There is a sense of weightlessness that accompanies speed; a strange feeling for any Earthbound creature who temporarily breaks Gravity’s relentless grip – an intoxicating blend of liberty and a sense impeding doom. The day I learned to ride a bike, I felt this sensation spread through me like a virus; immediately my eyes cast to the dirt trail behind the house as the most obvious opportunity to discover just how fast I could go and how far I could get. The excitement filled first my hands and my feet, then it billowed up through body to my shoulders and dazzled me with splendidly blurred vision as I sped down that very trail which previously I had only ever walked along.
The freedom that accompanied these feeling lingers with me today, and their intoxicating qualities express themselves every time my eyes cast upon a bicycle.
The bicycle has represented freedom to Cyclists since well before the turn of the last century. From the start, the question of how far and how fast the bicycle can be ridden has captivated not only those riding, but anyone who cares to spectate. A kilometer, then 5, then 500; race organizers quickly discovered what any modern Cyclist knows; make a ride sound crazy enough, and you’ll attract more than enough idiots to make a spectacle. So was born the sport of Bicycle Racing.
The classical tale we tell is that throughout the pre-War and post-War eras; when Cycling represented a reprieve from the labor of a hard daily life underground or in the fields. Many of the competitors in the Tour were workers who took time from their usual work to race across the great expanse of France. Even the great champions of Cycling’s Golden Era in the 1950’s would have chanced a life with hands gripping a set of handlebars against sickle, hammer, or shovel. Bobet, Anquetil, our Prophet Merckx, Hinault, and Fignon faced life in a field or market versus life as one of the greatest shaping forces our sport has known. It wasn’t until recently when Cycling became a financially attractive occupation; Merckx, in his most winning years, earned as much as his son Axel did as a domestique in the 2000’s.
But the notion of Cycling as an escape from a hard life in the fields may not be dead yet; as many of us now know, Nairo Quintana grew up in rural Colombia, riding 18 kilometers uphill to school (both directions, and naked in four seasons of Winter, supposing our collective grandfathers shared his fate). The bicycle didn’t just free him from the confines of his childhood; the bicycle elevated Nairo Quintana and his family into another stratosphere altogether.
I don’t know very much about life in Colombia and whether his newfound fame will lead to a better or more rewarding life for him. That remains for him to discover, and like anyone who pushes into the unknown, he will need to square his new demons against his old in order to find those answers. But what I do know is that, like it did for us, the bicycle has freed him from his perceived boundaries and set him free explore new territories.
It would seem, then – at least for this moment – that the Golden Era of Cycling is not yet beyond our grasp.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@piwakawaka
My rationale was outlined in the tdf 2013 thread. To save you hunting here is part of it;
"I have to say this years Tour for me was pretty dull. The best day by far was the day when the wind decimated the field and the riders had to either grab the right wheel or suffer the consequences. By comparison the Giro and last years Vuelta were far better and the fact that the GC and Green Jersey were pretty much done and dusted in the first week left me a little flat. Funnily enough last years tour I found less then enlightening too...maybe big is not always best."
Considering i watched all bar two stages live on the telly, i would say, yes, i do like bike racing...
I find the differences between how Quintana has been received - generally with much praise and very little scepticism - and the shit that has been thrown at Froome quite illuminating.
Nice backstory, poor family, looks good, Latino/south American v privileged colonial upbringing, ungainly, British, bitchy girlfriend.
How much of the debate is about that, not doping ?
@Deakus yeah read that post as well, which is what I really can't understand "I have to say this years Tour for me was pretty dull" seriously? Definitely the best Tour this Century, If you can't see it I'm not going to point it all out, suffice to say there was some very fuckin good bike racing going on, maybe you got too much of a good thing?
@piwakawaka You could be right. I think if I watched edited highlights then the whole think might well have been very exciting. Different elements of racing excite different people. The thing that appeals to me most about the Grand Tours is "Game of Chess" strategic elements. How do the teams respond/try to get an edge over their competition.
For me having a large time gap early on kind of kills it, yes, it is interesting watching them try and close the gaps but ultimately something is lost when there is already a clear position at the outset. Credit to Froome for not riding as defensively as Wiggins last year but although the mountain stages were good the flat stages were too many too close together.
Prudholme had a good idea in having mountain stages near the back end, the evening finish was great and the day in the wind was eyeballs out good, but ultimately the TT's are spoiling things by having a disprportionate influence on the times.
Personally I would like to see the ITT got rid of, but accept some people may love them.
Just imagine how great it would have been if those final couple of days in the mountains had not been raced with a leader 5 mins ahead...funnily enough, scrub the TT's and that may have happened.
Over simplistic I know, but I have to say the last Giro and Vuelta were much more exciting for me....this years Vuelta looks like a stonker too..
@ChrisO
Ofc not even touching on Colombias relationship with drugs....good point!
Dude is a stone cold mountain killer!! VIVA Quintana!! Great to see the Columbians make a name back in the Alps!
@Deakus I have never understood the ITT in the stage race, as a percentage of the whole race they have far too much influence on the result, road racing requires the entire suite of skills and tactical nous, a fuckton of V and a liberal dose of stupid, the ITT needs just V and stupid. Has there always been ITT at TDF?
@piwakawaka
No..they were removed for one or two years I think in the 90's when Big Mig was dominating the shit out of everyone. I think however this just made him angry....he ate extra Paella over the winter, trained harder in the spring and then basically did his own mountain TT against the peloton and won. There is an epic clip, Ill dig it out and find out more about the years where TT's were removed, I have only heard it mentioned so Ill dig about and see what can be turned up.
@Deakus
All of Indurain's Tours had TTs. Dunno where you got that idea from but it aint right. The stage you might be thinking of was in 95 when he rode the bunch off his wheel - bar Bruyneel - who sat on the whole way and then won the stage.
@piwakawaka
Struggling to find references to the removal of ITTs but the TTT did not run from 2004 until its return in 2009.
The first TT was La Roche-Sur-Yon to Nantes (80km) in 1934.
I think this was Big Migs epic climb...Sur La Plaque without even getting out of the saddle..