Anatomy of a Photo: Just Go Faster

Phil Anderson does the Cipolini "Where are you guys?"

This photo of Phil Anderson’s genuine surprise at the gap between himself and the guy who won at losing reminds me of a story my dad tells of a crewmate from his boat at Laga. My dad was the stroke in a boatful of guys who went on to the compete in several World Championships and the Olympics, some of whom actually won medals there.

Two of the guys even became World Champion in the double one year, winning the race by a few boat lengths. During his post-race interview, one of the two was asked what the secret was to their dominating win. In all seriousness, he responded as follows:

For an important race like this, I’m a little surprised the other guys didn’t pull on the oars harder.

I loves me a good, Stead Up with More Speed Paradox.

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102 Replies to “Anatomy of a Photo: Just Go Faster”

  1. @frank
    Might be worth mentioning that ‘stache in Rule #50 but only in the spirit of Pantani’s goatee. Like the goatee, it is in the category of exception that proves the wisdom of the rule — as an accomplishment beyond the means of mere mortals.

  2. @frank
    Are you freaking serious? That whole blog was created in about 5 minutes as a direct mockery of the slammed stem philosophy espoused here, where “it looks cool” seems to be more important than “it fits good”!

    I don’t care if you have no spacers, spacers, a negative rise stem, or a positive rise one, or any combination thereof if you actually fit your bike properly.

  3. @Oli
    No, I wasn’t serious. One look at this comedy gold and it’s obvious you’re being just as silly as we are.

    So much for internet sarcasm. I do seem to have struck a nerve, though. I think it’s important to remember that anyone who reads the Rules and hasn’t said, “What a bunch of fucking idiots” within two minutes gets that it is all just a big laugh.

    Ride lots, whatever that means for you, even if you just ride a stretch limo bakfiets.

  4. @Nate

    @frank
    Might be worth mentioning that ‘stache in Rule #50 but only in the spirit of Pantani’s goatee. Like the goatee, it is in the category of exception that proves the wisdom of the rule “” as an accomplishment beyond the means of mere mortals.

    Absolutely the lines I was thinking along as well.

    @wiscot

    @frank
    I’ll be happy to draft something.

    Go for it! Post it inline here or on The Rules and we’ll croudsource it.

  5. @wiscot
    Class. It all comes down to the fact that they don’t make mustaches like they used to. The 70s-80s were the heyday.

  6. @frank
    Indeed, Danny Clark was so fast he could actually lap the field and sling himself into the race to give himself a rest. The Hedron collider had nothing on him . . .

  7. @RedRanger
    Your like to ebay had hairnets. I hadn’t seen you link yet when I responded.

    @Nate

    @frank , @wiscot
    How not to grow stach:

    Exactly. My mustache, were I to grow one, would be even worse. It’s very easy to just look greasy with a mustache. Or like you have a dirty lip.

  8. @frank

    @RedRanger

    ARE WE BACK?

    WE’RE BACK!! WHO-HOO!!

    Don’t you dare do that to me again, I very nearly had to do work & on a Friday and everything!

  9. @wiscot
    Yes, unless he is trying to deceive other racers about his V-ness.

    @frank

    Exactly. My mustache, were I to grow one, would be even worse. It’s very easy to just look greasy with a mustache. Or like you have a dirty lip.

    Me too. My criticism is probably motivated by unconscious jealousy.

  10. @all

    Oh, and by the bye, could we please collectively refrain from referring the old helmets as ‘sausage helmets’?
    They were, are ‘hairnets’.

    That is all.

  11. @frank

    It’s not lens flare unless there’s some sort of space/time anomaly around his right leg (or it’s just made from nurtrinos).

  12. @wiscot

    That’s class – there was a piece on Danny Clark on CT recently too.

    Love the bit about the Penny Farthing championships. Anyone else would be doing it for a laugh but he’s using the cross wind to put them in the gutter… that’s a real hard nut.

  13. I don’t think it’s a Valvoline logo though, here’s a crop of the full sized image.

  14. @michael
    Speaking of space time anomalies, WTF is that chicken doing there?
    Ooh, ooh. I think I’ve just won the ‘stump @Oli’ competition.

  15. @mouse

    @all
    Oh, and by the bye, could we please collectively refrain from referring the old helmets as ‘sausage helmets’?
    They were, are ‘hairnets’.
    That is all.

    So ‘bunch of bananas’ is out also?

  16. How come Phil A always looks so high above his bike – did he have massively long legs and cranks, or a tiny bikeframe or summink?

    For an Aussie, he has an amazing amount of style

  17. @frank
    See, we’re sensible. We know we can’t grow mustaches so we don’t try. Mr Kwantum clearly doesn’t know he can’t either . . .

  18. @mouse
    It’s a very young Michael Rasmussen who couldn’t get out of the way when Phil laid down the V and was crushed against the stem like a bug on a windshield.

  19. @michael

    I don’t think it’s a Valvoline logo though, here’s a crop of the full sized image.

    I think that, if anything, the chicken proves that it is, in fact, a space-time continuum thing.

    Too fucked.

  20. @Dr C

    For an Aussie, he has an amazing amount of style

    I tell you this purely to assist with your cycling edification – Phil was born in London.

  21. @ChrisO
    I saw a dude out on a penny farthing this weekend, cruising down a 2% false flat on the opposite side of the road. Incredible sight.

    @michael
    Hasn’t one of our Melbournians ridden with Phil on Beach Road? Clearly we need to hear about this direct from Phil hisself.

  22. Marko – Slick Serotta! Love that bike & build up. What tape is on there?

    Ah, the DA aero post, not the Campa. I have one of each, very sexy seat pillars fo’ sho.

  23. photos are mixed from 88 and 89 seasons. Note changes of red in TVM jersey and paint scheme of bike. Head tube silver vs. blue. Not to mention the obvious from the World Champs photo.

    V is clearly present if one can look intimidating AND carry a chicky. In contrast, even a PRO can look like shit with a poor mustache.

    Long stear tubes with 10-15mm of extra spacers used to show up alot at the classics.

  24. Well thanks to Frank and all of you for ejumacatin’ a Yank about Phil Anderson. Having been a cyclist since being a high school freshman in 1988, I was steeped in the lore of LeMan and to a lesser degree Hampsten. Certainly their reps were well-earned, but I never really heard much about anyone else from that era. Sure, being a kid who liked things other didn’t, (cycling, New Order instead of Winger) I had my favorite non-‘Merican cyclists: Jelle Nijdam with his 2k to go suicide attacks, Gert Jan scowling his way up the mountains, etc. But I never heard too much about Phil Anderson. Not sure why. I knew he was a stud but never really appreciated him. So thanks. Those pics of him KILLING IT out of the saddle have me sporting a semi-chub. Pure style. Love it.

  25. @Otoman

    I never heard too much about Phil Anderson. Not sure why. I knew he was a stud but never really appreciated him

    Yeah, he was basically Australian Cycling’s Bon Scott.

  26. @frank
    The chicken was put on his bike by girlfriend at the time & TVM soigneur, Shelley Verses because the race was on Easter Sunday 1988. So probably the Ronde Van Vllanderen from memory where he was on the attack, again. Check out the interview with Shelley in the latest Rouler magazine #25 to see what a legend she is. Sorry not a plug! But growing up in the 80’s as a teenager her name remains fixed in my memory & it was good to have a recap on how she started & some of the riders that she has worked with, Greg LeMan et al! Also what a boys club cycling was in the 80’s, she is a very brave person to have stuck it out at that time.
    The ‘V’ on the shorts is not Valvoline, but an italian clothing brand Vittore Gianni, this company also made the Ariostea team clothing in 1988 & 89. They seem to be the name of an original tailor in Milan back in 1876, on a brief search its a name linked to the Castelli clothing company and their history. But very apt that Phil was wearing a ‘V’, this guy was hard as nails, chicken or no chicken & the trail blazer for the current crop of Aussies in the peloton

  27. @roche kelly

    @frank
    The chicken was put on his bike by girlfriend at the time & TVM soigneur, Shelley Verses because the race was on Easter Sunday 1988. So probably the Ronde Van Vllanderen from memory where he was on the attack, again. Check out the interview with Shelley in the latest Rouler magazine #25 to see what a legend she is. Sorry not a plug! But growing up in the 80″²s as a teenager her name remains fixed in my memory & it was good to have a recap on how she started & some of the riders that she has worked with, Greg LeMan et al! Also what a boys club cycling was in the 80″²s, she is a very brave person to have stuck it out at that time.
    The ‘V’ on the shorts is not Valvoline, but an italian clothing brand Vittore Gianni, this company also made the Ariostea team clothing in 1988 & 89. They seem to be the name of an original tailor in Milan back in 1876, on a brief search its a name linked to the Castelli clothing company and their history. But very apt that Phil was wearing a ‘V’, this guy was hard as nails, chicken or no chicken & the trail blazer for the current crop of Aussies in the peloton

    Great memory you have there @roche kelly! The race was the Tour of Flanders, April 3 1988.
    I’ve never forgotten that little yellow fluffy chick hanging off Phil’s bike! This prompted me to flick through my library of the best bike mag ever printed in the 80’s, Winning-Bicycle Racing Illustrated, and share the memory with fellow Velominati!

    I really don’t know how he hooked up with Shelly, as she was Toshiba/Look’s soigneur!


    Back to the best bike mag ever printed in the 80’s, Winning-Bicycle Racing

    Illustrated.
    Illustrated, which led me to be my silent Cycling Sensei.

    I’d spend hours at a time studying each pic until the next edition came out.
    The bikes, the gear, the hand positions, pedal strokes, climbing positions, crash positions, background scenery (that’s how I learn;’t geography!) Then I might read the articles.
    Reading the articles was futile, as the pics on the page told me more than words could. Reading the faces of the peleton, a breakaway – solo or group spoke loudly to me!
    Unfortunately, for me, at the 80’s/90’s turn over, MTB’s took off and road racing got a bit thin on presence in the mag. (There’s a cover shot Feb 1988 of Kelly on a rigid Colnago (decaled) MTB!

    Housekeeping – Kudos to Winning for the pics! Most likely Graham Watson.

  28. Hmm, as for Phil + Shelly, I was re-reading some of Samuel Abt’s Up The Road last evening.

    From, “Taking Care of the Boys,”:

    Paul Kochli, the coach of the Toshiba team, tried to hire her late in 1986 but, Verses said, “I was intimidated by the offer and the team, and said no.” Then Peter Post, the manager of the Panasonic team, which is based in the Netherlands, called her at home in Santa Barbara, California, and offered a job. “It was less money but the team seemed more American because they all speak English.” She came to Panasonic’s notice when she served as soigneur to the team’s star rider, Phil Anderson, an Australia, during the world championships in Colorado in September 1986.

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