Spiderman photo: G. Watson
How can anyone be such a great cyclist and look so ungainly on a bike? Does this not violate a basic tenet of V-philosophy? Would he not be faster if his knees and elbows were tucked in neatly, aligned with his forward motion?
On riding style alone Quintana has a huge edge, he just looks good as he climbs. He should be able to summon some extra V just on the looking-good-is-feeling-good-factor.
Pinot versus Bardet: Pinot always looks like he is in a fight with his bike on the uphills. Again, wouldn’t less fighting and more souplesse translate into more speed? Like Tommy ‘man of a thousand faces’ Voeckler, his climbing style of off the back, sprint forward, out of the saddle, jersey open, drift off the back again…and repeat. It makes no sense but the guy gets it done.
Looking good on the rivet on the flats is easier: a flat back, everything tucked in, body pulled low over the bike, almost everyone looks pretty awesome going hard when the terrain is level. Put the road into double digit ascent and everything comes off the rails. One’s inner climbing monkey comes out and some monkeys just look better than others. It’s not a reflection of inner beauty or Hardness or a life more cleanly lived. To paraphrase Don ‘puddin’ face’ Rumsfeld, you climb with the monkey you got, not the climbing monkey you wish you had.
My monkey is a slothie, sweaty old beast with one paw in the grave. It’s always been my monkey and we have become good friends. Froome’s is a Sumatran spider monkey, hopped up on a diet of buffo toads and fermented bananas. When that monkey appears, everyone better get out of the way.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@andrew
Wow, I'm impressed you could reference a 2011 post about a Schleck. Has brother Frank already dropped out of the Tour or is he watching from the couch, injured?
@Teocalli
I fear Marecl is not drawing sufficient V from his hairdoo. The lad is getting beaten? WTF. Maybe Bob 'welcome to the ' Jungles has siphoned off some. There is only so much V-doo in the universe.
@Gianni
49th, 32s back, so in front of Contador and Porte, for the moment, anyway. Perhaps he should drop while he's ahead.
And I remembered the post, if only for one of the horror-show hair-dos in the comments, even if I had to use the search feature to track it down!
Its as though some of you have never visited this site before. The question/comment regarding the spider monkey should be phrased like this;
"Who gives a fuck if he's fast or not, he looks hideous!!"
It won't be long before somebody says that it doesn't matter what you look like as long as you can lay down some V. And then we really will be back in 2011.
Froome is just the latest version of a long line. If you are a GC contender from an English-speaking country (who is not from a track background and you aren't Phil Anderson) you look crap on a bike. To wit:
Cadelephant - whilst his TT position was a thing of beauty, his dead man's grip and his inability to rock a poker face, made him painful to watch
Cotho - his high cadence was nice, but he didn't look great. Those pointed toes, ergh.
Landis - maybe it was the Phonak kit, or the roid rage, he never looked right.
Hamilton, Leipheimer, Porte, the list goes on. Hesjedal wasn't completely offensive to watch, but he is Canadian, so maybe the French-speakers of Montreal influenced.
Then consider the likes of the endurance trackies like Wiggins, McGee, O'Grady - lovely to watch.
@Teocalli
Took a wrong turn after the Cycling News Forum and has'nt been able to find a way back since.
Ray Ban Sunglasses Styles Medication and Substance Rayban 5184 Wayfarers Abuse: A host of drugs and medications can lead to an adverse effects on our body, including itching. Medications such as morphine, allopurinol, amiodarone, estrogen, opioids and simvastatin are known to trigger itchy skin in some people. Drug abuse is being seen as one of the most rapidly increasing hazard for the society, and the same can also lead to some serious skin itching.
According to New Ray Ban Wayfarer the Long Island Beekeepers Association, there are no reports of CCD on Long Island. Fortunately for honey bees around here, Long Island is not blighted by huge expanses of monoculture crops, as you could expect to see in the midwest. This gives Long Island bees the advantage of accessing biologically diverse pollen from many plant species to produce richer, healthier honey.
Ray Ban Sunglasses Online Store
@Marcus
One name. Hampsten. Beautiful to watch out of the saddle on a steep climb.
@Marcus
Hampsten looked damn smooth, though...
@Dave from VA
Bold. Rejected. That doesn't wash here. But nice sentiment.