Categories: ExportLa Vie VelominatusThe RulesTradition

On Rule #9: Love the Work

Fignon gets on with the job of being a Cyclist

Fitness. The rhythm, the feeling of precision in our movement, the sensations of The Ride. The temptation of knowing we might in some way control our suffering even as we push harder in spite of the searing pain in our legs and lungs. The notion that through suffering, we might learn something rudimentary about ourselves – that we might find a kind of salvation.

Cycling, like Art, is based on the elementary notion that through focussed study, we might better understand ourselves. But to describe Cycling as a an Art does it an injustice. An artist, they say, suffers because they must. A Cyclist, I suggest, suffers because we choose to.

This element of choice, what psychologists refer to as the locus of control, is part of what allows us to feel pleasure through suffering. Through this choice unfolds an avenue of personal discovery by which we uncover the very nature of ourselves. Like Michelangelo wielding his hammer to chip away fragments of stone that obscure a great sculpture, we turn our pedals to chip away at our form, eventually revealing our true selves as a manifestation of hard work, determination, and dedication to our craft.

Having chosen this path, we quickly find that riding a bicycle on warm, dry roads through sunny boulevards is the realm of the recreational cyclist. As winter approaches, the days get shorter and the weather worse. Form tempts us to greater things, but leaves us quickly despite our best intentions. Its taste lingers long upon the tongue and urges us to gain more. Even as life gets in the way, we cannot afford many days away from our craft before we find ourselves struggling to reclaim lost fitness.

To find form in the first place, and to maintain it in the second, is a simple matter of riding your bicycle a lot. This simple task asks of us, however, a year-round commitment to throwing our leg over a toptube in heat, cold, wind, rain, or sleet, lest we spend months fighting to reclaim last year’s lost condition.

But with riding in bad weather is revealed a hidden secret. It is in the rain and the cold, when all the seductive elements of riding a bicycle have vanished, that we are truly able to ensconce ourselves in the elemental qualities of riding a bicycle. Good weather and beautiful scenery, after all, are distractions from the work. Without them, we have only those elements that we ourselves bring to The Ride: the rhythm, harmony between rider and machine, our suffering, and our thoughts. As the rain pours down and all but the most devoted stay indoors, we pull on extra clothing and submit into the deluge.

We are the Few, we are the Committed. We are those who understand that riding in bad weather means you’re a badass, period.

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

ChrisO says:

Nov 1 2011 at 10:20 pm

If the documentaries are to be believed, pretty much everything in Australia could kill a small child (spiders, snakes, jellyfish, drop-bears etc).

I think that woman has just been added to the list.
Marcus says:

Nov 1 2011 at 10:29 pm

@ChrisO
This tells people everything they need to know about our Great Southern Land.
itburns says:

Nov 1 2011 at 10:43 pm

@Marcus
And all this time I thought it was Pelican Drinking.
Oli says:

Nov 2 2011 at 2:13 am

I have deduced that this photo is of Fignon on his way to winning the 1986 FlÃ¨che Wallonne. It was cold, very wet and he won it solo. Even if you doubt my awesomeness, it's clearly a race shot as helmets weren't in compulsory use apart from in Belgium - Fignon would never wear one if he didn't have to, let alone train in one!
frank says:

Nov 2 2011 at 7:45 am

@MrBigCog

I do not know if it's the rain dripping from the brim of my cotton Castelli hat, or if it's the looks I get from motorists at red light as mother nature pisses on me, or if it the way it feels to put on multiple layers of matching winter gear as you brace yourself for the chill that will war against your blood in an epic battle to keep the legs warm. Whatever it is, there truly is something epic and pro-esque about riding in bad weather!
-B. Cog

Spot. Fucking. On. Thank you for not mentioning proper stopping etiquette or the dangers of venturing outside.
frank says:

Nov 2 2011 at 8:15 am

@Marcus

@ChrisO
This tells people everything they need to know about our Great Southern Land.

I didn't understand a single word uttered throughout that video. The only thing that made sense was the laughing.

@Oli

I have deduced that this photo is of Fignon on his way to winning the 1986 FlÃ¨che Wallonne. It was cold, very wet and he won it solo. Even if you doubt my awesomeness, it's clearly a race shot as helmets weren't in compulsory use apart from in Belgium - Fignon would never wear one if he didn't have to, let alone train in one!

Close, but not quite. You and @wiscot are right that it's a race, and you had the year and country right (1986 and Belgique). Also Figs did win La Fleche solo, except it was sunny (possibly cold). The rainy, nasty brute of a race that this was taken is was Liege, and Figs didn't do well that day, as his face suggests. Impressive work nevertheless!

La Fleche:

Liege:

and
Oli says:

Nov 2 2011 at 12:36 pm

Okay, not quite as awesome as I'd like to think then...thanks for the correction, Frank!
wiscot says:

Nov 2 2011 at 1:48 pm

@frank
Late to the corrections party, but glad we got it settled. I did some detective work last night and determined it was 86 as in 87 the Gitane bikes Systeme U rode were white. In 86 they were still old school blue.
Oli says:

Nov 2 2011 at 3:12 pm

Even though my memory blended two races I'm still pretty happy that it got me that close - senility hasn't fully got me yet!
eightzero says:

Nov 3 2011 at 9:07 am

@frank

@itburns

One question. What brand of fender is the Prof using in the picture? Exactly.

+1.
@allThey are called mud guards, and they are inherently in violation of Rule #5 and Rule #9. There is not, however, a Rule against them. Best to go clip-on and find something that serves the purpose if you must. But like mirrors and flashing lights, lets keep the discussion of them to a minimum.

OK, before you scroll to the pictyres below, you've been warned. they are NSFV (Not Safe for the Velominati.) @ Frank claims anything with 2 wheels is "all good" but...oh Merckx, my eyes!

Found at the bike rake outside work this morning: