This cat got skills
I think it would be hard for anyone to make the case that Eddy Merckx was Roger de Vlaeminck’s Cycling Sensei, but I think we can all agree that De Vlaeminck was a student of Merckx, if only a student of his domination. But every student at some point becomes the master, and the driven student will always challenge the Order of Things.
Every rider should keep their bicycles safely inside their warm house during the Winter, on account of us not being savages and not wanting to leave our beloved steeds out in the cold. Rule #69 suggests, then, that if one happens to have a brick front staircase, one should ride one’s bicycle down said stairs rather than waddle down in cleats with bicycle lurched over the shoulder. Such was the case on this snowy Winter’s day, somewhere in Oost Vlaanderen, when the student Roger casually rode his bike down his brick steps while The Prophet waited on the sidewalk to start the ride.
Not only is RdV demonstrating a fundamental property of life (i.e. that shaming your Sensei is an incomparably rewarding experience) but that rivals can be mates. I observe two important points: Roger and Eddy are getting ready for what appears to be a winter training ride and Roger and Eddy are on rival teams. I’ve always been good mates with my competitors; I may well view them as pure evil during an event, but outside that narrow scope, I recognize that they drive me to become a better person, to explore the very limits of my abilities. For that alone, I owe them a debt of gratitude because the quality of my rivals tests the quality of my own character. Most of them are people who share the same motivation and goals as I do. There is no need to hate them in even the remotest realms of reality. We are not soldiers at war; we are foes engaged at a game of Sport – we are more similar than we are different.
Rule #43 is about brother and sisterhood. Save the rivalry for Race Day and learn to know your opponents and spend time with them. You may find they are much like you and have many lessons to offer. But come Race Day, crush them like an ant under the Lone Ranger’s boot.
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@Nate
Ha! Yup, Frahnk's Sith is showing.
@Nate
Oh no, not again!
Allan Pieper used to warm up his bike by the stove when he lived in Belgium. I'm sure he learned that from the Planckaert brothers. It makes a little bit of sense; warm up the bike and body.
I think Rodger was showing off his mad CX skills to the Man in that photo.
Descending in the drops I see.
@Buck Rogers
Yes and no. I feel a bond with some of my fellow Cyclists, others I want nothing to do with. The amount of fuckwits I see doing stupid shit on bikes every day makes my blood boil as they are hurting our collective cause.
Then there are the leeches. What is it that makes some people think that a bunch (I use the term loosely, as our group is never much more than 6 riders) passing them is an open invite to hop on the back, or worse, shove into the line? This happened to us yesterday, this fat hairy fuck thought it'd be a good idea to jump in as we passed him, forcing me out into traffic then having the gall to grumble at us when we forced him back out again. Those cunts can fuck off.
Then there are the good guys... I have a large circle of friends who are mostly all riders, and we share the same warped senses of humour, tastes in music, beer and a general contempt for those who do their best to tarnish our shared passion.
"Classic looking wool kit." Dug around to uncover Torm from the UK making Sportwool products. Torm makes their T7 with full length YKK 3C locking zip. I can't handle quarter-zip.
@razmaspaz
#brakes
@SamFromTex
Blasphemy.
@brett
I have a funny feeling given the B plate on the car (suspecting that international travel was not that common even in Belgium back then) and the fact that it's a smart/large car and the direction of EM's bike that the offender is he himself.
@Teocalli
"International Travel" In Belgium means driving about 20 miles in any one direction to reach another country! Back in the pre-EU days, vehicles that traveled around beyond their natural borders had the stickers: NL, GB, B, F, D, I, DK etc. When we were on long drives on holiday we used to while away the time counting the different ones we'd see.
Speaking of riding down stairs, RdV will be doing so with grace and finesse - unlike the two twats I saw in Chicago on Sunday riding a couple of the blue hire bikes down stairs near the lake with nary a care in the world for the welfare of the bike. I'm sure their thinking was ":it's not mine so I can try and break it." Morons.
That lead pic must be seriously off-season - the Prophet looks a tad rotund around the waist, although I'm sure it's just the bulk of many layers of wool rather than the result of Ullrichian excesses.