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.
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I still ride bikes and play with legos. I haven't changed much since I was 12.
All the cyclists I know are big kids.
I've said it before but - You can't help getting old but you can stay immature for ever. My Teddy Bears also agree.
we don't stop cycling when we get old, we get old when we stop cycling.
I recently (December) started cycling again after 13 years without a bike in my life. I used to ride fat tyred downhill bikes and viewed road cycling as the domain of lunatics and drug abusers.
Having purchased my first road bike, I love it, the speed it accelerates is amazing, the feeling of taking corners far quicker that my 700x25 tyres should (in my mind) cope with and gunning it both up and down hills.
Getting back on the bike has given me a new enthusiasm (even in the depths of British winter) to get out there and blast around, even if its just the 5 mile sprint to work. I find myself making some very childish sounds as I ride down hills, swerve drain covers and overtake (stationary) cars.
Having recently purchased my first ever road bike, it's taken me back to being a teenager again, the tires are a lot skinnier than my downhill bike, but I love being on a bike again
I'm looking at that photo and first thing I notice is the purple bike. Okay. Then I see the guns. Wow ! Then I think to myself, thank goodness we've evolved and have moved beyond the black shoes white sox thing exhibited here…
Cheer all
oh… and if that pic were snapped today we can guess what they'd be looking at? Such a natural pose. Staring at the phones and txt'ing/snapchatting/instagramming…
Photo angles can be deceptive but those frame seem to have way different geometries.
@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.