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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Had my shadow urging me on on a commute home during the week but today was nowhere to be seen,obviously lost in the murk and spray on this mornings dank club ride;sure he was there though pushing me on up that last ramp,,,
I don't normally take to looking at myself in mirrors, its always basically ok.... but I really get a kick when I see my reflection while on a bike, thats something I look closely at in that millisecond while I fly past...
I can totally understand this piece, although I am usually so fast that my shadow is behind me (!?)...
@fenlander
I think my shadow needs a bit of Rule 5 and 9. Darned thing seems to desert me on those days. I'm sure it creeps back into bed while I'm getting ready.
@1860
If you aren't looking at your reflection in shop windows, you're lying.
I do the majority of my riding by myself before work, which means during the summer months this guy is generally the only company I keep.
He seems to have a split personality, he's either an awesome dude who reinforces just how well I'm travelling, or an absolute arsehole who never listens to just how bad I'm feeling and just keeps on going that little bit ahead of me...
@frank - " window shopping " I do it without even thinking these days !
@Mikael Liddy problem is, what if one's shadow then goes on a solo break and leaves you sitting with the bunch of one. Welcome to my Nettle Hill nightmare.
Who knows what Anti-V lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!
The weed of Anti-V bears bitter fruit. The Shadow knows!
With apologies to The Shadow.
I had to abandon my shadow and ride hard off the front. Then felt I was digging against the shadow of a rider coming up. Too bad we both made the wrong turn on the route.
@Barracuda
Without thinking? I make a fucking point of it! You don't look this Fantastic and waste it on others, you've got to enjoy it yourself!
Heh. I have a whole album of shadow selfies.