The Book and the Cover
I rode with a rider I know from work a few weeks ago. The first time we sat in a meeting together, we immediately pegged one another as a Cyclist the way Cyclists always peg one another; nothing specific or obvious but everything nonspecific and nonobvious. It’s what we do, you can’t learn it and it can’t be explained. Then he mentioned he had driven to Seattle from SoCal with his dog and his bike and I was sure. This wasn’t a Harley he was talking about, this was a road bike.
As leaders of our respective teams, we immediately directed the agenda to measuring up one another’s bikes.
Me: “What bike do you ride?”
Him: “I brought my rain bike when I moved here. It’s a Pinarello Prince. My good bike is a Dogma. What do you ride?”
Me: “A Veloforma Strada iR. My rain bike is a Cervelo R3.”
Him: “What groupsets?”
It went on a bit before he turned to the everyone else and explained the situation in layman’s terms. “The conversation we’re having here is that we both have a Ferrari except the Ferrari got a little old and we bought a newer Ferrari. Except we didn’t get rid of the old Ferrari because you just don’t do that. Too many memories. So then you wind up with a Ferrari you ride in bad weather and one that you ride in good.”
When our schedules finally meshed to the point that we got together for a ride, he invited two of his colleagues along with him; one a long-time training partner and one a younger guy he’d never ridden with who showed up on a heavy no-name steel bike with a 90’s-era Shimano 105 8 speed groupsan. And platform pedals. And a t-shirt. And sneakers.
“Are you running or riding?”
We all had a chuckle and set off on a jaunty 80km spin, not too hard but not too easy. Sneakers held on the whole way. He got gapped a little on the bigger climbs but laid down the power to catch up again and sat in the group like a Pro; drafting close, taking the corners well, and rotating through into the wind. And always with a smile on his face.
As the ride wound down, the friend I’d sized up in the meeting sat up and pointed at me and said, “You rode like I expected you to ride.” Then he pointed at Sneakers and said, “And you rode so much harder than I ever expected. If you had a better bike, you’d be dropping us all. You’re an amazing athlete.” Everyone agreed.
I’ve been in touch with Sneakers, a new Pedalwan. He picked up some clipless pedals first, then a bit later he scored a new bike off CraigsList. He’s caught the bug, and catching the bug is what its all about.
Never judge a book by it’s cover. Behind every platform pedal riding, sneaker and t-shirt wearing bicyclist lurks a potential Velominatus.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
I got back into riding six months ago after 20 years off the bike. My first month or so, I was an out of shape middle aged guy with platform pedals on a ’91 Paramount with 7 speed 105 and a Telekom jersey bought in Getmany in July, 1996.
Then through the winter I was the same thing, only with clipless pedals and climbing a bit better. Now I’m a middle aged guy on an R3 who’s in decent shape and can ride up an HC and suffer, but without feeling as if he may die.
And it turns out that these days you don’t have to wait a month for your issue of Winning to arrive so you know who won the Giro. Life is good.
This is why we guide the uninitiated. Rule #3.
Always fear the kid in sneakers. He will eventually rip your legs off.
The Cipo photo is priceless. The gloves, just like Eddy.
@LawnCzar
Fuckin’ spot on, Bevin.
@frank
One of the things I love about this community is that people can make references to things like “waiting a month for your issue of Winning to arrive so you know who won the Giro” and “fuckin’ spot on, Bevin” and they just flow naturally, no explanation needed.
My District Manager is also in to cycling, and we have known each other over 15 years. One day at work, I told him about the article on here about the “Belgian compact”. I explained how Museeuw said one of the most awesomely macho things I have ever read, when he said that the problem with a regular compact crankset is that the big ring isn’t big enough for climbing. He laughed, and then commented that only about half of one percent of the world would have any idea of what I was talking about.
It’s good to be around other Velominati.
VLVV!
@LawnCzar
What memories! They seem to be similar to my own!
Back in 1986, I was starstruck by Lemond and Hinault. For a few years, I was definitely the kid with sneakers and platform pedals. By 1988, my parents had come to terms with my cycling obsession and gotten me a fairly good racing bike (complete w/ index shifting – a novelty at the time, quill pedals, etc). I stopped riding during college, but got back to it in 2010 when I was diagnosed w/ Type II Diabetes. It’s good to be back riding (now that I can afford good equipment on my own), doing longer rides, and taking advantage of 24/7 internet coverage of the sport.
I even got a mention in Richard Moore’s “Slaying The Badger” for a letter that I had sent to him! I’m a bit of a fanatic on the 86 Tour. Now we can all enjoy Tour fever w/o being at the mercy of non-European TV, and the postman delivering our copy of Winning (though, I really miss that magazine!)
Truth.
I recently did a 600k with a bunch of local guys. At the start line, there was this one guy that had a belly the size of a bowling ball and jowls to match. I refrained from asking him what the hell he was doing there – no way this guy is keeping up with us for 30-odd hours, I thought.
I wasn’t laughing when we were riding together toward the finish the next morning. I was dying, ready to fall asleep on the bike, and he was just merrily pedaling along, a powerhouse in a suit of blubber. God only knows what he would have been capable of minus the weight.
@LawnCzar
I remember those days. If I couldn’t wait for the magazine as a 16 year old I had two other strategies: bug the wrenches at the local bike shop to see if they knew anything or to sneak into the university library and see if they had recent Italian or French newspapers with results. The internet is awesome and steephill makes it almost too easy. Now if Hesjedal hadn’t needlessly lost time in the early stages.
@Kris Fernhout
Yeah, for me it was Winning (man, I miss that magazine, too), whatever ESPN and NBC deigned to give us, and then watching and re-watching my VHS dubs of those broadcasts. I remember absolutely losing my mind one afternoon when I suddenly found myself watching the ’92 Worlds — I had no idea it’d be on, I just happened to click by it. Luck, or the Hand of Merckx? You decide.
@Gabriel David
Yep, that sounds like about the same arc — I fell away from the bike after high school. Riding buddies went to different schools, new friends didn’t ride, college was in a pancake flat part of the state, etc. Then this fall my family went to watch a local cyclocross race and I thought, “Man, this is awesome. Why aren’t I riding my bike?” Took me a couple weeks to get my old bike ridable, but even that process had my giddy like a little kid. And it was a good excuse to watch some races and figure out who the hell all these new teams and riders are. (“There are TWO Lotto teams now? It’s a whole new world!”)
@frank
Thanks, man — and thanks for the site, it’s been a great to get re-acquainted with the sport by following along these last few months.
Like Gabriel David, I too was star struck by the big name racers in 1986. I had just turned 11. I’d recently moved to a new city, had left behind my BMX club racing and had not yet found one to join. On a winter’s day that year I caught some of the Tour highlights which at that time was aired on Wide World of Sports on Sundays here in Aus. I watched it every week and was hooked. I thought “that’s what I wanna do”. I bugged my parents for a road bike. The man at the LBS said “you’re too small, come back when you can stand over this”. I was not pleased. A year passed and I watched the Tour again. I begged to return to see if I had grown sufficiently. I wore three pairs of football socks and the shoes with the thickest soles I could find. I could only just get over the top tube and the bike was purchased. I did a few crits but soon gave up on it, in preference for other sports. Still, I road that bike to school every day (in the clips) and everywhere else I went, and maintained it perfectly. I kept it until I grew out of it and passed it on. I’ve had a road bike at all times since. In the mid 90s I got into mountain bike XC. I used to swap out the dirt tires for slicks every Monday morning and commute all week and swap them back on weekends. I mostly used platforms because it was my work commute, shopping, going to dinner and movies, and everywhere else bike. I just hated driving if I could possibly wangle a ride. In my early 30s I got lazy with the bike. Occasional weekend MTB trips and short rides to the shop were the extent of it. Then one day I went for a ride with some of my old road buddies and nearly died. I was riding my Fuji Tourer and vomited after the second climb, trying to keep up. Things had to change so I got myself a CAAD 10. I got bike fit, but it took much longer than I thought it would.
Nowadays I still ride the CAAD 10. Ninety percent of bike time is on a light steel frame single speed. I use reverse-able SPDs and sometimes I clip and sometimes I don’t. For rides of <50km the single speed is much more fun and I get a better workout. No choice but to go hard often to keep the cadence up because momentum is king when you’ve got one gear. I usually wear MTB shorts and a wool tshirt. I get a lot of advice from well meaning roadies after they see me out a few times or I ask if I can hang on their wheel for a bit in the wind. It’s cool when this happens and I’ve made some friends. I get a lot of sniggers too. I usually avoid those guys from then on. If they aren’t that fit I might keep an eye out for them and sneak up and gas past them when the opportunity arises. It’s childish, but I get laugh.
I’ve always had an uneasy relationship with rules, empty authority, and sheepish behaviour. Guidance is cool. Put offs are not cool. Anyone showing the slightest interest in cycling (of any form) should be encouraged in a way that is actually encouraging. The more people on bikes, the better, in my opinion.
My son is 26 months and has had a balance bike for a couple of months. The first thing he says in the morning is often “Bike!”. Same thing after his mid day nap and after his evening bath. He also comes and sits next to me whilst I’m at the computer and says “bike video”, wanting to see some cycling. No more encouragement needed than simply allowing him to ride. It’s early days, but I think we have another one…
Check out this picture of great grand father Stooge 100 years ago. The Stooges – breaking all the rules for a century:
@stooge
Your great G F was not a Rule breaker but the epitome of the rules!
@Gianni
I think your boy Ryder was that kid! Man when you picked him I thought no way top 10!!
This ^ explains Cipo in so many ways!
@Rob
Oh, he was a rule breaker alright. But, as for the cycling, he’d be contravening #7, #27, #33, and #50, at least. He did however have the spirit of a cyclist.
Here’s a retro thought:
Let’s petition NBCSN to do weekend TDF highlight shows (in addition to the real time coverage, or course) in the tradition of the old CBS broadcasts. Bring back the music, and the dramatic copy. Just a throwback for all of us who had nothing but CBS back in the day…
I’m quite happy with the coverage I can get via NBC and Universal, but the lack of Giro coverage irks me. They cover all of the ASO races, but the others are spotty.
@Gianni
That picture creeps me out. It looks like a photo of the “Damian” child from the movie and/or a photo from a propaganda film about Hitler Youth sports programs. Let’s have another article and a picture of a guy grinding up a gravel road in the Pyrenees or someplace.
Great piece, but I have a question: why has the background been crude blacked out? What was originally there? Was Cipo attracting a bevvy of beauties even in his callow youth?
I miss Winning too. In the UK we had Cycling Weekly which until the early 80s was printed entirely on giant sheets of toilet paper. There as also International Cycle Sport which was mostly B&W but still good. Copies of Miroir du Cyclisme were prized beyond belief . . . the fact that it was in French was irrelevant.
@Minnesota Expat
Did Cipo ever do that? As I remember it he always climbed off at the first sign of the mountains? It always spoiled his success somewhat for me that he never actually intended completing a GT beyond week 1. Did he ever do a complete one in his early career?
He finished the Giro several times, winning the Maglia Ciclamino (points jersey) three times. The first one was in his third year as a pro.
If Cipollini had been here…………
@Gabriel David Oh, man. Couldn’t disagree more on the sappy faux-dramatic stuff that American TV did back in the day. The exact opposite of the awesome Phil Liggett commentatary and European coverage. It always felt really insulting, like I’m too stupid to enjoy cycling for what it is, they have to attach swelling music and slow mo of sweat dripping off someone’s nose. Even when Pharmstrong was making his run the CBS Sunday recap was unwatchable, with Armen Kateyian’s cringe-inducing stabs at Homeric poetics. Just my opinion though. Long live Phil and Paul.
Long live Phil and Paul.
Oh-mer-ta!
@Minnesota Expat
That photo is creepy and I think he is too. I didn’t follow racing when he was racing. I only know of him what I see today. Creepy. I’m sure he’s great guy and one bad ass cyclist. But his persona is just plain creepy weird. But that’s what makes the world an interesting place! Weirdos. Cheers all
@ped
I can’t help but smile when looking at this picture. There’s a lot here that also what makes the world an interesting place yes!
@wilburrox
My VMW tells me there are a couple of bikes in that photo. Darned if I can spot them though.
@wilburrox
please don’t use the word creepy. it’s a word used by the worst kind of women. a man shouldn’t find things ‘creepy.’
@stooge
Rule #8 amended to “match the moustache to the handlebars”
Picked up my first road bike in 2003, an oversized, used Cannondale. I then rode my first race, a criterium in 2005. I was in sneakers with toe clips, I also dive bombed in corners. Goddamn. Now so much seems like second nature. I’m always happy to share with newcomers, as I was there not long ago.
Went to a criterium race in Winston-Salem, NC yesterday, with the VMH and the dogs. What other sport allows you to walk through the team van parking lots and the PRO women, who just finished, want to pet your dog? Can’t imagine that happening after an NBA or NFL game. The Cipollini team women loved the dogs. I told them they should be back home in Milan for the finish. They definitely didn’t understand my English.
@will
Hmmmm… that’s an interesting thought. Now if I google search creepy images there are some clown photos that I’m not sure what other word I’d use to describe. Makes me want to go back to the wonderful umbrella photo. That’s a joyous photo. Happy photo. The very opposite of creepy. But, the dude lying on the ground snapping photos from interesting angles? We’d call him a little…. Creative? Cheers!
@will
“The worst kind of women”…? I find the inference in that statement very creepy.
@Oli
Yes, it was an uncomfortable statement, wasn’t it.
@gilly
Nicely done. Plus One Badge to you.
@Oli
Exactly what I was thinking! You little shit.
@gilly
Pretty cool huh?
That’s an amendment I could get behind. It should at least be an option.
@ped
Cyclists just can’t help checking out other sets of guns…
@ped
Isn’t this “style” of photography more commonly referred to as “upskirting”?
@wiscot
Yes it is, and I really wish people stopped quoting the damn thing.
@frank
Have you upset someone at Cyclist? This opposite your column this month –
@frank
That’s KATG, cheers Frank!
@ped
That might be retribution for missing my deadline!!
https://vimeo.com/99164004
Just found this video from Tim Krabbé, writer of “The Runner” or De Renner. Watch video until around 5’20” when he says that he got back on his bike at the age of 60 because of his own book and started his 2nd cycling career. His book got many more people to get on a bike… and he had impressive guns too.
@Gabriel David
Winning was a masterpiece; the large format, the glossy cover…OH MAN. I remember running to the mailbox for a few weeks hoping the new issue would be out…and then BANG! There it was. The worst was that they’d usually go to press before the race was over, so you’d have a standing mid-race and not know how it ended.
It was more fun that way, from a certain perspective. Now I’m annoyed if the full GC results aren’t updated within a few minutes so I can update the VSP accurately.
Awesome story about the Badger; I’ll have to ask you for a page number so I can go look it up!
@stooge
I sincerely hope that when you do this, you sit upright on the tops and look about casually, maybe take one hand off the bars to feel around for something in your pocket or inspect a fictional abnormality on your top tube. Anything to make it look like you’re just blowing by that fast without the slightest of effort. Childish for sure, and so much fun.
Rules #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 should really make this clear, but if one misses the point, then hopefully they’ll catch on by the time they get to Rule #43.
Sounds like me, and I’m more than 26 months old!
@stooge
I think if your family dates back to Aus 100 years, then yes, definitely a rule breaker!
@Gabriel David
Universal Sports used to cover all of it, and I’d happily subscribe to their service online but fucking Comcast won’t allow it. Fucking cable companies, what bullshit.
@wiscot
I still don’t read the articles in Cycling mags. Honestly, I don’t even notice what language they’re in!
@Ron
The VVomen’s cycling scene is so much more underground still, it is very cool. Back for KT2012 I was stuck at the airport waiting for my bike in Amsterdam which didn’t arrive for several more days. The Tibco racing team was waiting for their, too, and they were so approachable and friendly, all of them.
To be fair, I did have a long chat with Tyler Farrar back him in Seattle while doing the same and he was approachable and friendly as well, but…
Interesting reading this article AFTER reading Weight Weenines Article. Sneakers and shorts granted… but there is nothing wrong with riding a steel frame with 8 speed 105. Getting a “better bike” isn’t going to make him faster now is it @Frank.