Balance. It can be achieved by never deviating from the middle, or it can be achieved by violent swings to and fro. It is said, however, that the great peaks can’t be reached without crossing through deep valleys. Tragically, we were reminded today that our sport is one of great peaks and deep, deep valleys.
Cycling is a sport of risk and danger; the beauty and harmony of a speeding peloton masks the risks and dangers involved. Mountain descents see riders reach speeds of 80 or more kilometers per hour with little to protect them should something go wrong. Stars and watercarriers alike share in the risk; no one is immune.
You have to love this sport intensely to become a professional. The nature of road competition demands great sacrifice in every aspect of the athlete’s life; eat like birds, work like horses, and live like monks. Not only does a professional cyclist spend every waking moment focussed on their sport, but from January to October, they are away from their families as the race calendar carries them all over Europe and, increasingly, the world. This sacrifice is most often in the service of others, as the Stars are few and the Watercarriers many.
While only a few weeks ago we watched as one of these domestiques reached the pinacle of our sport by winning Paris-Roubaix, today we witnessed the tragic swing to the other end as Wouter Weylandt lost his life in the pursuit of his passion. We can be philosophical and say this man lived for his sport and died doing what he loved, but the fact of the matter is that his is a man who, at 26 years old, was in the prime of his life and that he died today is tragic beyond articulation.
As Velominati, we are disciples of cycling. Our lives revolve around cycling. At moments like these, it is unimaginable that life and sport will continue. It will, and we will again reach the peaks. But we breathe still, and our devotion cannot follow where others’ continue.
Today we walk through a valley and mourn as Velominati the tragic loss of a man who gave everything – everything – to his sport. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.
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@Steampunk
Nice post.
@Steampunk
Beautiful entry on your blog. Thank you for sharing.
I, too, am a father. I think about this everytime I ride. I've stopped myself from saying and doing pretty risky things because I have her in my life, and I don't want to leave right now. I want to stick around and see how things turn out for her. I want to help her find her path and see her journey.
The other side of the coin is, my daughter rides and jumps horses. It's just as dangerous, and exhilarating, as bike racing. Because of my cycling experiences, I've only had a slight sense of trepidation for her safety. But I know the worst can happen. I know something less than the worst is guaranteed to happen.
However, as a child, I think she's blissfully unaware. I love that quality in children. I wish I could get some of it back.
My point? I'm not sure. I do know that, when I see my daughter tonight, I'm going to give her a big 'ol squeezy breathtaking full of love hug and tell her that I love her. She'll tell me she loves me too. Then she'll wonder, "What's up with Dad?" And that's awesome.
I wish Weylandt's child could have enjoyed the same.
Same 15 years ago when I starded to ride my road bike I tried that amazing feeling on riding on the road...you could ride 60...80...100km and than later share this with your friends that most of the time couldn't believe you could ride 100km on a bike. This lasted some 2 or 3 years. One sunday a truck hit 2 guys on the road I used to ride. That was the last time I rode there...or I can say in any big road.
Yesterday after reading and trying to diggest all the feelings from what happenned to this guy, I was seating between my road and my mountain bike trying to remember all the moments "it could had happened the same to me"...the feeling was like "I love cycling so much! But if one day something close to what happened today happens to me...will this love be enough? Or will I repeat to myself forever how stupid I was?". And that is life...
@Steampunk
Thank you. Beautifully expressed and, but for a few details and the fact that it was beautifully expressed, I could have written it myself. A man cut down in his prime is always sad. That he and his child will never know each other immeasurably sad. Ia went for a beautiful ride this morning with a couple of good mates - lots of hills in the crispx morning air as the city slowly awoke around us. Beautiful. I counted my blessings.
@Steampunk
Very nice post, thanks for the link. As a dad, that's the angle that affects me most about all this.
Cyclingnews reports that Leopard Trek is leaving the Giro.
Its going to be hard to watch the rest of the Giro. I may not watch it till next week. Cant imagine getting excited about the racing after what has happened.
@RedRanger
Yeah, that's pretty much home I'm feeling. Hard to care about who is winning or losing after someone lost their life.
It just dawned on me that Belgium is probably feeling that extreme swing as well after JVS, PG, and now this. As the world's pre-eminent cylcing nation they must be rocked pretty hard.
@Marko
That occurred to me as I was writing the piece; the last thing I wanted to suggest is that Van Summeren or Phillipe (Van Summeren in particular given the contrast I was drawing of the fate of these two domestiques) were somehow responsible in set this tragic event up in a karmic sense. Not my meaning by any stretch, but Belgium most acutely represents and, I assume, feels the current swing between their great peak and this deep valley.
Terrible, terrible, terrible.
I think several people have done very well to articulate my feelings about this event, better so than I did in the article. Thanks to the community for helping me work through this and come to terms with it. I hope the community managed to do so for the rest of you as well.
As terrible as this was, I think his memory is better served by us going out and being more cautious rather than taking this as some kind of sign to stop riding. He made a mistake - Pros are just as susceptible as we are to momentary lapses - with unimaginable and tragic consequences. But it was a mistake, and mistakes can ultimately be avoided. We should all take this as a reminder of how dire the consequences can be and to be extra vigilant. Not just on today's ride, or tomorrow's, but on every ride.
Maintain your equipment, don't place unfounded trust in its reliability, and pay attention at all times. In a gloves-off, down and dirty fight between a cyclist and a traffic fixture or vehicle, we will lose every time.