Categories: Anatomy of a PhotoThe Rules

Anatomy of a Photo: Cycling-Specific Eyewear

Don’t be distracted by the sweatband or the lame Bolle sunglasses; this man is a stud. He came from a different time, a time when suffering was a more visceral experience than it is these days. It permeated everything a professional rider did. The bike were heavier, the equipment less efficient, the travel to races more grueling, accommodations more humble, and paychecks were smaller.

But Davis Phinney was one of the foreign riders who took it all in stride, going to bed every night after taking a beating in the European pro ranks only to get up the next morning and say, “Thank you sir, may I have another?” Here was a man just as happy slogging it out on the front as a domestique as he was racing for the win, bumping shoulders with the likes of the Badger and Greg LeMan. Here was a man who, should the opportunity present itself, would punch his head through a car window just to add an extra dose of The V to the afternoon. Even his son appears to be a budding young stud.

Indeed, we can say a lot about Davis Phinney and his entire generation of fellow Americans who ventured into territory unknown to race in Europe. One thing we can not say, however, is that they wore cool sunglasses.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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Chris says:

Nov 17 2010 at 7:34 am

The only thing I still respect about Floyd Landis was his penchant for non-cycling specific shades, and specifically his frequent rocking of a wide variety of full-on ladies' sunglasses. Such a cool and confident kind of idiosyncrasy.
bigbailey says:

Jan 4 2012 at 5:49 am

Oakley blades were the Dogs bollox, I loved those to the point where having owned a pair for about 2 weeks I left them at a race. I was a student and skint but rather then cry into my kit bag and turn up to my next race with eyeballs on display I went out and bought another pair straight away (who needs food as a student anyway). The yellow were something else as they made the world look bright and jolly during winter......I miss my blades.
Elric says:

Jul 27 2013 at 12:27 pm

@Markp thems some guns... Upper and lower, for a cyclist that is. Not life much in real life but relativelspeaking they are. can t imagine going through life like today's grimpeurs with not enough meat to quaff a proper pint. But such is the era of specialization.
atomicmanatee says:

Aug 23 2013 at 11:32 am

Considering that he's wearing the same sunglasses as Bill Dance, I can only assume that this was taken moments before crushing a Budweiser can on his forehead and flipping over a bistro table for his pre-race gameface session.