Kelly teaches the masterclass once again.
We are bipedal creatures. Fact. Bipedal locomotion sucks. Also a fact. This makes being a human somewhat challenging in the sense that we don’t have opposable toes or a tail with which to swing from tree limbs. Swinging from your tail seems a little bit like bliss, if you ignore the associated demotion back into the Food Chain.
We Cyclists elect to circumvent these shortcoming by pushing our legs around in circles rather than in whatever shape makes a walking pattern or a tail-swinging pattern. It’s quite unnatural, riding a bike, and even the most casual study of the common Cyclist will reveal that most are not terribly good at it.
Which is why the graceful Cyclist is such a pleasure to watch; the mastery of the unnatural. A Cyclist who coaxes the pedals about their arch with fluid grace and power is not so much an athlete as an artist. This is a creature who has dominated the nature and become something wholly of another world.
Rising from the saddle in search of more power is perhaps the pinnacle of the art. Planting our butts in our saddle provides a solid platform from which to crush the pedals; it’s a handy way to keep our limbs from setting off in independent orbits. But when we’re really on the rivet and in the search for Speed Plus One, that rump is going to have to get lifted up into the air.
The most skilled in this craft are a beauty to behold. In one fluid motion that does nothing to limit the venom in their stroke, they rise out of the saddle and allow the machine to sway beneath them in response to the power being applied by each thrust to the pedals. The saddle sways from side to side in an almost hypnotic rhythm as the rider suffers without revealing any external signs of the effort they are applying.
The only hint is that the amplitude of the saddle’s sway increases as the power does. And when the time comes to return to the saddle, the amplitude is reigned in and brought back to home with perfect precision and no loss in the pedal stroke.
Cadel Evans looked horrible out of the saddle; he gave the impression he was trying to strangle his machine for some untold afront. Sean Kelly, on the other hand, could rise out of the saddle without you even realizing he was standing, so smooth was the transition.
On my best days, my saddle returns to me in perfect unison; I am one with my machine, a symbiotic lifeform. Upon a visit with the Man with the Hammer, I almost need to coast in order to return my rump to its home on the rare occasion that I manage to lift it off in the first place.
Mastery of this art is one I continue to pursue. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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As someone who frequently sits on the front of the group into climbs to then be dropped by the smart-arse climbers who draft the entire way there when I get out of the saddle I always try to make sure there is no break in pedal stroke to avoid taking out those behind. The same cannot be said the other day when I reeled back in one of the guys where I sat on his wheel to regather myself, only for him to stop pedalling to get out of his saddle, change gears and start wildly swinging his back wheel. I found my front wheel being taken out at that point but was able to catch myself before hitting the ground. Sure, I was too close by my mate's technique really could do with smoothing out...
As someone currently nursing a saddle sore, thanks for this. Will provide the needed motivation to get my ass back in the saddle for the weekend. Going to find the biggest hill the flatlands have to offer.
So much awesomeness in this photo...a glorious old school funny bike( minus crank bolt covers I am sure!), and Sean Kelly full tilt out of the saddle. Kelly was one of my all time favorites..such that my son is named Sean! But I digress. One way for any Velominatis to help improve rising and returning to the saddle would be to spend some time on the glorious banks of my favorite cycling spot...a velodrome. Track racing is very unforgiving to those who do not have smoothness of stroke. When racing a full tilt...gliding up out of the saddle and caressing the pedals for more speed ends up all for naught if you cannot return to the saddle smoothly. When one just "plops" back to the saddle after winding it up, you can watch a couple of mph of speed get scrubbed off by the impact of them dropping back to the saddle. It takes a bit of practice to launch, then return to the saddle while still churning out that smooth power through the fixed gear.
From the same 87 Tour TT- Roche was also a master at this...an Irish thing perhaps?
If you're "on the rivet" your rump is on the edge of your Brooks saddle, so it can't be in the air.
Ah, but if you're already "on the rivet" and you need more, then up it goes. Sorry Frank.
@Haldy
Everything about this photo rules. The backwards cap, the chrome fork, the bidon, the massive Big Ring. His face - suffering but ever so focused. Even the shifters are bloody PERFECTLY aligned. FFS.
@Matt
+1
@Matt, @piwakawaka
Agreed - perfection. The Delta brakes... those brake levers. The gumwall tires. The 'V' shoes...
The only thing that puzzles me a bit (although it doesn't distract from the awesomeness of the photo in any way whatsoever) is that he's wearing shorts branded "Peugeot" while astride a Battaglin bicycle. Some of the wise ones who frequent this site may be able to enlighten this student on why/how that can be? (Could be that they simply are his favorite shorts, of course - or that Peugeot acted as some sort of 'overall' sponsor at the time...?)
@Matt
However, he's promoting Peugeot but is riding Battaglin? Kit confusion?