I’m often told I romanticize Cycling’s past, that the days gone by weren’t quite as rosy as I make them out to be. There is some truth to this, certainly, but the assertion isn’t entirely accurate in the sense that I romanticize everything about Cycling.
Because events are seasoned by our thoughts and individual experience, we necessarily cannot see them for what they truly were. The thoughts that pass through our mind when looking at an old or new photograph, a race, or when we go for a ride influences the way it is remembered and the significance it holds.
Our minds are very good at forgetting pain and remembering pleasure; it isn’t very long after an experience that negative associations begin to fade and positive ones to amplify. This psychological mechanism is the gateway to romanticization. Certainly, I remember that climbing Haleakala last January was a horrible experience, but I’ve managed to forget what that means precisely. On the other hand, the memory of accomplishing a task that turned out to be much harder than I had anticipated lingers strongly; I find myself drawn back to the mountain for the chance to experience once more the purity that touches us briefly when we persevere despite total exhaustion.
Romanticizing encourages us to study the past, to appreciate how things were, and provides the opportunity to learn from the mistakes others have made. It reminds us that things were not always as they are today and that those things we wish were different may be so tomorrow. It helps us forget that many long hours of suffering are balanced only by brief moments of exhilaration. It helps us to dream, to imagine what could be.
Do the great races of the past seem more glorious than they were? Perhaps. Does the sunlight’s glint off a chromed chainstay blind me to the weight of the bicycle and the extra burden it places on its rider? Certainly. Does the memory of reaching down to flick a downtube shifter eclipse the inconvenience of sitting down to shift, and removing a hand from the bars? Absolutely. But they also form the fabric of what keeps me returning to the bicycle.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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@sthilzy
Jens refers to himself as a cyborg in that article. As if not intimidating enough as a mere mortal. Mebbe a second career as movie action figure? That could be awesome.
@il ciclista medio
I was chatting with @gaswepass a couple nights back about just this sort of thing. Something that I have never really gotten over is the 'butterflies'. I realize that that is not really uncommon, but given the sheer number of races I've done, I'd think I'd be over it by now. What's interesting to me (looking inward) is if it's the local Thursday night TT or Tuesday night circuit race, I'm golden. Anything else and I'm a mess for about an hour. As I was telling @gas, I think that's why I don't really like crits (tho I do them and have had some decent results) and don't race 'cross (way too short).
Given that I'm at an age where I have no hope of ever being pro, I'd think that I'd be able to shake that nemesis. But, alas, here I am; weak minded.
This is an interesting topic. Since I am so new to the sport I dont have te experience to be nostalgic or to romanticize the past. But I definitely enjoy learning about it. And I look forward to feeling this in the future about now.
@sgt
I'm very surprised that my assertion that today's racing isn't the making of legends is the same as saying it wasn't good racing or that the wins weren't great. Its like the use of the word "epic" for going out to pedal around the lake.
To me, to call something the makings of a legend is a sacred thing - a lot of great things don't fit the categorization of legendary but are still amazing.
Great racing this year, but the "catch the break in the last five km - over and over and over and over" scenario is fun, its exciting, but its not legendary. That's all.
Also keep in mind that the racing in the 90's is still some of my favorite ever (even if they're not legendary) so my prediction that this era will be called the Era of the Radio isn't so much to be taken as a negative thing. Even if I preferred the radios were gone. (Of your examples, I think only MSR would have been the same without radios - I think the others were highly influenced by them.)
@frank
I'm focused on two things this year (and that focus won't actually change a fucking thing in either case).
1. Get money out of politics (and this is not the forum for that).
2. Get rid of race radio's. I really liked the days when all the guys off the front had for info behind them was a chalkboard with the split, and maybe an occasional visit from the director with 5-10 min old info about the race behind. Let the riders go on instinct. Sorta the same reason pro baseball players shouldn't have aluminum bats (I fucking loathe baseball by the way). Get rid of obvious advantages.
And in breaking news: Fucking Universal Sports is off the air. I'm going to nip off and kill myself now. Cycling (of course), rugby, skiing, occasional climbing. Shit!! (sorry for the language, just WTF??).
@scaler911
But you return to do the Crits even though you don't particularly like them. I wouldn't call that weak minded, rather, facing up to those uncomfortable thoughts, even with an hour of butterflies beforehand.
BTW, I won't be turning Pro anytime soon myself either unless they start a Pro cycling Masters circuit. Even then I'd be paying my own way.....
@scaler911
I'm not sure getting butterflies before a race is such a bad thing...keeps you honest. I think it was Jimmy Page who said that he still gets nervous any time he has to perform. So you're in good company.
@Rob
Now, THAT's a good use of the term epic!
@scaler911
Argh! Noticed that this weekend. No more watching the classics or Giro live on TV. No more watching badass Lindsey Vonn rip it up. Best channel on TV. Gone.
@Souleur
You're bringing up a great point here, that @Steampunk was alluding to. Cycling didn't have video cameras until the 50's. Before that, race reports were all just made-up based on second, third, fourth hand information. The races were writ into legend by journalists who waxed poetic about the rides to up readership, and for all we know, it was all made up. Except the stats that you point out. Amazing just on that fact alone. Incredible.
Now, with cameras, we still don't know it all, but we're getting closer. And cut the cord on the radios.
@frank, @Steampunk
Track down and read Dino Buzzati's Giro d'Italia. Out of print but I reckon you can find used copies on Amazon, especially if you don't try to buy it during the month of May. It's thick with romance about the sport and what the Coppi/Bartali duel meant to Italy right after WWII. Also a revealing picture of how print journalism formed the narrative in the days before video as each chapter is on of Buzzati's daily dispatches to the newspaper that sent him to cover the race as a veteran journalist. Great stuff.
When I watch a race with Gilbert in it, and know there are hills into the finish, I really anticipate the time when he will go with a group early or wait like a snake in the grass ready to strike. I think he is a tactical marvel. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him attack near the finish and seeing others try to grab his wheel and fail. His ability to go a bloc / sur la plaque on an uphill finish is like no one I remember seeing live. I am sure others have had it in the past- so maybe this is the a bit of the "this is the best/greatest _______ of all time" syndrome that society seems to shower on every achievement without recalling/studying or romanticizing history.
If Gilbert can keep near this pace up for the next few years, he will write himself deeply into history. For me his skills are much different than the sprinters such as Cavendish. Yes they both win it near the end, but for me what /how Gilbert does on the parcourses he does is exceptional- even if race radio plays a part in it.