) Then I might read the articles.
Reading the articles was futile, as the pics on the page told me more than words could. Reading the faces of the peleton, a breakaway - solo or group spoke loudly to me!
Unfortunately, for me, at the 80"²s/90"²s turn over, MTB's took off and road racing got a bit thin on presence in the mag. (There's a cover shot Feb 1988 of Kelly on a rigid Colnago (decaled) MTB!

You and me both, mate. Happy to hear someone has kept their old editions! I've sadly lost mine and I think most others have theirs, too. That large-format magazine layout was so great.