Categories: Anatomy of a PhotoAwesome Belgian Guys

Anatomy of a Photo: Maximum Awesome

Baller.

Freddy effortlessly demonstrates Rules #80 and #82, the Three-Point System, and the Goldilocks Principle while his mechanic calmly swaps a mortal’s wheel for one that can withstand his ferocious sprint. All the while, a young Colonel Sanders looks on with bemused disapproval.

For anyone still wondering whether the 70’s was the coolest decade ever, it was.

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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The Pressure says:

Nov 19 2013 at 6:48 pm
Steve-o says:

Nov 19 2013 at 6:55 pm

@The Pressure

Alrighty then...
PeakInTwoYears says:

Nov 19 2013 at 8:04 pm

@Jarvis

@Rick

He's leaning on a Trabant, looking like a Stasi agent disguised as an MI5 agent trying to look like a Stasi agent.

That's not a fucking Trabant.

I was wondering about that. But who cares? It still reeks of le CarrÃ© and therefore still proves unequivocally the cool that was the '70s.
pistard says:

Nov 19 2013 at 9:33 pm

@Ron

How big were he and Godefroot? Neither seems too large, though both were stout by today's standards. Still, seem on the small size to have handled cobbles so well. I guess being Belgian doesn't hurt...

Unreliable sources put Maertens at 174cm and 71kg, Godefroot at 171/73. Makes me feel downright proportional.
pistard says:

Nov 20 2013 at 1:04 am

Just read this great interview with Freddy from two years ago. All the dirt and he's still pissed at de Vlaeminck:

http://bikeraceinfo.com/oralhistory/freddy-maertens.html
Chris says:

Nov 20 2013 at 2:27 am

@pistard

@Ron

How big were he and Godefroot? Neither seems too large, though both were stout by today's standards. Still, seem on the small size to have handled cobbles so well. I guess being Belgian doesn't hurt...

Unreliable sources put Maertens at 174cm and 71kg, Godefroot at 171/73. Makes me feel downright proportional.

174cm I can do but 71kg? I guess I could learn to to a lot of stuff with no arms. Draping myself casually lazily across the hoods a la De Vlaeminck above, phantom aero bars or victory celebrations wouldn't be amongst them though.
ChrisO says:

Nov 20 2013 at 6:16 am

hanging with Mario right now
wiscot says:

Nov 20 2013 at 7:17 am

@ChrisO

hanging with Mario right now

I can pick out Mario, but which one of the others are you? And if you are the gentleman on the left, did you pre-coordinate outfits with Mario?
wiscot says:

Nov 20 2013 at 7:18 am

@frank

@wiscot

Moser is still a fucking stud.

It angers me how some of these men just keep looking more badass as they get older. I, on the other hand, look increasingly like washed-up seaweed.

Tell me about it. Have you seen Gimondi lately? Still got it.
ChrisO says:

Nov 20 2013 at 7:41 am

@wiscot Nope the guy on the left is Pietro Caucchioli, also an ex-pro. I think third in the Giro and a few stage wins. He does Ale which is the clothing brand that Cipo is also involved with - very understated stuff as you can imagine.

I'm in the middle. Cipo is a big lad - I'm 6'3" and he's got one or two inches on me. Still looks pretty fit too, since we're talking about people who've still got it.

Unfortunately work commitments mean I've had to pass up the opportunity for a private ride with him and our race team tomorrow morning.