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:
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@Calmante
Are you Eddy???
@razmaspaz
Mmm. Ya. But there are sometimes as I've had, and as @Chris was talking about where in addition to that inward feeling, it's expressed by the fluidity of your movement. Wether running or riding. And to be sure some just don't have that fluidity most of the time. Look at Steve Prefontaine running. Not Sebastian Coe pretty by a long shot.
@razmaspaz
Many might have claimed it but running is no different to cycling and most other sports at the top there are those who do display an apparent effortless ease just as there are those who seem to excel despite having all the grace of a baby giraffe. Haile Gebrselassie had it, Ovett had it, Coe less so.
Best stop with this running talk, though, we'll get in trouble.
Souplesse isn't a feeling. You can't be "souplesse." If you go riding with a french coach, he may pull up beside you and say, "plus souplesse." You know what he means? Put it in a lighter gear.
I don't know how it took on this mythical meaning 'round these parts, but it probably has to do with there not being a direct translation of the word. The idea of the Magnificent Stroke and V Locus is good, and having souplesse can be a part of that, but it seriously just means spinning a gear quickly and smoothly. Nothing more.
It's like taking another element of the V Locus, let's say loose shoulders, taking the Portuguese translation, "ombros soltos," and using it to describe something more abstract. Anquetil is Ombros Soltos. We should all ascribe to reach that runner's high, that state of mind, we are Ombros Soltos. It just doesn't make sense. I'm not trying to be difficult, but @Oli is completely right on this.
@scaler911
You know, we never stop learning, and I still have much to learn both as a man and as a rider.
However, regardless of my ability to not be a douche or a jackass, which I apparently need to work on quite a bit if the past few weeks have been any indication, I'm not the worst person in the world to take advice from. Especially about cycling.
@calmante: Language is fluid, dynamic, evolving. Definitions and meanings change. For example; "keep your elbows off the table" we all equate to being slovenly and rude (as my mum taught me).
However the origin of that phrase had nothing to do with manners. When sailors of old ate while at sea, they'd use their elbows to keep their plates from sliding around.
Pirates would be in port looking to add members (unwilling) to their crew, and would start looking in pubs for "new staff". Guys eating with their elbows on the table were obviously seasoned sailors and would be the first to get Shanghaied. Thus the wives and mothers would tell their men "keep your elbows off the table".
See where I'm going with this? Take the douchery down a notch or 10 and we can learn from each other. I've got over 20 years in the sport and like trading stories, thoughts and ideas. But no one likes being talked down to except in jest, which yours isn't.
Rant over.
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.
@Oli
exactly. pedaling on a road bike feels so wonderfully smooth, simple and efficient after a long fixie ride or rollers session. there's a group that does a 80km fixie ride every week on the local bike trails. wonderful training.
I once had a girlfriend whose souplesse was outweighed only by the enormity of her bottom.
@Calmari
Are you a Hendrix fan? You like the song Manic Depression? I honestly think I understand where you are trying to come from and when you settle down and stop swinging you can actually be pretty reasonable.
Some advice: to @Scaler911's point, if you want people to take you seriously, I suggest you start by building your credibility in the community. In most walks of life, people typically try to do that from two angles - by (a) walking into a room and cramming their ideas down people's throats or by (b) being sociable and offering advice where people are looking for it.
There are lots of good examples of people around here doing this properly, not least your revered @Oli who might act like a prick sometimes, but has done his part to establish his credibility.
More recently, @TommyTubolare comes to mind as one who has done so using method (b) in the last few months and does so without ever being a prick. (But then again, I believe Tommy is Dutch and that explains why his execution was flawless.)