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
Awesome quote from Dave Brailsford
@Chris
Isn't that what Bruyneel said?
@brett
Jeez. I was thinking that, but I didn't want to be a buzz kill.
@tinu
Fignon was no professor. It was absolutely because he wore glasses, and it was no compliment. If you know otherwise please enlighten. We are not close minded here. Pains in the ass, sure, but we will listen.
Professional cycling as "social upwards mobility" can also show a darker face: A close friend was a gifted junior MTB racer back in the early 90's in Spain. After a couple of years of good results he was offered a place in a road racing team that groomed kids like him for pro cycling and soon found how uglier the scene was: He went from getting emergency spares from his main rival in top national level MTB to finding that an attack in the "wrong" place of the "wrong" road race would get him shouldered into the gutter when he was caught.
He was still getting good results while he thought about starting college or delaying it for a few years to see if the cycling thing worked out, but many of the other kids had stopped their educations early and were completely desperate, with their parents and hangers on putting enormous pressure on them to succeed at any price.
One particular evil effect of this situation was that the kids were basically railroaded into doping: 'inject this and swallow that or pack and go home" was standard behaviour among the junior team principals, which explains a lot about the next decade worth of Spanish pros.
A couple of stages into his first week-long race he was shown the needle and decided to pack it.
@brett
Fuck, Brett, can't we send you away to the mountains for the whole of the Tour season next year? Some sort of retirement home/isolation facility for grumpy keepers.
Bruyneel may well have said that but the difference is that he's a weasely, beady eyed little shite.
It may all be dodgy as fuck, time will tell, but I quite like Dave's style and I'm willing to take him at face value.
As Frank said the other day "I would rather be burned by a liar than to accuse an honest man of cheating." (although I'd rather see a pregnant lady stand on the bus than see a fat girl cry)
I'm reading David Walsh's book at the moment and it seems that whilst there might be similarities between now and then, the mistrust in COTHO and allegations of doping actually had some sound basis but didn't gain momentum for a long time because many journalists didn't want to go against the dream story of the sick kid overcoming adversity. Is there anything that points the finger at sky other than the fact that they're better than other teams at the moment (which is only marginal at the moment anyway).
@meursault
Haven't used it in anger, but I found this instructional video from Jahvahaah:
@TheFatMan
I didn't know about any of this at the kids level but the sad thing is I am not in the least bit surprised. It not that I expect it in cycling....actually it occurs everwhere these days....Modelling....Banking....Racing (Horses and Cars)....Tennis....in fact anywhere you find the work "Academy" expect this sort of behaviour and pressure.
We will probably need to wait for a few more people to die before public opinion and views within the sport change. At the other end of the scale if you have worked in a sport all your career, you retire at 35 and have no other skills, then you are pretty much bound to apply the same tactics as were forced on you and the pressures remain the same because the team sponsors demand results.
Think Premiership Soccer....manager gets half a season to perform or is sacked....etc..etc...it is only going to get worse not better...
@Souleur
@Souleur I'm not so sure about Quintana being the unknown quantity. Team Sky admitted in pre-Tour interviews that if there was a man that they were keeping their eye on for surprises, it was Quintana. He already had a GT under his belt, the 2012 Vuelta, in which he was consistently shepherding Valverde in the mountains in the third week. Plus he already had successes against Sky in the past year (Dauphinee, PaÃs Vasco, Catalunya). And if that wasn't enough, Quintana is roommates with Henao and Urán, with Urán also being his landlord. So I'm sure he wasn't an unknown quantity to Sky
Other teams may not have been fully aware of what Quintana is capable of, but I think at least Sky, Saxo and Katusha had a pretty good idea of whom they were dealing with
If there has been an unknown Colombian quantity this year, it's probably Betancur. Witness how much rope they gave him at Fleche Wallone on the Muur, and he almost pulled it off. But because of that, LBL, and the Giro, he will be a marked man at the Vuelta
@ten B Thanks, the look on his face, after launch, is priceless.