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

Souleur says:

Feb 16 2012 at 4:17 pm

@scaler911

Big Pimpin;

I'm coming around to Cav, a little, but he's gat a ways to go to be as chill as Mario.

exactly.
The Lion King, was something else. It really took me time to come around, and actually seeing him win Milan San Remo sealed it for me. He rode that one hard, then bought a Porsche in celebration, a typical Italian gest I suppose.

I don't smoke, don't advocate it, but seeing him not give a flip....has a cool factor to it for some reason
Bianchi Denti says:

Feb 16 2012 at 4:31 pm

@heinous

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

Maybe she should have had cake less and soup more.
Bianchi Denti says:

Feb 16 2012 at 4:35 pm

@Bill

This is the type of conversation that makes me really look forward to the tour next month. Especially over Belgian beer.

Word! We can just sit back with some pints and frites and watch the fur fly!
scaler911 says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:09 pm

@Souleur

@scaler911

Big Pimpin;

I'm coming around to Cav, a little, but he's gat a ways to go to be as chill as Mario.

exactly.
The Lion King, was something else. It really took me time to come around, and actually seeing him win Milan San Remo sealed it for me. He rode that one hard, then bought a Porsche in celebration, a typical Italian gest I suppose.
I don't smoke, don't advocate it, but seeing him not give a flip....has a cool factor to it for some reason

Check the bar tape. White.
Marko says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:15 pm

Ive come around fully to Cav. He's really come into his own and it's hard to recall the last time he dicked out. At least his coolness has vastly outpaced his dooshiness in the past year or so. He's a great champion and far from boring. He's also raised the bar for sprinters considerably, it's just too bad nobody can touch it. And the WC kit he's been rocking is La Vie Velominatus. Good shit.
sthilzy says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:21 pm

@scaler911
.. damn! Beat me to it! I was going to mention the bar tape!
Howz-a-bout, note the orietation of the Cinelli finishing tape!
Love the Avocet wire and what Rule #74 is all about! Don't know about the HRM?
scaler911 says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:24 pm

@Marko

Ive come around fully to Cav. He's really come into his own and it's hard to recall the last time he dicked out. At least his coolness has vastly outpaced his dooshiness in the past year or so. He's a great champion and far from boring. He's also raised the bar for sprinters considerably, it's just too bad nobody can touch it. And the WC kit he's been rocking is La Vie Velominatus. Good shit.

I'm coming around a bit on the fella. And that's saying something given last fall, I couldn't stand the little ass-hat.
There's a local kid (from Portland, Jacob Rathe, 20y/o) that's a neo-pro with Garmin this year. A shit ton of attitude, and a skilled rider. Watch out for him, and I hope he does well as well as remembers his humble roots.
Calmante says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:44 pm

@sthilzy
Howz-a-bout, note the orietation of the Cinelli finishing tape!

+2

(Not a typo. My opinion is worth roughly twice as much as most.)
Souleur says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:45 pm

@scaler911

@Souleur

@scaler911

Big Pimpin;I'm coming around to Cav, a little, but he's gat a ways to go to be as chill as Mario.

exactly.The Lion King, was something else. It really took me time to come around, and actually seeing him win Milan San Remo sealed it for me. He rode that one hard, then bought a Porsche in celebration, a typical Italian gest I suppose.I don't smoke, don't advocate it, but seeing him not give a flip....has a cool factor to it for some reason

Check the bar tape. White.

of course! it matches his white leader jersey!

Cav is very much the same overall as Cipo. I respect Cav more now than I did a year ago after his product at the TdF, and making it over the mtn's.
frank says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:46 pm

@Souleur

@Oli

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

@Oli: now this is class fella's
I just busted a nut laughing on that one
Listen, I come here like anyone else. I love this site, the Rules, the Lexicon, all things cycling and we are a bunch of passionate bastards taking things to the Nth degree....AS IT SHOULD BE, yet one thing trumps all, respect for one another.
Oli, you got it man and thats all good.
And we can all toss around our thoughts, concepts, beliefs, experiences, and I will continue to be convicted of all things souplesse until I am convicted otherwise. I think I am right, just like you think your right, the fact remains in my mind in this whole concept that nobody has given me anything to change my mind so far in the definition of all things souplesse. Its all good, and until Eddy says different, it is what it is. Oli believes what he believes, and I haven't convicted him otherwise, because he thinks firmly he's right. Fairs fair.
I don't think less of anyone for it...ok, yes I do when your a douche and you think I am entitled to your opinion, but otherwise, when your classy like Oli we can all sift this out and ride down the road.
So lets all just HTFU a bit, rub Rule V across your forehead before reading further in the thread and I bet it all works out
Chapeau

Nice one. You look good in your new +1 badge, don't you?

@snoov

For what it's worth, all words have some sort of genealogy. "Suicide" for example used to have much more of a sense of nobility, to commit suicide could be to spare your family from some kind of shame while nowadays it's seen more in terms of a way out or escape from responsibilities or/and being unable to cope with something. I don't judge, I've lost a few friends this way, one of them a cyclist (World Champion BMX Freestyler).
Think of the word bicycle. A hundred years ago a bicycle was not what is conjured in our minds when we hear the word nowadays. If we know what a word meant in the context of it's time in history, it's meaning to us now is richer even if that meaning now applies to something slightly different.
My word that I hate to hear being misused is "bespoke", which should properly apply to something that is a one off, but I'll get over myself.

That is beautifully bespoke!

@RedRanger

@Ron

Damnit, Frank! You are exactly right. I think I've been too far South for too damn long. My VMH will often say things like, "Why can't you just be sweet & nice?" I'll have to point out that fighting, arguing, and criticizing folks comes much more naturally to combative, excitable Northerners.

So fucking true. add sarcasm to the mix. I tend to have a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor, which is unusual for a Latino like my self. I chalk that up to being a native New Yorker. Its something many of the natives down here dont get.

There were more times than I can count when I lived in the South where conversations ended with "Really? What are we gonna do??" and my answer was, "No, not really..."