Categories: EtiquetteLook ProNostalgiaTradition

Look Pro: Souplesse

Master Jacques, master of souplesse.

Souplesse. Only the French would have such a word; one you can sink your teeth into, chew on. It begs to be spoken over a plate of assorted cheeses and a bottle of vin rouge. Its exact definition is unimportant; such things conjure up an image in our minds that is cheapened by words. Souplesse is the ideal, sought by all and obtained only by The Few.

Souplesse is the perfect storm of Looking Pro; harmony between grace and power, casual and deliberate. It speaks of the entire organism, the perfectly manicured machine together with the perfectly refined position and technique of its rider. It is the combination of Magnificent Stroke, gentle sway of the shoulders and head, the rhythmic breath, and of knees, elbows, and chest converging on the V-Locus.

Jacques Anquetil is man of whom we have spoken surprisingly little in these archives. Perhaps it is because he is a man who inspires us in death as little as he did his fans in life. A calculating man, he pursued Cycling not for the love and passion of it, but for the business of it; for him, the bicycle provided a path from peasantry to aristocracy. That was all.

Be that as it may, he was a gifted cyclist whose fluidity on the bike exemplified Souplesse:

A Magnificent Stroke is more than pushing or pulling on the pedals. The stroke flows from the core and hips, driving the pedals round and belying the effort to do so.
Feet sweep the pedals around in perfect revolutions, one leg cannot be distinguished from the other – they work as one to counter and balance the forces to drive the machine ever faster forward.
The legs can not do their work without the arms, the lungs, the chest, the heart, the mind. Each unit functions independently to do its work, yet feeds seamlessly into the other. In a phrase: Fluidly Harmonic Articulation.
Move to the V-Locus; the body is folded such that legs, arms, and chest overlap but do not intersect. Knees tucked in, shoulders hunched, wrists rolled inwards, elbows angled such that the knees only just slip inside them with each revolution of the cranks.
Face calm, eyes cooly focussed up the road; a grimace is energy that is better spent on turning the pedals.

I give you Master Jacques.

More: Jacques Anquetil Part II & Part III

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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View Comments

frank says:

Feb 16 2012 at 9:55 am

@ChrisO
Beautiful.

@heinous

I once had a girlfriend whose souplesse was outweighed only by the enormity of her bottom.

It amazes me when cubby people are super flexible. Like Jack Black, that's one limber, spry dude.
Calmante says:

Feb 16 2012 at 10:59 am

@ChrisO

Calmante and Oli, you may or may not be right about what Souplesse should be but you are most decidedly wrong in suggesting that the 'broader' definition Frank and others are using is something he has made up or which has suddenly appeared here.
I have often heard souplesse used to describe something beyond physical condition or lightness.
Here is Bicycling magazine in an article about Armstrong:
"This brawling ride was the antithesis of what I thought epitomized the ideal of the sport"”the smooth, effortless-looking mastery of the bike called souplesse. "
Or Red Kite Prayer blog from July 2011:
"Literally: suppleness, softness, flexibility, adaptability, fluidity. On the bike: smoothness, a one-ness with the machine... Souplesse contains within it humility, strength and patience... Souplesse connotes style, but it also hints at a deep-lying efficiency, an elimination of non-essential movement... [souplesse] comes from within the athlete."
You no doubt think that's a load of bollocks, but it's shared by quite a few people, which then leads to the question of whether enough people deciding on a definition makes it the de facto definition.
Personally as one who winces at the commonplace misuse of words like enormity, I have some sympathy, but I suggest you are pointing the finger in the wrong direction.

Interesting you should mention Armstrong, who is probably the best example of souplesse (ever?) and I cant even stand to look at him on a bicycle. I mean, the guy looks like someone took a barrel-chested monkey, beat him with an ugly stick, and duct-taped him to a racing bicycle.

I'm married to a grammarian. Enormity is one of her pet peeves, as well.
Calmante says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:15 am

@frank

Well, that makes one of us. I still don't know quite what to make of you! I can't help but like someone who goes through all this effort to put together a site and community like this one, though. The passion is obvious, and is why I've been sticking around. As much as it seems that I disagree with the stuff that's posted on here, the reality is that I'm just not compelled to post on the stuff I agree with, which is the majority.

In a recent Family Guy epsiode, there was a skit with a Baptist and a Seventh Day Adventist where they were discussing their shared beliefs and agreeing harmoniously... Until they get to the one thing they disagree on; what day to go to church, Saturday or Sunday. It blows their minds! So much truth in that.

Having said that, a big fuck you to everyone who disagrees with me. Your mother.
minion says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:29 am

@frank

@minion
Hey Minion. I found your fucking home video, you perv.

(via @Scaler911)
minion says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:30 am

@frank

@minion
Hey Minion. I found your fucking home video, you perv.

(via @Scaler911)

Can't help but notice that sheep has an AMERICAN accent. What you guys train your sheep to do is nothing to do with me
Goats have accents
mcsqueak says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:33 am

I forgot my lunch today. Does that make me souplesse?

!
scaler911 says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:37 am

Lexicon entry: calmante; Self-agrandizing tool with a wealth of information akin to your Grandparents Encyclopedia Britannica collection. Circa 1966. Two volumes missing.
Oli says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:44 am

Good morning, everybody...I'm feeling very suppleness today, just ask my wife (boom boom)!
Calmante says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:52 am

@scaler911
...and then you go and say something like that. At the very least, I haven't resorted to the name calling.
paolo says:

Feb 16 2012 at 11:52 am

@mcsqueak

I forgot my lunch today. Does that make me souplesse?
!

No Souplesse for you!!