Anatomy of a Photo: Top Dog

...and now let me tell you about the time I made Roger cry.

I have it on excellent authority that life is good when you’re at the top. I myself am, of course, nowhere near the top but I felt a glimmer of it today, briefly savoring the unique palate of having some semblance of form in January. Which feels a lot like a victory over Christmas. And kicking Christmas’ ass feels pretty rad.

Then suddenly – and quite rudely, I might say – my rear axle broke, at which point the performance characteristics of my bicycle were diminished not unsubstantially. Our experience atop the peaks are brief; the journey we call life takes place primarily in the valleys and upon the slopes.

If life has taught me anything, it’s that you should feel free to grab the pompoms on any Marine’s hat anytime you please, particularly if you happen to be wearing a totally sick Molteni Alimentari jumper.

If you also happen to be Eddy Merckx and you recently had your sideburns oiled by your man-servant, then said Marines might not even celebrate your gesture by killing you.

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

Barracuda says:

Jan 4 2016 at 5:58 pm

Sadly, nothing I'll have to worry about here. Oh, there was that one time in 1990
pistard says:

Jan 4 2016 at 7:06 pm

They're French Navy rather than Belgian Marines, so he's probably telling them how he made their entire country cry.
starclimber says:

Jan 4 2016 at 7:19 pm

'Repeatedly'
EBruner says:

Jan 4 2016 at 7:22 pm

I fucking love it. I have not seen this photo before, and it is pure tits! Eddy and RDV ooze cool like no one else.
PT says:

Jan 5 2016 at 1:51 am

@Barracuda

Sadly, nothing I’ll have to worry about here. Oh, there was that one time in 1990

Ditto - except 1986.

What do you think Eddy just said? "Hello sailor"?
Lister says:

Jan 5 2016 at 2:27 am

I too have a semblance of form, somewhat round that is. Thanks for the photo Frank, life can never have enough Merckx.
Teocalli says:

Jan 5 2016 at 5:32 am

@frank - is there a wee posting bugette that is not showing the last post or so? I see some posts in the Recent Posts column but when I go to the main topic the last post or so do not show. Tried on multiple browsers and both Mac and PC.
KogaLover says:

Jan 5 2016 at 6:31 am

@Teocalli

Cannot even see your post, but there must be un petit erreur.
Major VVald says:

Jan 5 2016 at 6:56 am

@PT

He's showing them how to properly position their casquettes: "just so, boys, just so."
RobSandy says:

Jan 5 2016 at 7:02 am

The posts in the main topic seem to be showing up several hours after they appear in the Recent Posts feed. How odd.