Categories: La Vie Velominatus

La Vie Velominatus, Part IV: The Great Escape

The Col du Tourmalet

One of the most magnificent things about Cycling is that not only does it represent different things to different people, it represents different things on different days. Some days, it’s training – a means to an end. Other days, it’s the culmination of a body of work; rather than a means to an end, it represents that end itself, whether that end is exhilarating or devastating. But these two facets represent Cycling only as Sport, the complex simplicity of the balance between dedication and results.

Cycling stands apart, however, in its many dimensions beyond Sport. For me, Cycling is meditation, a time to clear my mind of ancillary concerns and contemplate on those that require my focus. It is thoughtlessness, a time to eliminate everything through the simplicity of pain. It is simultaneously medication and therapy; even a short ride can shake a heavy lethargy from my bones and rejuvenate aching muscles and joints. It is simultaneously tension and release; Cycling can fill my being with effort, an effort that overflows my legs and lungs and spills over to fill every fiber of my being, flushing from me all those things I wish not to keep.

Cycling is penance for my mistakes; a few hours at the mercy of the Man with the Hammer can help me understand the error of my ways. It is cleansing of other’s mistakes – here the Man with the Hammer helps pound out the ripples in the surface of Life they cause me.

I am by no means a great man and never will be. But I am a better man for my bike, and for that I am eternally grateful to it.

Vive la Vie Velominatus.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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  • @Frank - AMerckx to this article. It drives my wife mad that I can't put into words what I get out of riding, and why the tougher the ride, the more exhausted I am, the colder or wetter the ride, the bigger the smile I have across my face "What do you guys talk about when you are out?" "You don't talk? Why do you need to ride with them then?" "Explain again why you love pedalling?"... the closest I've ever got (at least she shut up about it for a bit) was that my life changed when I discovered cycling, and riding is a simple pleasure - even when it hurts - that is hard to put into words... I'll just show her this article

  • @DrC - GPM10, huh? what steed do you ride? I'm envious of that trip

    @Frank - loving the wallpapers... here's what I have on my work desktop (obviously, my mac at home one has a photo of the kids)... the backside of Ventoux. I love the texture of the wooden railings, the slightly surreal lighting... I had just averaged 174bpm for the 1 hour 48 minutes 39 seconds it had taken me to climb this beast, and I was feeling light headed, buzzing, and slightly sick (hunger pangs)... and love the fact that the weirdness of those feelings came through in the photo. It also is a permanent reminder that when we got to the top, we were in a cloud, and we couldn't see shit: exactly the same as when I climbed the Tourmalet and the Galibier... I seem doomed to never get a view (hence, I love your wallpapers)

  • @Dr C

    I had not heard of GMP10. Thanks, I've just bookmarked them. The trip you outline here, is it a bespoke tour that you have designed? I don't see their 2012 schedule posted.

  • @roadslave

    This, too, is an excellent image and most certainly captures a bit of the weirdness you were feeling at the moment you captured it. Seems we have some photographers posing as cyclists amongst us; or maybe it's the other way around?

    I wonder what other avocations of an advanced nature we have here in our community...

  • @drsoul
    they run scheduled rides all over Europe, so basically the rides they did in 2011 will be repeated in 2012 - depending on how well booked they are - we are doing a 10-12 rider trip - if we only get 7, as it looks like we have in our group, they open it up to individual bookers to make up the spaces

    apparently they are a very professional set up - they'll need to be when the 7 of us numpties turn up! (also will need at least 7 seats in the broom wagon I fear)

  • @roadslave
    spesh roubaix compact 2011 - hoping to get a roubaix pro U12 imported, but that is looking unlikely

    Ventoux will be on the 2013 menu....

  • @Dr C

    Good deal. I'll keep an eye on it. The summer is a busy time for me professionally, but taking a couple of weeks out for an extraordinary experience such as this seems more than worth the time off. Thanks again. I'll review their site further.

  • @Frank Wicked article and as always leaves me with a hell of a lot more questions than answers, but then that is what I like about the articles on here they are always creating thought, ideas and starting discussions rather than raming an answer down your throat.

    @All I often think of cycling as a personal time as after all even when I am cycling with groups of other riders I am always competing with myself. Its a daily battle with my inner self, driving myself to go out after I get home from work. Forcing myself to take the harder route rather than the easier route. Not allowing myself to give in to the myriad of opportunities to take the path of least resistance. I also find that this extends far outside my love of cycling and into the rest of my life also. In the relationship with my VMH, the way I carry out my job and the time and effort I put into the VeloBambino's.

    There is always and easier route in life in everything we do, but the satisfaction that comes from knowing you tried that little bit harder and didn't take that route is something that can be barely noticed by the world around you but is always noticed by yourself.

    I love cycling, I love my life and I love the route less travelled the cobbled V-way not the well worn highway.

  • Nice piece, Frank, and the discussion that follows.
    I concur with many of the comments, and would like to add some thoughts - sorry, this is a long post.

    I have been riding bikes for a long time, beyond riding around the neighbourhood with my buddies, for more than 25 years with varying degrees of seriousness. I am looking forward to reaching the 10,000 hour mark that it is said that it takes to learn to do something well. Recently I am riding with more seriousness and focus. But I do not ride to escape the rest of my life, or to help me sort it out or to think about and solve problems from work. I ride to ride. This focus on the moment itself, on the physicality of it, on the effort, on the weather, on the right line for the next corner, on deciding whether or not to add the extra 20km loop, on remembering to eat, on the right gear for the next pitch of the climb, etc. is what give me pleasure and helps me in the rest of my life. To be a better father, husband or colleague. It has been shown that focusing your conscious intensely on things that are away from your daily problems actually allows your subconscious to solve those problems. Then when you bring them back to the conscious you find that the solution is evident. Cycling does this for me. This focus is nowhere more evident than when riding the rollers, as I am forced to when the days shorten. I ride on the terrace in the pre-dawn darkness while my family sleeps. If I am thinking about work, I fall off.

    In recent years I have to some extent focused my riding on big rides (Quebrantahuesos, Maratona dles Dolomites, La Marmotte, all great events in beautiful places). This gives great motivation (why else would you ride the rollers?), but at the same time the focus on one event takes away from the overall enjoyment. You are in an incredible place for riding, but have to save your legs for tomorrow, get up ridiculously early, wait at the start, worry about getting run down by some turd who has never done a real descent in his life,.... So, this year I am focusing on something else, yet to be clearly defined. Either something like the Atlantic-Mediterranean route that Dr C mentioned or checking off as many of the climbs on this list as possible (List of highest paved roads in Europe - http://bit.ly/qeptfn), or looking for the highest dirt road passes I can find. The idea is to focus on the ride, not on the event.

    Along these lines, I often refer to these words from Jean Bobet's, Tomorrow we ride.

    "People ask me whether I actually enjoy cycling. This question surprises me, since the answer is so obvious. Yes, cycling is enjoyable, and one can even give enjoyment to others, at times, but all in all it's a rather banal question.

    The divine surprise comes when you discover that beyond enjoyment lies the thrill of la volupté. The voluptuous pleasure you get from cycling is something else. It does exist, because I have experienced it. Its magic lies in its unexpectedness, its value in its rarity. It is more than a sensation because one's emotions are involved as well as one's actions. At the risk of raising eyebrows, I would maintain that the delight of cycling is not to be found in the arena of competition. In racing the threat of failure or the excitement of success generates euphoria at best, which seems vulgar in comparison with la volupté.

    The voluptuous pleasure that cycling can give you is delicate, intimate and ephemeral. It arrives, it takes hold of you, sweeps you up and then leaves you again. It is for you alone. It is a combination of speed and ease, force and grace. It is pure happiness."

  • Damn, my cycling has been up & down lately, busy with other stuff & took on a short soccer coaching stint to help a team without a coach.

    I typically ride 6-7 days a week. I feel as if I haven't done a proper ride in weeks. Turns out it has only been a few days. Either way, like a lot of you, if my world doesn't revolve around my rides, I feel out of balance.

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