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.
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good work Frank
I have often considered this point, that our discipline elevates the underprivilaged
However, lets keep in context something you say which I have had contention with and am not sure what to conclude
True, but compared to other sport like Baseball where A-rod gets 250 mil bucks, or the nefarious sport of basketball that gives out unreal money for a career...our sport is still yet the pauper of them all, yet the worlds 2nd most popular sport...fact.
1. soccer
2. Cycling
But to just focus on the money would then turn to the material only aspect and perhaps give up the very virtues that have made it the greatest sport in the world
@Chris
Quintana is a stud, and I am a big fan
he reminds me of another I loved to watch
Julio!!! he was like a billy goat going up a mtn on speed
@Deakus
not sure, he did the Giro too
It was indeed awesome to have another Colombian climber take to KoM jersey and even better that he was prepared to take the race to Froome. I loved when he got so upset when he couldn't beat him up to Ax 3 Domaines. It was only right he was able to go and go again on Semnoz.
Back in the day I enjoyed watching Santiago Botero but the history from that era have clouded those memories a little now. Then there was Mauricio Soler but that 2011 crash in the Tour de Suisse put paid to his cycling career after a long and unsuccessful recuperation. At last a new climbing kid on the block.
Great read in the afterglow of the tour, nice one Frank. Who can forget the first time they pushed off and balanced. Then the feeling of almost flight, as you so eloquently said. For me, it was summer on a borrowed bike in a friends garden. The family were considerably better off than mine, and had a large square garden, that I remember doing many, many laps of. Great days.
Love the examples you gave of past greats, escaping from the fields, mines or factories, and I think goes some way to understanding the pressure to win and succeed, sometimes at all costs.
@TBONE
Love it!....Intelligent editing and the passion just carries it!!
I also was thinking of La Vuelta and the glory that would be Purito vs Q on 23% ascents.
Of course Nairo Quintana is No.1 in the upcoming Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian
@Souleur
Aaah the likelihood then I guess is no, but he could go for the triple fuelled solely by his delight at his Tour placing!