I have a friend who is borderline OCD. He’ll sometimes wash his hands dozens of times a day, doesn’t like sticky stuff, cats drive him to antihistamine hell and there is a place for everything, with everything in its place. This can be annoying, not only for those around him, but especially for himself. It’s not a great place to be.
The upside is his bikes are always meticulously maintained, fully Rule compliant, or they are in a state of tear-down having last week’s grease freshened up and each ball bearing individually polished. He’s gotten it under control quite admirably these days, and while a chip in the duco of his beautiful steel frame will still understandably piss him off, there’s not the slightest hint of sending it back to Italy to be re-sprayed by the 78 year old artisan who originally painted it, who inconveniently happened to retire in 1984. But you can rest assured the touch-up job he’ll do himself is of paintshop standard.
But I’ve never seen him muck around with his seatpost height. Not once it’s set, anyway.
This poses the question: did The Prophet have OCD? To this observer it seems so, if numerous viewings of Le Course En Tete and A Sunday in Hell are any reliable indicator. The guy was constantly fiddling with his seatpost height. His mechanic must’ve been ready to throw his hands in the air proclaiming “Merde, Eddy! I’ve measured it three times already! Why do you not trust me?”
It seemed to matter little to Eddy that poor Charly had adhered to the numbers scribbled on the lid of his toolbox, taken the slide rule and spirit level to every possible surface and angle, and used his impeccable line of sight to position the saddle just right, exactly where it was requested to be. “How’s that Eddy?” “Is perfect.” “Then why are you borrowing a spanner from RDV’s team car? Hmmm?”
If he wasn’t adjusting his saddle, he was adjusting his stem. If he wasn’t adjusting his stem, he was squirting water from his bidon onto his brakes. If he wasn’t doing that, he was simply laying down the law. The law of The Prophet.
Obsessive? Yes. Compulsive? For sure. Did it affect his ability to waste all comers? Not likely.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/brettok@velominati.com/merckx terryn/”/]
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I raised my saddle in the process of dropping the bars a year or so ago. 2-3mm at a time, riding it for a week, until I noticed a twinge in the IT band, then dropped it back to the previous setting and marked it. Haven't touched it since. I have a buddy who loves to mess with his saddle, while for some reason ignoring all the squeaks, creaks and shrieks that emanate from his drivetrain. Can be a bit annoying, until I realize how PoS-compliant my well-tuned Campy gruppo runs. Then I just smile.
re; Eddy: Back when I was teaching SCUBA (not a profession for the faint of heart BTW), watching who was fiddling with gear pre-dive was a good forward indicator of who was going to give me problems during the dive. I'd say Eddy's tinkering was as much coping strategy as gamesmanship, or placebo.
Exit question: Who on the Keeper's Tour is going to have the balls to ask The Prophet, given the chance?
@motor city
I have that on mine too, but I am also shortsighted/blind without my glasses on, so can't read the numbers on it (hence the tape!!)
@The Oracle
Ha! Thankfully it doesn't get cold enough to need one of those here...
@tomb
I hear ya, brother. Been dealing with a neck/shoulder/arm issue which has kept me off the bike since September. Chiropractor, PT, dry needling, not much progress. My GP authorized an MRI last week, and it turns out I have a bulging cervical disc pressing on nerve roots. Seems to be the worst when in a riding position, even on the tops, so eager to see the Neurospine guy Wed to see what progress I can make. Coupled with the osteoarthritis that flared up in my knee in November I've replaced good workout and nutrition habits with eating crap so am up about 9 kilos since October. Time to get my act together..... And hope I won't have permanent limitations to my riding.
The problem is one of driver awareness, not chromosomal. As many, if not more, of the Cyclist-Driver incidents happen with men behind the wheel.
As cyclists, we have a responsibility to try to educate drivers on what is dangerous. I've even had a chat with drivers at lights along the lines of "I realize you didn't know it, but what you did back there put me in great danger, that could have ended badly for both of us." Some of them don't respond, but its more likely to be effective than getting into a screaming match and reinforcing their notion that Cyclists are assholes and should be driven off the road.
More on Urban Riding (which is the bulk of my riding here in Seattle.)
@frank
Very nice. My choices; black tape on a black carbon post, black Sharpie dot on a silver ti or alloy post
@sgt
I'll do it.
@Brett
As a Dutchman with Flemish Aspirations when it comes to beer, cobbles, and bergs, I will happily reignite the decades old battle between Merckx's Flemish/Wallonian loyalties. In a Sunday in Hell, he is speaking Flemish to his mechanic (Julian DeVriese).
In any case, despite Merckx's lingual preference, I believe he generally spoke to Julian in Flemish, and they Flemish just use the English version of Merde, so he would have just said, "Shit, Eddy!"
@frank
in those days it probably was, 'godverdomme!' or 'miljaar!'
as @oli said in the first 3 posts: after that crash in 1969, he was never comfortable on a bike. just pain, which he claimed made him a stronger rider... I can only agree if you see his palmares
@Gianni
it s easy actually, Flemish in the North of Belgium (Vlaanderen), French in the South (Wallonie), mainly French in Brussel and German in some villages in the East of Belgium.
I hadn't realised that Eddy was actually gonna be there and give you guys the tour personally! Remember to take a gift jersey for him and get a nice photo, K?
76.5cm, top of saddle to crank centre using a flite which I have on all my bikes.