THe shadow foretells the ending.
In the 1989 Tour de France, Laurent Fignon was on the rivet. Close to collapse. But his Directeur Sportif noticed that Greg LeMond’s shoulders were rocking; he knew from the time he spent coaching Greg that this was the telltale sign of his imminent collapse. He ordered Fignon to attack, and he took the Yellow Jersey. He could read the signs that no one else saw and took advantage. I would be willing to bet that LeMond himself was not even as attuned to his condition at that moment because it is so very hard to gauge your own sensations when you’re Fucked with a capital Fucked.
I ride with my shadow more than anyone else, with the possible exception of my reflection who comes out any time my shadow retreats to the clouds and the rain falls down to provide the Flemish Mirror. (Which is arguably more often than not, given my residence in the Pacific Northwest.)
Through this, I have come to learn that my shadow whispers to me; it lays bare all the secrets I have not yet discovered about myself and allows me to see what is internally unseeable.
A Velominatus must learn to read their shadow; to the untrained eye it hobbles about in distorted patterns that reveal nothing but awkward manipulations. We can, however, learn to extract from that amorphic blackness the telltale signs of everything from our level of fitness, our weight, or even whether we are about to bonk.
I watch my shadow for signs of how I am pedaling. Is the rhythm I feel in my legs mirrored by the inflection of myself on the road beneath me? Do I feel smooth but the stroke in my shadow ragged, or do I feel ragged but still my shadow is smooth? One is a manifestation of reality, the other is a manifestation of perception. When I feel as bad as the shadow looks, I know the Man with the Hammer lurks nearby.
I can gauge my condition based on how my shadow looks. Are my shoulders thin and sharp in my shadow, or are they a bit rounded? The first sign that I am putting on weight is when the shadow reveals a roundness that the mirror and the scale does not reflect.
Today, there was an ease to my shadow that coaxed me on to drive harder; it was almost half-wheeling me, teasing me into putting another dose of V into the pedals. Today, the shadow came up wanting. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow, the shadow will reveal new secrets.
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@KogaLover
but you could only frame it (at least according to something I've read somewhere, some kind of rule); he should add from which edition this one dates--maybe some time before 1980?
@Ruud
I see that the link here says 1978 or 1979, but Joop's ad doesn't give that information? The add does give his phone number in France--did you call him to find out?
Talking to the velomiyoof Angus this morning about his TT last night, he told me that he's not so sure he can go as fast next time if I'm not riding behind him giving (a modest amount) of encouragement.
I told him to visualise last night's ride, how he road each section of it, to the point that he knows when to push on, when to spin a bit, where the landscape will give him some respite from the wind and where he has to be low in the drops.
He agreed that it was a good idea but being a product of the Playstation generation, he told me he would also visualise a shadow in front of him, a virtual Angus riding last night's pace that he will always have to chase.
Was just thinking about this the other day.
The shadow is just so useful and we really have no other external feedback
Unless you're a pro with a ds sitting on your wheel you have no idea how magnificent (or not) the stroke looks
Even in the garage on the turbo the shadow provides information a plenty
As I mostly ride solo, my shadow is usually my only company. It's ok, it never complains about the pace or needs to stop or guzzles my food and water, it just comes along for the ride. Biggest drawback is that it never takes its turn at the front.
Cyrille Guimard? Man, I need to write a piece on him. Craftier than a whole den of foxes who have graduated from crafty school. Speaking of tells that a rider is hurting, Coppi apparently had a vein that showed up when he was struggling and riders knew to look for it.
My shadow is a nice guy. When the sun is behind me, he makes it look like I have Fantastic Guns, even though I know they're more like Skinny Pins. Something about a trick of the light, but I'll take it.
@Ruud
I got the info from a Dutch respectable newspaper, who did indeed call the number, and asked Joop. He confirmed it was a Yellow Jersey from either the 1978 or 1979 TdF; he had a couple of those jerseys. The fact that he's selling it could have something to do with a wider campaign as the first stage of the 2015 TdF starts in Utrecht.
@wiscot
there will likely be a 4th of July Holy Hill ride, and if there is, I'll be on it; hope to see you!
@KogaLover
How cool is that? You can just call a former Tour de France winner and world champion (and, and, and) for a legitimate reason. Not really surprised, actually, as some friends of mine ran into him earlier this year on their bikes. He was just out for a ride by himself because he had an open day between two events, and he was very approachable.
From this morning's ride.
When the angle of the sun is ride I like to use my shadow to check if my back is straight.