Guest Article: Le Metier
The Velominati are proud to present the following guest article by our community member Steampunk, who splits his time between peppering the site with his insight and humor and riding in the sacred Velominati colors.
Michael Barry is one of the great domestiques of the peloton; loyal, hardworking, a hardman, a true cycling aesthete – and an excellent writer. What follows is more than a book review; it is an account of Steampunk’s acquisition of the book, a fine description of the contents, and account of some of the discoveries and revelations it provided to this particular Velominatus.
Thanks, Steampunk, it would appear I need to go order yet another book from Rouleur.
Yours in cycling,
Frank
—
I have a new prized possession. A couple of weeks ago, Michael Barry paid a visit to my local coffeeshop. Because I don’t abide by Rule #11 (more on that another day), I was forced to miss the book signing and short ride, but I was able to arrange for a signed copy of Barry’s new book, Le Métier, to be held for me. Later that week, I picked it up, and spent that and the following evening poring through it. It’s taken me some time to absorb the book and situate it within my reading of cycling””both in my standing as a fan of the sport and as an avid cyclist. It’s a beautifully-produced, hardcover book from Rouleur, rich with numerous stunning photographs by Camille McMillan, most of them from 2008.
Barry’s words aren’t outdone by the lavish photography. Visit his blog, and you realize very quickly that he is a quietly thoughtful and articulate guy. This carries through in the book, which is a contemplative and moving account of the daily work of a professional domestique. The book is divided into four chapters: “Winter,” “Spring,” “Summer,” and “Autumn,” as though to present a year in the life. But rather than present a blow-by-blow tell-all of his adventures on the Pro Tour, Barry pulls back a little further, bouncing his narrative around a bit to provide not an autobiography but instead a melancholy documentary that is less about himself and more about””as the title indicates””le métier.
Le métier can translate loosely into English as “the job,” but a better translation probably revolves around something like “the trade” or “the craft,” stressing both technique and experience. In Barry’s hands le métier is also something just this side of an addiction. He describes in such vivid and painful prose the struggle and agony inherent in professional cycling””the crashes, the hospital rooms, the suffering, the travel, the stress, the exhaustion””that I found myself recoiling in guilt from my eager anticipation for the Spring Classics or the Grand Tours. By and large, Barry portrays a miserable existence, saved only by the fact that these select few are permitted””blessed””to make a living doing something they love, even if le métier is a far cry from aesthetic and beauty of cycling that drew them to the sport in the first place. This is the addiction. The tone and pace of the book are most peaceful when Barry describes his pre-season training rides around his home in Girona, Spain. In those excerpts, before the frantic training and racing that will follow, he seems at peace and the rhythm of the bicycle provides freedom. It is, of course, the same machine and the same activity that enslaves him the rest of the year, keeping him from family and milking every last ounce of power and energy from his body and soul.
He concludes the final chapter with the following:
Each cyclist fights an internal battle. Some fight on the bike because it gives them purpose and simplifies the complexities in life. Others escape. Others ride to fill a void. Others battle childhood disturbances. Others pedal for fitness or weight loss. We each have our reasons.
…
Over the hundreds of thousands of kilometers I’ve ridden, I’ve slowly come to realize why my desire developed and became an obsession. Without it, I struggle””I am anxious, unfocused, and tense. Cycling has become spiritual, as it is a passion that I can pursue in the natural environment. I can pedal away angst, find calm and clarity with the rhythmic motion and freedom. The commitment gives me focus; the love gives me panache. Whether it is pedaling to victory or training in the mountains, I find peace.
Michael Barry is basically Jens Voigt, but without the countless sound bytes and cult following. He is quiet and controlled. But he knows his job and he does it as well as anyone on the Pro Tour. He is the quintessential professional: grounded, committed, talented, and loyal (he offers genuine and persuasive portraits outlining the better qualities of former teammates Lance Armstrong and Mark Cavendish). He is also as smooth and natural a rider as you’ll likely find in the peloton. He was born to ride. But his personal victories are the team victories. His success is rarely tracked or noticed by cycling enthusiasts, but the massive pull at the front for long kilometres on end to catch a breakaway or to help set up his team’s train or to protect his team leader: this is honorable stuff.
And as the weather here””not far from Barry’s hometown of Toronto””takes a turn from hot summer to cooler and wetter autumn, echoes of Le Métier are evoked in my own riding. At all levels, good riding involves suffering. Out on a lonely spin early this morning in the crisp air, I can’t put myself at the head of the peloton pulling for my team leader, but I can appreciate the freedom of the ride, not dissimilar from the moments Barry clearly cherishes. I can feel the cold air straining my lungs as I climb out of the saddle, and I can begin to appreciate the hook that continually brings Barry back to le métier, no matter the tribulations that the season will hold. For me, though, this is no professional obligation; it is a recreational activity. As I settle into a comfortable rhythm along a flat stretch of road, trying to hammer out a steady and high cadence, I take pleasure in the incremental improvements in form and fitness that have accompanied every ride this summer and fall. These gains are ridiculously modest, but they contribute to molding an ever-evolving relationship between rider and bicycle. Le Métier is about that conversation between body and machine. There is an artful beauty in this, too often lost in a day at the office.
Some discoveries and revelations:
- I can no longer begin to believe that I can even come close to achieving any modicum of Rule #5.
- In the many photographs of Barry training on his own, with David Millar, George Hincapie, and others, I was amazed to see how many rules were blatantly broken; and bikes and riders still looked great. Of course, by the time you are riding at the professional level, you have transcended any and all rules. More to the point, you’re providing the inspiration for new rules.
- There were no bling wheels on any of the training bikes photographed. Good, fast, reliable, sturdy: yes. But nothing that screamed out for attention.
- Bikes, too. Many seemed cobbled together with bits and pieces that had been left over in the shop. Put another way, though, the style to which the Velominati aspire is very clearly an aspect of professional racing (dominated by sponsors who insist that their product looks good) than as part of the culture of riders themselves, many of whom just want to ride.
- The quiet, undiscussed camaraderie among riders, but obvious in the photographs is interesting. Barry and Millar seem to spend a lot of the off-season training together, even if they then go to war against each other for their respective teams when the season is underway.
- Girona looks like a very cool place to live and ride, especially if so many professional riders are in the neighborhood.
Great review. Have been thinking I should add this book to my collection. This seals it. Thanks.
Chapeau, Steampunk. Sounds like a book I’d really enjoy. Yes, I enjoy cycling books on past races and legends of the sport but it’s the books that seem to capture the soul of cycling that hit home and truly inspire. You mention the conversation between body and machine. I think of it as a three-way between body, machine and mind. Seems like Barry delves into that well. I can’t wait to read it.
and all of the points above are very interesting to me.
I was going to buy this book, but now I know how it ends! Thanks.
Seriously though, nice review, and the book will find its way into my collection I’m sure.
Barry’s is a name that I don’t think I’ve ever heard mentioned in any race, as you state, he must go about his job very succinctly indeed.
Just spent some time on his site. Very cool place. I’d been there a little in the past but not for long. Fantastic photos. Like this one, which I think is what you’re talking about.
Thanks for the article Steampunk. Great review to read. More.
Barry’s a great example of the unsung hero. Hours and hours on the front, with few people who know his name.
@Marko, That last pick you uploaded is a great one and reminds me that he’s got a great family. Dede is riding on Michael’s right. They raced in tandem and now they have a little baby. Very cool when you see people balance a difficult life to find some happiness.
Not only is his wife Dede a total Velomihottie, but she was a massive stud on the bike herself. A peer of mine at T-Mo when I worked there had her road bike from the Oly road race. Very cool.
@frank
I wonder if that’s his old man just behind him. He’s got a ton of pics on his blog of his dad racing back in the day in England. It’s a really cool blog he’s got. Great pics over there. Clearly the guy’s been at it since he was just a little kid.
Steampunk – a name worthy of deed poll.
Having just completed the “you’re not really into cycling unless you’ve read the Lance Armstrong autobiography” rite of passage, I was feeling a little lost as to my next literary challenge.
As such, I have just launched into “Autobigorpahy of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda – not much of a rider, but a true Spiritual Hard Man. Given the clear higher calling of both tomes, I think they will enjoy being read concurrently.
The spirit feeds the will feeds the legs feeds the spirit feeds the will…..
Very nice review. I was particularly caught by this sentence:
My non-cycling friends tease me about the silly tight clothes and the “boring” races, but I can’t imagine a more physically or mentally taxing sport. Perhaps I’m just biased since I love cycling, but when I see those overpaid, spoiled babies in the NBA faking fouls, complaining about calls from the refs, and other shenanigans, I just lose respect for them as professional athletes.
Sure, there is “drama” in cycling, and please forgive me if this a false premise, but I think much of it is media hype to attract eyeballs to their publications. The union of man and machine that is cycling cannot be matched by many other athletic endeavors or pass-times.
A superb review; a book I have been meaning to add to my wish list. Barry writes well; a few years back I also enjoyed his Postal Bus account.
Sorry to ruin the climax (the butler did it), but your last point is key to the entire spirit of the book: you never hear Barry’s name, and that’s an indication that he does his job well, whether collecting bottles, protecting his leader, or taking a long pull at the front. No statistics can ever recognize the true value of a domestique, which is telling.
The other part of the book that interested me was Barry’s constant referral to his body and he “felt.” Legs felt strong and hard or tired. Head, arms, lungs. All were described from a certain distance that made them sound like parts of the machinery rather than parts of the man. Another de-humanizing feature of le métier, I suppose.
@Marko
I love that shot, which captures the spirit of the book rather well. A study of his face shows both sides of his experience. And I think that might be his father behind, quite a local legend in his own right (Marisposa bikes).
Steampunk… great article, great book. As I’ve posted earlier, this book – more than any other book I’ve read on cycling – made want to go out and ride… and ride hard. Was incredibly inspired, and in a slightly mad way. I actually thought the prose in the book much better than the photos (and the photos are pretty good), and it put me onto his blog, which is really great… particularly during the TdF.
Someone on this site (I think) has written that the formation of the Sky professional cycling team was an expensive way of ensuring Michael Barry got to ride the Tour de France, but if so, it makes the £65 per month I pay Sky and shitty customer service I get from them well worth it (finally)… I was screaming support at the TV when he was leading the entire peloton into Bordeaux on that long dead-straight stretch of autoroute, his mouth agape, guns firing on all cyclinders, that mad streak in his eyes, burying it for a sprinter who he knew, in his heart of hearts, wasn’t going to cut it that day.
I cheered for him, because I think the domestique is a noble calling, and I loved him because he shared some of that with us through this book. Thanks for the article.
A few comments:
Excellent review – having Frank Zappa’s Overnight Sensation playing in the background was curious – I’ll think I will get that book next instead of A dog in a Hat.
For some reason I find this photo extremely hot
I want to live in Girona.
I’ve always liked MB and his blog. As I’ve made the transition from casual cyclist to racer the role of domestique has become very appealing to me for a number of reasons. Mainly, as long as there are hills I will not be at the front at the end of a race. But I would be perfectly happy to lay it on the line to put a team mate there (alas, if I could only get the guys I ride with to understand this and ride as a team instead of individuals). My favorite rides are when there are just a couple of us working in perfect, silent harmony. The faster we go and the harder I have to work the more enjoyable it becomes for me. The other thing is that if we are doing the above and it is cold or rainy and I’m clad in cold weather gear (as in Marko’s photo) I get an even greater satisfaction because I know that though I am a mere Cat 5 I am doing something that few are called to do and I am doing it merely for the love of it.
There’s a reason. It’s fucking hot! I have a dream that someday I’ll be out flogging myself, and I’ll come across a Velomihottie like the above who is similarly flogging herself and that’ll be that. Hasn’t happened yet, but I hold out hope.
While on the topic of good reads, go get yourself a copy of Krabbe’s The Rider while you still can. It’s evidently nearing the end of its print run. 150 pages about a 150 km amateur race, and chock full of Great Truths about the sport. If it doesn’t make you want to go out and ride right now, something might be wrong with you.
@Nate. Absolutely. Having watched Conspiracy Theory, I am a little nervous that I may be a government sleeper assassin waiting for some government evil ‘black ops’ guy to whisper the password in my ear to unlock my ninja training… death by powerpoint, anyone? Like Mel Gibson’s character and ‘Catcher in the Rye’, I can’t walk past a copy of ‘the Rider’ in a Bookshop without buying it (just in case I lose one of my, ooh, seventeen other copies). Now I learn that in a few short months, they will be worth LOADS on ebay. Awesome.
Incidentally, saw a really hot girl wearing a sky blue ‘Cycles Goff’ nicely fitted jersey atop a local climb couple of weeks ago. She was slightly out of breath and still panting, slightly ‘glowing’ on quite a nice old-school steel Bianchi. So right, in so many ways.
@roadslave
Yup, I haven’t been able to find my copy around the house so when I heard the news I ordered another. Maybe I should have ordered a few extra copies — one for the office, one to tape to the workstand…
As for the girl, that sounds amazing, are you sure she was real, or did you bury it going up the climb and put yourself into an hypoxic hallucination?
@Nate
I would guess hypoxic hallucination. Such girls don’t really exist, do they? Though, Frank seems to have found one, so maybe there is hope.
No, she exists. I couldn’t leave with things unsaid. So after complimenting her on her steed and her fine attire, I got the low down: hen night for one of her friends, a weekend cycling trip away… they got a bunch of Cycles Goff shirts made up…. God, and she was beautiful. I could have drowned in those deep, deep pools of slate grey (sorry, eyes).
To take the movie references to the extreme: City Slickers (2?)… dude from ‘When Harry met Sally’ says to wizened old cowboy: “you ever been in love?” “Yup, riding the herd in, saw her in a field, silhouetted against the sun, her figure visible through her dress, and that was it. I was in love” “Did you ever go speak to her?” “No. It would never have got more perfect than that… etc.” [apologies for paraphrasing, and trashing of an already terrible script]… It may have been hypoxic hallucination… but if so, it also affected my cycling buddies as well (are other symptoms drooling and giggling? – I’m hoping over the girl, but it could have been the bike)
@Collin
Yup, I did. I mentioned to her the other day I was thinking about buying white hoods and she said something like, “Why don’t you treat yourself to those when you reach a milestone in your riding. Like, for example, if you drop me climbing.”
@roadslave, @Nate
Alright, I bought that book. Also bought Paul Fournel’s Need for the Bike on the recommendation of a new friend who runs a local shop here.
@Cyclops
My Velomihottie and I have long fought over which of us has the bigger crush on her.
@frank, @roadslave
If it wasn’t for frank’s accounts of the deeds and words of the Velomihottie I wouldn’t believe your story. My woman is the daughter and brother of fellow Velominati, and she still looked at me like I was off my gong for wanting to go for a ride in the rain yesterday.
@frank: dude, ANOTHER great book on cycling… each little chapter a teensy nugget of a gem, not a single word wasted in the entire book (Fournel is a member of some poncey french intellectual writing society, apparently – god, can you imagine?)… although I have to say, sometimes the french are completely beyond me: I can get ‘the man with the hammer’ (he and I are well acquainted), but I simply do not understand ‘the witch with green teeth’…. but a truly great book… It’s like you have a webcam on my study bookshelf (you don’t do you? if your next review is Ender’s Game, Matterhorn, Armor or One Bullet Away I’m going to be very, very frightened)
BTW…. loving your velomihottie: “Like, for example, if you drop me climbing” LOL.
Nothing like a VH that can bust your balls on and off the bike.
Chapeau, Steampunk. It bears repeating: an excellent review.
Fine article, Steampunk! Thanks for writing it.
I read about Michael Barry last year, how he is from Toronto and his father owns a shop. That was cool to me, but now I’ve learned even more.
That is awesome that they tend to ride cobbled together bikes on training rides. Hmm, maybe all of us need to calm our rule abiding and just ride more? Then again, as we aren’t pros we ride less and have more time to analyze the minutiae of our steeds.
I came across the word metier (likely on this site) a few months back. I’m nearing the end of my graduate studies and have been cycling too much and not finishing up. I wrote “faire le metier” on a postcard and taped it to my computer; I look at it every morning when I get up to work and it helps me put my nose down and get busy.
Alright, break is over, back to work!
Thanks for the fine article!
@Joshua
Thanks!
One of things I inadvertently left out was the idea of le métier as work. Barry’s text is full of description of how his body “feels” at different points in races and during the season. It’s through work that he has developed an acute sense of his body: legs, lungs, heart, etc. (there’s a Stanford historian who’s written a bit about work and nature””trying to remember his name…). Anyway, Barry’s descriptions are quite vivid, which is only to be expected of someone who spends so much time on the bike. At the same time, among the photographs is a series of charts documenting heart rhythms, rpms, power, etc.: also to be expected from the scientific and technological apparatus available to professional teams. Two things: first, it’s clear that this is part of le métier; Barry likely doesn’t need these to tell him how his body functions, but the team requires them to get the best out of “their” athlete. Second, this relationship is a necessary part of le métier, which Barry acknowledges, but there’s an unspoken suggestion that it’s a part of the work that contributes to cycling losing its magic. I’ll need to think about this further, but maybe something to work up into a thought-dream of sorts. After a discussion on these pages some weeks ago, I took my computer of my bike. I was only measuring cadence and speed (and that more in a playful and juvenile kind of way); I was also well aware of the fact that I could pretty much tell where my cadence was at and, more to the point, whether it was smooth and comfortable or not without the computer telling me. But I suspect there’s more to be said about work, feel, and suffering in cycling…
Does anybody know where I can buy Le Métier online that will let me pay with PayPal?
@Cyclops
Comp Cyclist?
Just finished the “Winter” section. excellent read for sure. as some of you may know I I recently got my copy from Mike Barry sr himself and I was surprised to see it was signed. thanks for the recommend from all.
@All @RouleurMagazine @VelominatiHallOfFame
For those of you who do not have a subscription to, or go out and buy monthly the Rouleur journal I suggest that you definitely do this month. I do not work for them so this is not a shameless plug. The journal as been mentioned many times before on this site and should be inducted into the Velominati Tomes. As every edition is a masterpiece why is it that this one is so worthy of extra attention well there are two articles ( i have not even finished reading it yet ) that personify everything Velominatus.
The primary reason is the article about Ray Eden who in my humble opinion should definitely be inducted into the Velominati Hall of Fame as soon as possible all be it sadly, posthumously. If ever there was an example of what we all aspire to be, and of a person as close to what we are ( he was 14 stone, smoked, drank and ate curries and was still able to destroy everyone around him ) and what he finally achieved ( happiness and love with his VMH and kids ) whilst still managing to be awesome on the road then he is it.
The second is a great article only a couple of pages long but defining perfectly the domestique’s life in the peleton by Paul Fournel. As I read it I was very easily able to imagine the whole day as described except in my mind it was of course me doing the actions. I have to say of course that I did not stay in the middle of the pack in my mind and instead launched an attack after 15km only to win the race by 8 minutes.
It is a fantastic journal, Mavic are featured and the entire company ethos right down to the varying manufacturing processes are turned inside and out and as well as many other fascinating articles. I have great pleasure reading it to and from work for the few days it takes to consume it and I always feel re-invigorated afterwards with the drive to do an extra 30km on the weekend.
For those interested you can get from the website or some LBS/Newsagents.
Ray taking his final journey with his local peloton
@huffalotpuffalot
Speaking of Legends, I just wanted to post this interview with Jens…brilliant.
This book is definitely worth revisiting in lieu of this week’s revelations. The book is very dark””le métier can be very demanding. And put in the context of Barry’s own shame and disappointment, so much of the book holds up especially poignantly…
@Steampunk
Without a doubt. I thought of his book today as well. Due for another read through as the season is ending here.
You guys made me remember that I had to renew my occasional search for this book. I found that it will be published in Paperback on Nov 8. Not as much production value as the original, especially not signed, but it’s nice to see that a book as important to read as you all say will be more widely available.
Amazon link here.
As if I needed proof that this site is cycling on the websternets, I compounded that proof yesterday.
After reading steampunks comments about a cycling cafe in Ontario
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Domestique-Caf%C3%A9-Cyclo-Sportif/219890280859
and because I am thinking of starting a similar business in UK, I thought I would drop the owner, Krys, a mail asking a few questions. A few hours later Krys is on the phone with me, giving me (a complete uninitiated stranger) the benefit of his extensive business wisdom!
All because of Velominati… long live the V. and thank you steampunk and Krys.
@meursault
Awesome, mate! If you can beg, borrow, or stowaway yourself to Dundas next month, the next event in our bike series will be on coffee & bikes. In addition to Krys from Domestique, Thomas from Musette Caffe in Vancouver will be here, and Andrew from Jet Fuel Coffee in Toronto. If you can make your way here, I’m sure we can put you up for a couple of days (and get a good ride or two out of it). Send me an e-mail””velonista(at)gmail(dot)com””for more info.
Further evidence of why I admire Michael Barry. From today’s NY Times.
@Steampunk Just read that myself, a well written piece, that truly touches on some core issues. I enjoy his writing style, and I’m glad he got into the NY Times.
What the fuck’s up with Michael Barry? Maybe trying to drum up some interest/controversy to sell his latest book? I used to like him but really not so much now.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hoste-denies-selling-2006-tour-of-flanders-to-boonen#
@Buck Rogers
He’s used a similar tactic to get himself in the press in the UK, tying Sky to Tramadol, which made some proper Sports section headlines. From reading the article you linked to, the worst part as far as I can see is that he has no actual knowledge or evidence of a financial agreement, just an interpretation of events presented as fact. Not that I’m sure this hasn’t happened in recent races…
Basically, one more guy who cheated to make money from cycling, who then smears the sport and other riders to make more money after retiring/being caught. Far from classy, even if I’ve enjoyed other things of his. (And I stand by the notion that his cheating for a career, cheated others out of their careers.)
@Buck Rogers
So here’s an ex-pro who denied everything until he was offered the choice of fessing up or ending up sharing the soap in the communal showers with a few less than savoury characters, and he’s now making money out of writing books that accuse his former colleagues of “shady tactics and backroom deals”. Wanker.
@andrew Good points. Not only that, he jumped on the “Let’s throw Floyd under the bus” train when Floyd FINALLY came clean. Poor showing, pretty classless stuff.
@Mike_P @Buck Rogers Yep and yep. And has the brass neck to claim he was actively anti-doping after 2006, when in point of fact he simply continued lying, like so many others who were paying lip-service. Hope he enjoys googling himself this week.
@andrew
Is googling yourself a bit like “go fuck yourself”?
And the BIGGEST, HUGEST travesty of all of this is he still gets to sleep with Dede Demet every single fuckin night!!! Truly there is no justice in this world!!!
@Buck Rogers
Get thee to the cold bath right now!
@Buck Rogers
Look up Liz Hatch or the Assos Girl… you’ll get over it!
Actually, using Michael Barry’s logic as displayed in the book excerpt, I’m calling it: As the scenario unfolded, Dede and Michael spoke for much more than a few moments. It was apparent that she was also doping, with other riders left out, their legs strong enough to win but their blood values hampered by the lack of access to US Postal-levels of pharmacology. She won races, but doping determined the outcome as it does in far too many races, merely adding to the corruption of the sport.