On Rule #9: Love the Work
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.
@J.Michael
And your point is???
@frank
Can this be made into a wall paper?
@Buck Rogers , @RedRanger
Welcome to Orange, gents. V. well done!
@Blah
Oooooooooooooooh grey cog! Sweet!
@J.Michael
It’s fairly late here and I’ve been dishing the V to a rather pleasant Bordeaux so I may well be on the wrong side of squiffy and certainly incapable of rationale discourse so we can probably take it for granted that you’ve ridden bikes with many different types of handlebars. Chapeaux!
But if you’d paid more than the modicum of attention whilst lurking, you may well have noted that we’re not at all judgemental towards any form of cycling that might not be perceived to fit within our box with two exceptions. The first would be our attitude towards recumbents, but seriously, wtf would cause someone to devise a bike that tries hard to hide itself from other road users?
Fixie hipsters would be the other exception. The reason? It’s become a cliché populated by people who are in it for the image rather than any true love of the bike. If someone loves riding their bike then I don’t really give a shit whether it’s @frank on his beloved Cervelo or a kid on a bike his dad picked up at the tip as long as they’re having fun. If it’s more about the messenger bag or the cap then I’m not interested but the same goes for the guy on the Pinarello who rides to the cafe but no further or the owner of the Santa Cruz V10 who rolls the red route in the full body armour and Troy Lee.
You might well have also noted that a lot of the people here probably wouldn’t even limit themselves to being tagged as roadies.
You might even have got as far as realising you need to take the whole thing with a pinch of salt.
Anyway, none of this applies to you as you’re only a fucktard as opposed to a tattooed fucktard.
@Nate
Nice one gents, can but dream of the day!
@Blah
Objective Bar, is this some sort of new app that the keepers have come up with?
@eightzero
As the proud owner of a Montague, I’m appalled. It’s actually a very nice MTB when treated properly. The folding mechanism might deter some, but note it doesn’t compromise the frame’s structural integrity (lights, because I was commuting after night courses last winter).
@Chris
Thanks.
@Nate
My God, we’ve gone plaid! (to paraphrase one of my favorite movies–unfortunately our colour status is not linked to going faster than the speed of light!)
@Steampunk
Sold over here as a Hummer xtreme.
@Chris
Yep. Montague had an initial contract with the US Marines to build a MTB that could be made compact for paratroopers (stress on MTB that folded rather than folding MTB) and subsequently hooked up with Hummer on some other contract. It’s an interesting bike””which, to take it back to where this conversation started””is an important criteria for me. Also, it fit in a closet in a claustrophobic apartment in Center City Philly when I lived there.
@scaler911
Recumbants suck. That’s a fact. However, for those who are less fortunate and lacking legs or other important appendages, exceptions can be made. For instance: my bro lost his leg in Iraq and just completed a tour with other amputees going through Normandy and GB using bikes (and in his case a hand bike). 23-30 mile days = laying down a special V.
Not all bikes (unis, trikes, recomes, handies, etc) are the chosen steed, but they all have their place and should be respected under the right circumstances.
A-Merckx.
@Tartan1749
Hand bike is a whole new level of Rule #5. It’s for guys who aren’t going to let anything get in the way of riding.
If someone’s riding one of those, they don’t need my respect, or anyone else’s, but they certainly have it.
@Chris
Objective bar might have spilled over from the double entendre thread: “my objective bar hangs low”. fnarfnar.
@Buck Rogers
Yes, but you are no longer Schwartz.
I don’t know if any of you VM used to be runners (distance). I was, and one of my hero’s was Steve Prefontaine. Eddy Merckx of the running world. This dude reminds me of him (plus, this guy is riding a bike):
file:///Users/donjoling/Desktop/Men’s%20A:A%20Masters:Women’s%20A%20%7C%20Flickr%20-%20Photo%20Sharing!.webarchive
@Tartan1749
Ya. It’s pretty easy to label a whole group of folk because of their choices. Occasionally, exceptions are made, for myself as well. No harm intended.
@J.Michael
Of course you don’t understand. You’re mostly a tri athlete (as far as I can garner from your posts).
I don’t think anyone here feels they’re above other forms of cycling (except for hipster fixie, skinny jean wearing, asshats and most recumbent riders. The point I think you’re missing here, is our love for the history and beauty that is road riding and racing.
Ask a NFL fan what they think of rugby, and vice versa. Both will think the other sucks, and be passionate about their respective sport. But they are both really about getting an oblong ball across a line to score.
You love your version and I’ll love mine.
@J.Michael
Thanks for stopping by and adding your insight. Truth be told, though, I’m not sure if you’re agreeing or disagreeing with us because most of your assertions are in support of what is commonly said here, but your tone gives the impression that you’re disagreeing with the spirit of the site.
I think any of us delve into any other disciplines of cycling. Most of us ride mountain bikes, many ride track or commute. For us, the passion comes from riding a bike, period. The fascination comes from the rich history and culture that exists in road cycling that simple doesn’t exist in the other disciplines of cycling.
As for your use of the word “epic” – and this is nitpicking – assuming you’re not comparing cycling to a long, narrative poem, I have to assume you’re using it as being of a grand scale or character.
I think to say any time you ride a bike is epic is devaluing to the truly epic rides. Going out and doing, for instance, the 200 on 100 verses riding to the market on a sunny Sunday afternoon are both great undertaking but only one is worthy of the description “epic”.
@Tartan1749
Respect. Massive respect.
Haven’t been on here for a long time and just wanted to say one thing:
“… we pull on extra clothing…”
Why would you do that. It’s only more weight. If you feel cold, you’re not riding hard enough.
@frank
Is that a book or a magazine? I saw this in a bookshop today and even though it was in a sealed wrap it made me feel slightly odd. Now that I’ve seen the extract that you can download, I covet it.
@Chris
It’s a cool book…a classic, if you will.
@Frank
NIce post. For sure, crappy weather riding does earn you the “Badass Merit Badge”. Now that the clocks turn back tonight, commuting now done in total darkness. Suiting up for a ride, knowing it’s gonna be dark, wet and cold, yes – you gotta “Love the Work”…
And as we turn back the clocks tonight, I leave you with this:
http://whitetrashrepairs.com/white-trash/redneck-unicycle/
@Chris, @Oli
Super cool book; my picture came from Winning’s Fabulous World of Cycling Volume 5 on the ’86 season. Hard to find. I also have Volume 9 and Volume 4 (Volume 4 and 5 are actually borrowed from Gianni indefinitely.)
@Dan O
Yeah, these days get loooooooonnggg…at least we can still ride. And ski.
@frank
I’ve got Volume 6, which is the 1987 season – might scan some pics for my Facebook, I reckon.
@scaler911
Pre’s is a nice (and sad) story – but to call him cyclings Merckx is just crazy. Zatopek, Viren, Coe ring a bell? Or just go straight to the greatest miler/1500 man of all time – Herb Elliot. Never ever beaten at the mile or 1500 (and a member of my golf club!).
@Marcus
Bekele, El Guerrouj…
@Blah
El Gerrouj was a massive favorite of mine. Morceli wasn’t bad either! The list could go on for days.
@Oli
Oooooh, maybe we can do a scan swap? You can’t really get them anymore, it would almost be worth PDF’ing them all the way through.
@Marcus
Greatest of all time is a tricky epithet to pin down and while Herb Elliot was clearly a bit swift, I’m not sure that the fact that he was never beaten is necessarily the beast measure of an athletes achievements. I’m not suggesting that Coe and Ovett were better but the fact that they butted up against each other while breaking records made that a pretty rich period.
The best? That would be my daughter, Katie who came over the line 2nd for her club and 1st girl for the club in the Under 16s today on her club debut at 10!
@frank
A works archive maybe. Although, if you were worried about the technicalities of publishing .pdfs an inner sanctum for the true adherents might be the thing.
@scaler911
I remember these things from the 80s. Can’t recall what they were called, but redneck unicycle is as good a name as any. I love the brake placement. When it’s panic time, grab your nuts!
@Chris
It is an an unwinnable argument (which is what makes it enjoyable), but even with his early retirement, Elliot did hold the 1500m world record from 1958 to 1967 (including breaking his own WR at the Rome Olympics when he ran the last 500m completely on his own).
Matched middle distance rivals typically make you run faster…
But if you value longevity, then El Gerrouj is pretty hard to beat.
Sounds like your daughter may have given you a chance to become another Damir Dokic. Don’t miss this opportunity.
@Marcus
Well, while I don’t want to go ’round with you about this, the stories (Merckx vs Pre) are different, but the drive to win IMHO, was the same.
What I always loved about Pre, was he was a small kid from a shit hole Oregon coast town that stirred up the running scene. It ended tragically, but for some time, he held most of the middle distance records. Agreeing to disagree: Pre is on the same pedestal as a runner to me, as Merckx was a cyclist. And my high school distance coach is (was) friends with Bill Bowerman, from who we got our workouts.
Sorry guys, I know this is a cycling site, and I don’t even run anymore.
@scaler911
You may not want to go around with me on this – but when you say something as patently ridiculous as Prefontaine being running’s Merckx, what do you expect?
Pre held American records, nothing else. A life tragically cut short? Yes. A world class athlete? We shall never know. With respect, whilst he might have been a great inspiration to you, a 4th in an Olympic 5000m doesn’t exactly put him up with Eddy (or Herb).
@Marcus
“Over his career, he won 120 of the 153 races he ran (78 percent)”- Pre (Wiki, but I knew that anyway). The flying Finn, Coe and Zatopek ended up being more decorated runners, but meh. I respect them, but they just don’t do it for me.
@frank
Sounds like a lot of work, but will see if I can! In the meantime, check out some photos from my public Facebook page – there are plenty more coming too…
Damn, it won’t load unless you click “view full version” wtf.
Anyway, here’s a taster.
@Oli
Oh dear baby Jeebus, Oli.
That is one fine, fine collection of photos you’ve got there. Thanks for the link. I’ll be slacking off at work for ages now perusing that selection.
The image above is burned into the tiny reptilian portion of my brain as a memory of a time and place from when I first began to love cycling, and more specifically road racing. It has the feel of Winning Magazine if only because that’s how I experienced that era.
Thanks for the memories.
@scaler911
Not trying to shit-stir (Aussie expression ftw), but if he had left the US more his win/loss would have been lower. Guy was awesome, I’m sure, but his wins and his records were in the US.
Every time you guys start arguing about runners I’m going to post another classic cycling photo.
@Oli
As long as they include blokes with awesome mustaches as well, keep ’em coming. Great photo Oli
@Oli
Alexi Grewal
1984 Olympic Road Race
Those Pinarellos were everywhere the following summer.
@Oli
Brilliant. I think the same should be done for mention of ball sports.
@Marko
So who is the best runner the AFL has seen? Got to be Chris Judd, yeh? He held APS athletics records when at school. Truly, the Merckx of running AFL players.
NB: This is shit stirring.
@Blah
I have no fucking clue what AFL means, who this Chris Judd is, or what APS refers to. But one thing I do know is The Badger wasn’t trying to mimic football by carrying his bidon in this way, he was laying down some V with Freddy hot on his heels.
I might keep up the argument about runners just to keep Oli posting awesome photos.
@Oli
I’d probably put up with more meaningless blather about runners to get more photos Oli-archive, but be careful what you offer — not only could the topic overtake this blog, you might find keeping your end of the bargain to require full time work!