La Vie Velominatus: The Choice

Koblet in all his Cyclist Majesty

The only people I would care to be with now are artists and people who have suffered: those who know what beauty is, and those who know what sorrow is: nobody else interests me.
– Oscar Wilde

I have a theory that every living being is designed to cope with a certain level of stress in their lives, that if our lives are somehow free of stress, we will invent new ways to meet our mind’s infinite capacity to worry about things it can’t control; I call this phenomenon the Suck Equilibrium.

The ability to cope with stress is what makes a person great; in Einstein’s case it was the stress caused by a desire to discover the Unified Theory, in other cases it might be to balance the checkbook. The driver isn’t important; that it pushes us to do more in life is what matters.

The Suck Equilibrium dictates that we adapt to the amount of stress we carry; no one is free of this burden – the hungry seek a meal, the homeless a home, the bike-less a bike, and the millionaire more millions. There is no cure, there is no remedy; no matter the level we reach, our natural inclination is to seek more from ourselves. In the end, there is only Rule #5.

The Cyclist is a unique character among the others. While the artist suffers because they must; the Cyclist suffers because they choose. To me, the greatest artist is that who choses to suffer, and who discovers the beauty in that choice. I am proud to call myself a Cyclist.

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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brett says:

Oct 1 2013 at 1:58 am

This. Nice one Franky boy.
Deakus says:

Oct 1 2013 at 2:06 am

@ErikdR

@Frank

"While artists suffer because they must;...". How so? Even if this were true (although I've always considered it a bit of a clichÃ©*), this does not seem to be what the Oscar Wilde quote is about, in my opinion. Wilde differentiates between two categories of people, viz. A) Those who appreciate beauty, i.e. artists; and B) Those who know or have known sorrow, i.e. 'sufferers', or the bereaved...

One could argue, of course, that Wilde didn't account for an utterly deranged breed of people who both suffer (and embrace suffering) Ã¡nd appreciate beauty (e.g. in bicycles), but that would have been another story.My apologies. Pedantic rant over for now - 20 hill repeats this afternoon.

* The classic 'suffering artist' would be van Gogh, of course: he suffered (mostly rejection) throughout his life. But Picasso had a ball, by all accounts; Rembrandt was wealthy and comfortable most of the time, and Damien Hirst is still laughing all the way to the bank every single day, to the best of my knowledge.

Surely Banksy get a bit cold on some of those dark nights...(cue semi colon close brackets!)
Deakus says:

Oct 1 2013 at 2:06 am

@Frank Beautifully written...
ErikdR says:

Oct 1 2013 at 2:23 am

@Deakus

Surely Banksy get a bit cold on some of those dark nights...(cue semi colon close brackets!)

Yes, I suppose - but doth that a 'sufferer' make? (Well, it might, I guess - judging from the goings-on at the World Championships... Imagine returned smiley.winky emoticon here...)
the Engine says:

Oct 1 2013 at 2:27 am

This from the Master - "Freddie experienced the sort of abysmal soul-sadness which afflicts one of Tolstoy's Russian peasants when, after putting in a heavy day's work strangling his father, beating his wife, and dropping the baby into the city's reservoir, he turns to the cupboards, only to find the vodka bottle empty."
meursault says:

Oct 1 2013 at 2:45 am

@ErikdR

@Frank

"While artists suffer because they must;...". How so? Even if this were true (although I've always considered it a bit of a clichÃ©*), this does not seem to be what the Oscar Wilde quote is about, in my opinion. Wilde differentiates between two categories of people, viz. A) Those who appreciate beauty, i.e. artists; and B) Those who know or have known sorrow, i.e. 'sufferers', or the bereaved...

One could argue, of course, that Wilde didn't account for an utterly deranged breed of people who both suffer (and embrace suffering) Ã¡nd appreciate beauty (e.g. in bicycles), but that would have been another story.My apologies. Pedantic rant over for now - 20 hill repeats this afternoon.

* The classic 'suffering artist' would be van Gogh, of course: he suffered (mostly rejection) throughout his life. But Picasso had a ball, by all accounts; Rembrandt was wealthy and comfortable most of the time, and Damien Hirst is still laughing all the way to the bank every single day, to the best of my knowledge.

How so? Because artists reflect on the human condition. Buddhists believe that life is suffering. Don't get me wrong though, it isn't all doom and gloom, it's the suffering that provides the contrast for us to see the joy too.
JohnB says:

Oct 1 2013 at 3:18 am

Thanks Frank, eloquently put as ever.

The bike is how I'm sure we all deal with stress. Mind you, last night my new front light blinking red for the last hour of a night time blast was another little bit of stress I didn't need. I now know how long it'll keep going on full power on the last dregs of the battery. Impressive. Being plunged into blackness would have unbalanced my Suck Equilibrium somewhat.
Mike_P says:

Oct 1 2013 at 3:22 am

Beautifully thought through and written, Frank. My life is full of stress and occasional suffering, as is everyone's. One of the many reasons I'm so passionate about riding is because it's one of the few areas of suffering I can control. It's up to me how hard, how far, how deep. It's an affirmation that I'm alive.
ErikdR says:

Oct 1 2013 at 3:42 am

@meursault

How so? Because artists reflect on the human condition. Buddhists believe that life is suffering. Don't get me wrong though, it isn't all doom and gloom, it's the suffering that provides the contrast for us to see the joy too.

Yes, but not all artists are Buddhists, surely? For the record: I'm not in any way contesting the validity of the post. I just think that the meaning of the Oscar Wilde quote was twisted almost beyond recognition to illustrate the point - and unnecessarily, at that. In this particular quote, Oscar Wilde does not in any way associate artists with suffering - only with being able to appreciate beauty, is all I was trying to say (ineptly, perhaps)
velodeluded says:

Oct 1 2013 at 4:15 am

Chapeau Frank! As a time restricted cyclist I find myself fantasising about which routes/hills I am going to attempt to crush at the weekend, always striving to ride further, harder, and of course, faster! Nothing else in my life comes close to driving me onwards like the prosepct of generous applications of V combined with the odd surprise (but strangely welcome) visit from the man with the hammer.