Categories: NostalgiaThe Hardmen

The Experienced Mr. Hincapie

George Hincapie - photo Luc Claessen

Experience is something that we can only develop over time. We take it to imply there is some associated wisdom, garnered principally through those experiences that contributed that wisdom through hardship of some kind. As a society, we also refer to this as “learning from our mistakes”; mistakes make a much more convincing guide than does success.

I happen to be a semi-professional mistake-makerer, although I do feel as though I should have much more wisdom in my bones than I demonstrate. It sometimes feels as though all I make are mistakes. One gigantic snowball of mistakes that continues to build on itself with each successive heave down the snowy slope of life. At times, I fully comprehend the mistake as I’m making it, but soldier forth in the misguided hope that it will somehow work out for me despite my imminent failure. Other times, I’ll be certain that I’m right and true, only to discover later my fallacy.

The severity of all this mistake-making is lessened somewhat if one is able to learn from their mistakes and convert it into something resembling wisdom, as I optimistically believe I am. In fact, learning from my many mistakes is perhaps one of my greatest talents; it seems this particular  skill helps me forge long-lasting relationships and hold down jobs without getting fired for sucking so much.

George Hincapie and I have in common the fact that we are both “experienced”. But it is in this last respect, that of learning from one’s mistakes, that George Hincapie and I differ, aside from athletic ability and, I’m assuming, body odor. It is for this reason that being his fan necessitates that one be a masochist. Our hopes rise each season and for each classic, yet every time our hopes are crushed as we watch helplessly as he misses the opportunity to win.

Here is a rider of immense talent, not to mention America’s best hope for victory over the stones of Belgium and Northern France. As his career draws to a close, his huge potential remains unfulfilled. With one exception, when the stakes were highest, Big George repeated a chronic string of mistakes. Time and again, he would let the critical move go, look around for others to take initiative as the race exploded ahead, would mysteriously disappear from the front, or simply fall into a ditch.

A rider needs luck to win at the classics, but the most successful riders seem to make their own luck. Hincapie faltered each time victory was within his grasp, yet always found a locus of responsibility that lay outside himself. With the exception of his snapped steerer in the 2006 Roubaix, by and large, his were missed opportunities, with the prefect example being Stage 14 of the 2009 Tour. Hincapie was in a break which was set to place him into the Yellow Jersey when Sergei Ivanov broke free 10 or so kilometers from the line.

The bunch was bearing down on the group, and the gap was dropping quickly. As the gap neared the critical point where George might lose the buffer required to end the day in Yellow, he sat in the group and looked around for another to take up the chase. The bunch continued it’s unstoppable march and, sure enough, Yellow was missed by a scant 5 seconds. Afterwards, a downtrodden and bitter Hincapie blamed the Astana and Garmin teams for chasing too hard and stealing the jersey from him when in reality he squandered his chance by sitting on rather than taking the initiative to chase himself.

The Cobbled Spring Classics are one of the pinacles of our sport, and riders who specialize in these brutal races are few in number. Unless you’re Belgian, most countries boast few riders who are able to ride over the stones and stay in one piece, fewer still manage to arrive at the finish. Rare is the rider who can do so consistently. George Hincapie is the only American rider I can think of who fit this mold, and I’ve always loved him for it. But sadly he’s lacked the je ne sais quoi that would see him outmaneuver, outgun, or outsmart his opponents.

But I never stopped hoping. On the occasions that he arrived at the finish with the scent of victory on the handlebars, the excitement was palpable. Setting foot on the podium did nothing but bolster my belief that he would one day take either the Ronde or Roubaix, and it is sad that there appears to be little hope of seeing him atop the podium as his retirement seems imminent. It would have been glorious to see him atop the podium in Meerbeke or Roubaix, and if he races again next year, I will, against my better judgement, hold high expectations for him. So much for learning from my mistakes.

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.

View Comments

  • Wow, Big George's hair! His earring! Amazing submission, pakrat.

    Frank - small world, I'm not far from SEXYpaw, as I like to call it. I sometimes do longer rides there and back. It's starting to see overflow from Chapel Hill. I ride to CH all the time. I could see not wanting to ride in Charlotte; my local NC friends won't let me go there & even frown upon heading to Raleigh. I wouldn't want to live in either place, as it might kill my cycling as well.

    I plan on finally getting to Boone & Asheville this summer. Been invited before, but haven't made it yet.

    Jeez, Frank, glad you pulled your wheel out! That's crazy.

    Cyclops - not positive, but I think Greensboro should be okay for cycling. The city isn't so big, must be able to get out of it quickly.

  • I think George has some custom shoes that he chooses to hide instead of piss off the shoe sponsor.

    I was riding with a buddy last week, he was wearing some DeFeet Low Slipstreams. He was doing this to preserve his very expensive shoes. I realized that I could do the same to hide my very inexpensive shoes. The most amazing thing is that I was actually riding with someone else.

  • FWIW, George was wearing arm and leg warmers but no shoe covers during the century we participated in 10 days ago (start temp in the lower 50's F).

  • @roadslave
    That's an awesome story, and I love that perspective!

    By the way.. you can tell he's getting old. here's a photo of him at the start of this year's Ronde Von Vlaanderen... look at those varicose veins. Zimmer frame next?

    Man...those veins!

    I think they look cool. It's like there's so much Rule 5 pumping through there that they bulged up.

  • pakrat :

    So young, so much promise....

    and so much time spent making shit movies too. George is clean but the one on the right was prescribed a lot of EPO back in the day.

  • @frank
    You hear the same type of stuff in all the urban centers in the South. City riding in the Southeast sucks rocks pretty much any way you slice it. Drivers are typically oblivious at best or downright homicidal at worst. It's improving, but we have a long way to go. We have managed to carve out a nice little corner in the mountains and foothills of Northeast GA, Northwest SC, and Western NC, but you have to put some distance between you and the cities and all the bike bowlers.
    @Cyclops
    Greensboro should be fine. You'll be in roller central but with decent access to the western mountains.
    @Ron
    Boone and Asheville will change your life.

  • He does rock the BMC kit ver nicely. The guns in the title photo are chock full of awesomeness.

    Knees crossing the centreline?

1 3 4 5 6 7 9
Share
Published by
frank

Recent Posts

Anatomy of a Photo: Sock & Shoe Game

I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s World Championship Road Race 2017

The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Vuelta a España 2017

Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian 2017

This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…

7 years ago

Route Finding

I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…

7 years ago