Evelyn Stevens was working on Wall Street four years ago and is now the best American women cyclist. How is that possible? Her parents must be enjoying dinner with pulses of 40 bpm and sky high VO2 maxes. Are they both professional marathon runners? Is that how they met? Maybe they have never attempted aerobic sports. If Evelyn has siblings and they are not professional athletes, I hope they are taking advantage of their superior aerobic thresholds, somehow, like hustling people at the city public lake. It’s easy money.
Hey youth, fifty bucks says I can swim across the lake faster than you, with this cigarette in my mouth.
No way tubby, you are on.
It’s a source of frustration for me as I bump my head against the low ceiling of my genetic limitations. “You can be whatever you want to be!” That is such nonsense. Every professional rider is a genetic freak, they certainly aren’t physiologically normal. It’s not all hard work and desire. It may be all hard work, desire and a better than average cardiovascular system. Training, weight loss, diet will bring one up to one’s own maximum fitness but we are all bracketed by how we chose our parents. Having the perfect amount of dumb may be my only professional qualification. I don’t want to be a pro, I just want to casually crush my friends and I can’t.
Greg LeMond did a fantastic job choosing his parents. As a junior he was beating the best seniors in the country. As a twenty-two year old he was winning the World Championship. LeMond took his natural talent and went out there, got his ass handed to him and kicked some ass too. I admire his jumping into the deep end when Sean Kelly and Bernard Hinault were already in the pool, waiting for him. I like Andy Schleck less because I sense he is relying more on his natural talent than hard work.
The guys I really admire are the ones who are dealt a less generous genetic hand and still make it into the professional ranks and get a little glory. Ludo Dierckxens is my kind of rider. He was working full time painting trucks at the DAF factory yet training after work and racing on the weekends. The selection to become a professional rider in Belgium must be the toughest in the world. At age thirty he signed his first contract for Saxon (?!) in 1994 and strung together professional contracts until he landed on Lampre in 1998. In 1999 he won the Belgian Road Championship and won the 11th stage in the Tour. Most professionals would be happy with those palmares.
Fabian Wegmann is another great rider to watch, he always looks to be on the edge of anaerobic destruction, dying just to stay on a wheel. I can relate to that.
But enough of the professionals, I’m a little sick of them right now. We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money. We get all the pleasure and as much pain as we care to endure and then as much as it takes to get back to the house. It is perfect.
Early on as a cyclist I understood I had chosen my parents badly. I wasn’t paying attention. I take that bit of information, fold it up and put it away in a drawer when I go out on the bike. I am still healthy enough to ride myself into the ground. Occasionally I can outsmart someone, or scrub off less speed in the corners or use my awesome mass to distance people on descents. I may get shelled when the road goes up but I’m going to look good when it happens. I take my quiet little victories when I can.
This video is a bit the of 2006 Giro Lombardia. Wegmann is the last man still with il Grillo as the race gets serious. Wegmann drops his flash light deep in the pain cave. Enjoy.
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Gianni!!!!!!!!! Yes, what timing! I have been mulling over a bunch of this stuff, as I've finally, finally pulled myself away from the bike and focussed on getting my goddamn self out of college, finally.
The timing of this couldn't be better for me! Thanks for the words & the thoughts.
Ha, I don't want to be PRO either. And I played competitive sports that weren't always fun for most of my life. I am determined to keep cycling wholly, or at least mostly, fun.
Very interesting comment on Schleck as well. Hmm, makes me wonder if he is half-arsing things.
I was thinking of where to put this during my morning cyclocommute & here is a perfect piece for such ruminations. Thank you, Gianni! And aside from the nice writing I've now learned of two new grinders. I love guys who get by with hardfuckingwork. I'd like to consider myself such a lad. Not the tallest (ha, I'm 171cm!), strongest, or fastest. But I did hone my skills and got to the top level of my favorite (former) sport. I'm pretty proud of that. Ha, and it doesn't hurt that the current Player of the Year in the U.S. is from my school/team. He's makin' me look even better.
What I've been pondering is how my status as a Follower has/might have changed in the past few weeks. I've been doing a lot of work and dedicating my focus & energy on that. I don't like not riding but if I can finish this project it'll be a huge step for me in many ways.
But, I feel a bit guilty. I find myself wondering if I can call myself a Velominati if I'm not riding six days a week, like I used to. I also have, of course, lost some form. It's only early autumn and my bibs feel a bit girdle-like, as I haven't quite scaled back my intake to meet my new less-active lifestyle.
I'm riding less & definitely two months from peaking. But, I don't want to be PRO. Just be able to ride long and hard and kinda fast. I know I can ride just 3 or 4 days a week and stay/return to decent form. And the odd thing is that when I do get to ride these days I really appreciate it, as opposed to doing it daily and sometimes feeling it was a grind. And, I also get a thrill out of pulling on my kit and pulling out a nice bike. That's gotten better with less riding.
I guess I'm asking how some of you handle less riding. I know some of you train daily and race and love that. I also know some of you just ride for fun, leisure, and the occasional Communing with Butterflies. I guess I'm worried that I might have to turn in my V-membership card because I'm not hammering it daily for 2-3 hours. I did that for a few years since I had fewer commitments and more time, as I was fucking off with my work.
I still feel that passion, but I almost feel a bit like an imposter since I can't ride as much as I used to and since my form has slipped.
I am lucky if I can ride one day a week, my bib-shorts are somewhat more snug than they should be and I'm slower than a glacier, but I'll be fucked if anyone says I'm not a Velominati!!
Every now and then, when I have good legs, I can ride a 12-year-old off of my wheel. I still have hope.
@Oli Hear, hear! I've not really ridden properly in a month but it doesn't change what I am.
@Gianni, there's enough stuff that I blame my parents for so I'm going to put the fact that I'm not a pro down to drinking, smoking and generally arsing around too much in my late teens and early twenties. Obviously, if I'd wanted to, I could have been a pro.
Great piece Gianni! Lots of almost-but-not-quite guys out there. I think wee Paolo was the only WC to actually rock the all-white kit. Maybe it s his size - Thor was too big to be wearing all white. Boogerd looked pretty good in the Dutch champ's jersey too.
@Ron
Ron, obviously riding is the core activity of the velominatus. However, circumstances both seen and unforseen can really have an impact on that. What remains, no matter how many kilometers are ridden, is the attitude and adherence to the rules. Should you remain true to these, you shall remain a velominatus.
"But enough of the professionals, I'm a little sick of them right now. We are the ideal cyclists. We ride for the fun rather than the money. We get all the pleasure and as much pain as we care to endure and then as much as it takes to get back to the house. It is perfect.."
Can I be the first to say this is brilliant?
Brilliant.
I chose my parents very wisely. It was the other decisions that were stupid.
When my grandfather, quite the fast swimmer, had a VO2Max back in Eastern Germany, he blew the puny measurement device apart. It was, apparently, not rated for more than 50ml/kg/min (Greg LeMan had over 85, apparently). My mother, these days national 70.3 and Ironman champion, also has hers in the upper 50s.
It was I who chose to waste my teenage years on the couch, and therefore I have to pay the price and chase hard to make up for the lost years.
@Oli
Ha, YES! Perfect. This sets me straight & puts me in the right mindset. Hope everyone has a great weekend planned or...unfolding.