Categories: Defining MomentsExportLa Vie Velominatus

Youth

René Privat wears yellow as Master Jacques reads a newspaper and tries not to notice.

I’ve never been afraid of imitating my heroes, they always seemed like the best examples available and as a student of life (as every child is) it seemed normal to me to copy every aspect of their lives that I had visibility into. I copied my dad’s handwriting as I was learning to write just as I copied Greg LeMond’s position on the bike as I was learning how to get serious about Cycling. None of my friends recognized my dad’s handwriting; they all thought my handwriting looked different from everyone else so they figured I had “cool” handwriting. All of my friends who rode bikes recognized Greg Lemond’s riding style; they all figured I was a copycat.

It was an early lesson; neither the complement nor the criticism meant terribly much to me; I was busy learning and that was good enough for me. I have to say, though, that as I’ve grown older, I’ve become more fond of my younger self, that version of me who didn’t feel the influence of what others believed so much. As we age, we “know” more and we “believe” less. Preserving the ability to believe is what keeps us young; for that reason alone, I refuse to grow up and insist on believing in everything I find beautiful, however irrational it might be.

Which brings me to Cycling; Cycling is the perfect way to stay in touch with the more delicate aspects of what we love in our lives. Riding in the first place is already enough; breathing the air and indulging in the tension of strength in our muscles and body as we ride brings an awareness that most people don’t have the opportunity to experience. As we develop in the sport, we start to test the limits of our bodies and equipment; testing is the way we experience growth and the development of our skill.

Every time we climb aboard a bicycle, we are testing our limits the same as we did as children; to be a Cyclist is to be young again. Vive la Vie Velominatus.

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

gomeztoo says:

Feb 15 2017 at 10:47 pm

@ChrisO

@Cameron W

The canister is a CO2 inflator. I think they were first used before WWII, and you can see Bartali carrying one behind his seat tube in photos from the 40s.
Buck Rogers says:

Feb 15 2017 at 11:13 pm

@ChrisO

Any idea what the thing on the bottom of the down tube on the blue bike might be? A sort of canister. Maybe for tools or something but it seems an odd place to put it.

Probably that is the canister where they kept La Bamba back in the day. They did not have to be so discrete in those days, ya know.
Teocalli says:

Feb 16 2017 at 1:23 am

@Buck Rogers

@ChrisO

Any idea what the thing on the bottom of the down tube on the blue bike might be? A sort of canister. Maybe for tools or something but it seems an odd place to put it.

Probably that is the canister where they kept La Bamba back in the day. They did not have to be so discrete in those days, ya know.

The boring bit is that it might be a CO2 canister as they did use them way back and given that they have their own spare tubs under the saddle they were obviously not depending on the team car.
RobSandy says:

Feb 16 2017 at 2:25 am

@ChrisO

@RobSandy

@Teocalli

The purple bike’s seattube looks more angled back – but the saddle looks like it’s pointing up so perhaps the front wheel is slightly raised on something.

The top tubes seem to be running parallel but I think it’s just the angle and that the bike behind is further forward.

Any idea what the thing on the bottom of the down tube on the blue bike might be? A sort of canister. Maybe for tools or something but it seems an odd place to put it.

It's the motor.
RobSandy says:

Feb 16 2017 at 2:26 am

@Cary

@Buck Rogers

@Randy C

Then I think to myself, thank goodness we’ve evolved and have moved beyond the black shoes white sox thing exhibited here…

Cheer all

Ha! Now don’t start that again (b/c we all know that it does not get any more classy than pure white socks with pure black shoes!)

agreed!

You got the same shoes as me. Except mine are white, obviously.
RobSandy says:

Feb 16 2017 at 2:30 am

@Mikael Liddy

@RobSandy

@Teocalli

The purple bike’s seattube looks more angled back – but the saddle looks like it’s pointing up so perhaps the front wheel is slightly raised on something.

I want a new bike. Racy, carbon, Ultegra (but not Di2), not too pricey. What should I look at? More concerned with stiffness, aerodynamics and position than weight.

Looks fucking sexy too

You're right, it looks an awesome bike. But about double my hypothetical budget.

Any thoughts on the more budget end aero road bikes? I've seen bikes by Sensa and Boardman that both look awesome, full aero carbon frame and mostly Ultegra kit, for roundabout £2k. Granted, you'd probably want to replace the wheels pretty sharpish.
Randy C says:

Feb 16 2017 at 4:54 am

@RobSandy

1500GBP for a Speshy Allez sprint with 105. Seems like a reasonably priced bike yet I betcha would be a lot of fun to ride fast and put the hammer down in some crits. Especially after you upgraded the wheels yes. Doesn't look like Speshy is offering up the Allez sprint frame sets alone in the UK. They have some cool color ways available in US that would be fun to build up.
Teocalli says:

Feb 16 2017 at 6:54 am

@RobSandy

These folk are not far from you. http://www.pilothousecycles.co.uk/new-page/

I fancy coming over sometime and talking a look at Paulus Quiros based in the same building as I hone down my options for a custom build.
Teocalli says:

Feb 16 2017 at 7:00 am

Ha Ha - I think my posts re the cylinder on the frame are being filtered out by a spam filter on the site so (assuming this posts) search on Pennine CO2 Pump on ClassicLightweights. Can't think why that is being filtered out!
Steve T says:

Feb 16 2017 at 2:08 pm

As an Arsenal-mad lad, my favourite player was Liam Brady. I had the yellow away kit circa 1979, and whenever I played it had to be all left-footed like him, even though I was naturally right-footed. He just looked cooler than anyone else, and I still think lefties look more stylish than right-footed players. If I was a kid today, I'd have to be Mesut Ozil. Style is everything.

Great picture, by the way.