Categories: Look Pro

Look Pro, Part IV: Don’t Look Down

Shifting is perhaps the most pure expression of our art as Velominati. It is the conduit through which we control our cadence; it effects our power, our breathing, our heart rate. When those essential things come together with the rhythm of the road, we are cast in the spell of La Volupte. The more in-tune with our bodies we become, the more we rely on our shifting to keep our legs in perfect harmony with our bodies. Our shifts must be smooth, crisp, and precise, for any disruption to the rhythm may cause the spell to be broken.

The advent of index-shifting and contoured cogs have simplified the mechanics of the perfect shift, but they have not eliminated the artform. A finely-tuned drivetrain is essential, but is only one piece of the whole. Timing is critical: the shift must be delivered at the precise moment in the stroke when the chain is perfectly loaded to jump silently from one cog to the next. Shifting under too much pressure or at the wrong point can result in delayed, noisy, or rough shifts, disrupting our rhythm and ripping us from La Volupte.

We do not mediate on the shift and we do not look down at our gears; the shift is something we must feel. We must not be overly cerebral – instead, we read the signals from our body and the machine and sense the time to shift and react. Over time, we also learn to sense when we are approaching the limits of the block and execute the double-shift to avoid crossing the chain. We do not look down.

These subtleties cannot be taught; they are artifacts of experience – evidence that the disciple has become one with the machine.

Disclaimer: The “Don’t Look Down” principle does not apply to Lando situations where we repeatedly push the right shifter while pedaling squares up some unholy gradient in the stubborn refusal to accept that we are indeed already in the lowest gear. Under these circumstances, it doesn’t hurt to give the gears a stern look in an effort to intimidate them into spawning a few more teeth on those biggest cogs.

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 says:

Feb 21 2011 at 6:39 pm

@Leroy

The angel on my shoulder tells me to slow down and wait for the poor bastard but the devil in my legs just tells me to do it again!

HA! The Devil in My Legs! Gonna have to chuck that in the Lexi. Fantastic.
frank says:

Feb 21 2011 at 6:42 pm

@G'phant
Ooooooooohhhh, mate? Are you OK? Breaking that stuff is a right of passage, though...
Marko says:

Feb 21 2011 at 6:55 pm

It's not an upside down V when The Badger is looking at it. Just like our very own V-kit's rules on the thigh. Only difference is, ours needs to be printed on, his was real.
G'phant says:

Feb 21 2011 at 6:56 pm

@frank
Yeah, in sling and a bit of pain but more wonded pride than anything else. Certainly a lot better than those poor people in Christchurch, NZ, which just got smacked by a(nother) huge quake. Hope all ChCh-based Velominati and their families are safe and sound.
Nate says:

Feb 21 2011 at 8:30 pm

@G'phant
Ooof. Having recently gone down, have a swift recovery mate.
sgt says:

Feb 21 2011 at 8:32 pm

@G'phant

Man that sucks! Investigating violations of the PoS has gotten me into trouble more than once.

Thoughts and prayers to South Island Velominati. Ruaumoko must be pissed off. Be safe.

PS had the pleasure of 75km, 4k climbing today, solo with this article under the belt. Lando'ed once, looked down to trim the fd a couple of times, and executed a perfect double shift under full steam. I would've smiled but the wasps had other ideas.

Delenda est Alberto
mcsqueak says:

Feb 21 2011 at 8:36 pm

@G'phant

Ah shit man, good thing it sounds like nothing was broken!
Steampunk says:

Feb 21 2011 at 8:41 pm

@frank
Well played. Shame on me for not thinking of Vos...
Oli Brooke-White says:

Feb 21 2011 at 10:05 pm

G'phant:

mcsqueak :
Good article. It however doesn't touch on the fact that looking down to determine where your chain is at can be dangerous when moving along at a good clip.

Well, yes. I spent several hours this morning at A&E getting my left shoulder x-rayed and being told by a slightly exasperated doctor that I'd buggered my AC joint and been lucky not to break my clavicle and so, no, it wasn't OK for me to "just ride the wind trainer for the next few days". And all because it was 6am, the road was wide and deserted, and so I looked down to investigate the BB noise ... and looked up just in time to see the kerb smack my front wheel and feel myself smack the pavement. Am thinking of changing my name to Noddy, and putting a big sticker (I don't derserve a decal) on my bars reading "Don't look down, Noddy. Not fucking ever."

Sorry to hear that, G'phant. Heal fast.
Ron says:

Feb 21 2011 at 11:58 pm

@G'phant - Ouch. Hope you are healing up. Don't worry about wounded pride! We've all done things on a bike we regret. Sometimes it just happens. I'm sure that moment after you looked up and saw the kerb was a damn scary one. Just enough time to realize you are buggered.

I broke a clavicle playing football when I was younger, hoping I don't do it on the bike. Though not anywhere near the sport of cycling, I think my initiation is transferable on this one.

Jeez, another quake in NZ. Not good.