@steampunk dropped this beauty of a photo on us. Volumes being spoken here, none of which makes being a pro look so great. Thanks Steamy.
VLVV, Gianni
I’ve waxed lyrical on the darker side of le métier on these pages in the past””on the physical and psychological demands that pro riders endure. But this photograph requires even more of the cycling fan. Tan lines? Check. Eye wear? Well placed. These are pro, right?
But this kind of voyeurism almost inspires an awkward kind of guilt. Witness: the still-open door; the suitcase stand still leaning against the wall””suitcase dumped on the floor beside it; shoes (as beaten and worn down as the rider) askew in the general vicinity of the shoe mat. How do we process these? Dingy hotel. Emaciated rider. Sun-burned face. Chapped lips. Hunched shoulders. Heavy head. Distant eyes. Broken. Total, utter, complete fatigue. And tomorrow they expect panache. Again.
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don't know if this has been posted,but this takes a big step in the right direction
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/sports/cycling/lance-armstrong-said-to-weigh-admission-of-doping.html
@Steampunk Great photo! For all the V, and my fellow Canadian V, I am a shattered fan and still impressed with Barry all at once. He really is a great cycling wordsmith and from the inside of the big show. The biggest show in fact, on a number of occasions. I hurt because I love the sport at all levels. I love the way Barry slogged for years for better masters. Pantani, DeKaiser, Mr 60%, Roberto Heras, Dave Z, the fucking list goes on. I can get excited watching any of these guys do magic, but yet I always hurt a bit inside like the kid on the steps, "say it ain't so Mikey."
@Buck Rogers
Not to worry- just sour grapes!
@Dan_R
i know that makes all the worse for me,i stopped watching/caring about racing in 2002,after spending most of adult life on a bike,but after lance won that tour,i believed he was cheating or i believed frankie and besty.my last year of competive cycling 1990, i raced against lance once,here in vancouver ,the gastown gp.and guys (other american pros) were talking about him telling, them he'd done steroids,truthfuly i didn't believe them,but that was the first time i ever heard anybody ever mention drugs,for performance enhancing purposes, i mean olympic's etc i knew about it,after ben jonhson in 1988 every canadian did,and i suppose being in canada(we didn't much history with cycling),i believed that they merckx,hinault,kelly,bauer,lemond.roche etc all did clean. cycling was so pure,i mean you watched every calorie you,you trained in the pissing rain,it was,you know,to see how good you could be.so much suffering,for fleeting glimspes of glory and i don't just mean winning,finishing spring races in sleeting snow/rain,glasses fogged up ,can't see,sucking the wheel in front of you. damn i miss those days
sorry to go on and on. cycling is a privilege not a right. also its not just lance,the festina affair,op. purto etc i had just had enough,but this year i had to watch ryder in the giro,and it all came back( the love),i even bought a new bike,then the lance stuff started,and there seems to be a real effort to race clean. i just hope it suceeds,again sorry for the rant
wow,i guess i had some shit to get off my chest,sorry guys. i guess i should concentrate on rule#5 abit and HTFU.
also dan pretty sweet wheels you built frank,are you going to get similar in a clincher?
@brian
IMHO, your post is exactly what makes this site what it is. The V isn't about being an emotionless robot. If you love much, you're gonna hurt much. Cycling is all about passion, and that doesn't require an apology.
Great picture! Always amazes me just how scrawny some of these guys are and they still manage to grind it out for weeks on end... respect!
Looks like what he really needs, is one of Belgiums best brews too finish off what looked to be a good day in the saddle! Great picture !
@razmaspaz
Indeed. I often find myself in the same meditative state after having endured a self served purgatorium - the bittersweet mix of exhaustion and satisfaction.