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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Thanks Frank. A lovely piece.
excellent piece frank. We are not barbarians.
But you just know Eddy is thinking "If you pinch flat I'm leaving without you."
Has the fact that Belgium was the site for WW I trench warfare and a goodly dollop of action in WW II been considered as to why the hard men of cycling are from there?
Just looking at the trees in the photo - they are quite young - as if there were none 10-20 years previous due to shelling etc.
Soooo much fuck'in right with this piece!!! We are all Brothers (and Sisters) on the bike. We walk (ride) the same path and have a common bond that goes beyond the race. It it something that when you both see each others shaved legs or tan lines, you can immediately relate to one another.
The same goes for the military. When not deployed and you see a military member from another branch, there is immediate, usually friendly, bantor and picking on one another, maybe even a bit of scorn (Air Force guys are "soft", Navy are just "water taxis", Marines "JarHeads", do not even lower ourselves to acknowledge the Coast Guard) but when deployed, you will not find a tighter bond outside of genetics.
And it is our foes that truly make us. They are the ones that make us get outside and train on the cold, raining days. To not have a dessert. To pass on the second piece of Halloween candy. Every true hero needs a worthy foe, not some camel fucker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZE0TYKYfEo
Although I suppose that we get closest to your transcendent Velominatus when we get to the point where anyone outside ourselves is no longer needed as a foe, when we are our own foe, but that just sounds wayyy too cheesily "Deep, Dude" for an early Tuesday morning.
And before I finally shut up, I still see your hints of the Dark Side creeping through here. I think only the Sith aspire to overtake and beat their Sensei, no???
Damn, imagine rolling out of your house to meet...The Prophet for a training ride? That's awesome.
I actually am able to leave my front door, mount my bike on the porch, roll down two steps, a path, then onto the sidewalk and into the street. Pretty cool to roll out of the house in style, and not have to waddle down steps in cleats.
Oh, and best of mates. I play soccer twice a week, a rolling group of guys and you just split up evenly depending on how many show up. Ages are from 25-71, pretty good soccer as even the old guys are very tactically shrewd. The amazing thing is that cursing and fighting are frequent, but most head to the pub post scrimmage for some brew. Fun to tell someone you fucking hate their guts, then share a beer with 'em.
True right, soul crushing has its place and time. I do like the pre and post race bantor.
That's a great picture and I'm distracted by the guy parked on the sidewalk.
Riding down stairs is fun. I do it on my way out of the house too.
@Harminator
Ha, awesome!
I will never understand guys who can ride in winter without gloves. My hands and feet tend to get cold, not my body or face or head. I just don't understand how guys keep feeling in their hands in cold wind. If I need a LS top or leg warmers or a winter cap, I sure as heck need full-finger gloves.
@Buck Rogers