Guido went to extraordinary lengths to shield young Joshua from the horrors of the war. On the way to the camp, a bicycle race passed their truck. As the riders, themselves escaping a life of grim toil, dirty and sweaty from the effort of heaving their heavy steel bikes up the col, rode by, Guido lifted his son from the truck and placed him onto the road.
The crowd clapped and yelled encouragement to their heroes, and the riders responded by rising from the saddle, straining to turn their big gears over as the slope steepened. Strange men ran alongside the riders, and the cars honked at them to get out of the way. A broad smile lit up Joshua’s face, and it was at that moment he knew that he too wanted to race a bicycle. Suddenly, as quickly as they appeared, they were gone. The crowd dispersed, silence returned, the truck continued on.
But for those few minutes, life was indeed beautiful.
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There is an article about Bartali's Santa Maria bike in the December 2013 issue of Cycle Sport Magazine......even includes the picture of Bartali leading Coppi.
That's a nice story, right there, VeloSix.
Enjoy the new bike! I started out on a pretty nice, used Al Cannondale. Though it was a fine bike, every time I get something new, I still appreciate the upgrade qualities.
That said, after thinking I hated SRAM shifters, I am very pleased with the new Red right shifter I just installed. The Force shifter was always a bit stiff and I was never quite sure if I was about to upshift, downshift, send it in two cogs. It was a new Force 2010 shifter. Well damn, the Red is much, much nicer. Very sensitive, smooth shifts that are almost effortless and never a mis-shift. This is also a 2010/11 Red. Don't know if I just had a bad Force shifter or if Red is that much nicer?
Either way, a big upgrade for my cx race bike.
@Teocalli
My inference of "real bike" is meant to describe a bike that does not have shocks or strait handle bars.....
@VeloSix
ha ha! OK I accept that then.
@pistard Thanks for those, I do have Bobets, agreed, awesome.
@pistard
Bartali's position on the bike is magnificent there. Coppi looks like a bird but you can't argue with the results.
@pistard
Seconded. Fantastic book. And nominated (again) for The Works.
Since we're looking at and talking about old photos of Italians, here is one we found in an album when I was visiting my parents a few weeks ago for Thanksgiving. This is my father's side of the family, very Italian. One guy was a boxer and also worked for the NYC Sanitation Dept. My father knew you weren't supposed to ask what he actually did for them. My great grandfather is in this photo. His middle name - Archangel. No fucking joke.
@scaler911
+1 to that
I look at these old photos and am struck by the hardness in body and spirit of these men. They remind me of the fishermen I work with and the ex-miners in my community.
We glorify the pain and suffering in service of the bike. We are lucky soft fakes in comparison; pain, suffering and bloody hard work was their life, they simply had no choice.
@wiscot
true
I think the beauty of these pictures are the authenticity that resonates across time, you can't buy this, you can't google it, you can't replace it...period
Looking back, and searching the context of these times, these races and these men, is rich...rich...rich. Bartali, is whom I love. He was exactly like my grandfather, or my grandfather just like Gino. Constantly disappointed, throwing things and re-doing it was how Gino has been described. Righteous, the disciple he was, pious and respectful.
However, getting to this photo in time, he did have a little rebellion during his youth with his father who was resistent to say the least for his passion to race. He was denied many times the blessing to race. However, he persuaded his father after working at the local shop and racing unbeknownst, with winnings...he went along with it.
I'm blown away with what he did to liberate the jews during the WWII was absolutely phenomenal, brilliant and courageous. And that he spoke nothing about it, says volumes
and even though he despised Coppi in a race, they were gentleman, and his tears over time at losing a fellow rider says so much about him.
@Ron Liking this pic too, forgetaboutit. I have a half Sicilian nephew, but my sister is now divorced. Which is a shame as I dined out bragging I had a Sicilian bro in law.