Categories: Anatomy of a PhotoKeepers TourLook ProNostalgiaTechnique

Anatomy of a Photo: Cornering on Cobbles

The look says it all. Keep it clenched, sir.

A lot of things taken for granted in Cycling go swiftly out the window when cobblestones are introduced to bicycle and rider. The notion that your wheels should both be pointed in the same direction at any given moment, for instance, or that that they should in some way be in alignment with the direction of travel of the rider/bicycle unit, such as it is. Not true, in fact. As it turns out, wheels can move wildly in any maner of directions and not greatly impact forward motion. Another misconception is this notion that one needs to have their handlebars reliably in hand while whisking through a corner or that the direction the handlebars are pointing should be in the direction of travel. Also untrue.

Riding cobbles is a matter of going full gas over the secteurs, no holds barred. The faster you go, the more your bike cascades over the tops of the stones; as the bike flails along, the rider links together recovery after recovery to stave off the imminent crash caused by any of the above conditions going catawampus. Riding the pavé is basically like a toddler learning to walk: always one step away from a face-plant.

For me, though, the biggest challenge is recuperation during those intense efforts. Over the years, I have gotten good at faking it and stealing a few deep breaths during short windows of opportunity, like when the pressure comes off the pedals briefly when cornering. On the cobbles, however, this matter is complicated somewhat by the bouncing wheels, jackhammering of the bars and saddle, and the certainty of an imminent crash.

Which leads me to conclude that while endurance, strength, and interval training will all form critical elements of my training for Keepers Tour 2013, I’m going to also make a point of learning how to take recovery breaths with a tightly clenched bunghole as I try to keep from shitting myself. That’s going to be a differentiator for sure.

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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View Comments

TBONE says:

Oct 13 2012 at 9:44 am

Here's my favourite cobbles video, you can see the tires skating across the tops of the cobbles, dancing around with no real control. The muscles are flopping about in a manner that looks like old people having sex. It's quite glorious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QSpuhIQg1A

In Vancouver we have different type of cobbles, just east of Crackton (the DTES) you can find patches where the blacktop has worn away to reveal how we used to build our roads - with wood. I should get a shot of it, there's not much of it left around any more as we erect condos as fast as we can.
Buck Rogers says:

Oct 13 2012 at 10:03 am

@itburns

@mxlmax

@Buck Rogers

@mxlmax I think that was in regards to descending and cornering, no cornering on the pave'.

That shot of him on the pave' is just a millisecond in time. You cannot catpure pave' cornering in stop motion, probably in the next frame his leg is going in the opposite direction!

Obviously

Not so fast. It is a well established practice to take a millisecond in time and extrapolate minutes/hours down the road. A prime example is Frank and the photo of The Prof with an "unorthodox" hand position.

Chapeau! Excellent retrieval of old thread post! Made me laugh this morning.
Buck Rogers says:

Oct 13 2012 at 10:11 am

@Dan_R

@scaler911 i had an opportunity to practice some of those turns with a coach last year...really opened my eyes to what can be done to maintain speed in a turn

That's the thing: I never rode a single cobble until the day of the cyclosportif and I wonder if I had tried to maintain a little more speed in the corners if it would of helped? Probably not. Most likely just would have crashed really hard!
Winelli says:

Oct 13 2012 at 10:33 am

@TBONE

My God. Can we just stop the thread here. That video is everything.
Buck Rogers says:

Oct 13 2012 at 10:36 am

@TBONE

Here's my favourite cobbles video, you can see the tires skating across the tops of the cobbles, dancing around with no real control. The muscles are flopping about in a manner that looks like old people having sex. It's quite glorious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QSpuhIQg1A

In Vancouver we have different type of cobbles, just east of Crackton (the DTES) you can find patches where the blacktop has worn away to reveal how we used to build our roads - with wood. I should get a shot of it, there's not much of it left around any more as we erect condos as fast as we can.

Great vid! Although I would put it to some harder music, though.

But that is what actually hurt the worst for me near the end of the ride, my bouncing and tearing (albeit very small) biceps. Man, they hurt, like everything else, like hell for weeks.
mxlmax says:

Oct 13 2012 at 10:40 am

@frank

How about this photo. Inside knee inside of his elbow. Looks like he is using the "lean your bike more than your body" technique here.

What beautiful evidence! Thanx The Potato Man!
mxlmax says:

Oct 13 2012 at 10:43 am

@itburns

@mxlmax

@Buck Rogers

@mxlmax I think that was in regards to descending and cornering, no cornering on the pave'.

That shot of him on the pave' is just a millisecond in time. You cannot catpure pave' cornering in stop motion, probably in the next frame his leg is going in the opposite direction!

Obviously

Not so fast. It is a well established practice to take a millisecond in time and extrapolate minutes/hours down the road. A prime example is Frank and the photo of The Prof with an "unorthodox" hand position.

Does this even make sense?
scaler911 says:

Oct 13 2012 at 12:28 pm

@TBONE

Here's my favourite cobbles video, you can see the tires skating across the tops of the cobbles, dancing around with no real control. The muscles are flopping about in a manner that looks like old people having sex. It's quite glorious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QSpuhIQg1A

In Vancouver we have different type of cobbles, just east of Crackton (the DTES) you can find patches where the blacktop has worn away to reveal how we used to build our roads - with wood. I should get a shot of it, there's not much of it left around any more as we erect condos as fast as we can.

Wow. That's all I have to say. Just wow! I'm not sure my skinny, stick arms are up to the challenge (got %50 off my bicep tattoo cause they didn't have to use as much ink).
Roadslave525 says:

Oct 13 2012 at 2:05 pm

This article is an anomaly

It is impossible to corner on cobbles

Unless you invoke the help of pixies
Ken Ho says:

Oct 13 2012 at 2:33 pm

@mxlmax

@frank

How about this photo. Inside knee inside of his elbow. Looks like he is using the "lean your bike more than your body" technique here.

What beautiful evidence! Thanx The Potato Man!

Trouble is, that's a dumb way to corner, especially if there are tyre grip issues. Paul Smart invented the knee out/body off the bike cornering style on a motor-bike to keep the bike more upright, helping with ground clearance and tyre grip, notably on a dog of a Triumph. Good reasons. Weirdly, cos it works, it caught on. Sure, bicycles have nowhere near the corner speeds but they don't have anywhere near the grip either, not to mention the conspicuous absence of a suspension.