Body Language
A true leader rarely asks someone to do something for them; the best leaders inspire through their own example those around them to follow suit and join them in their cause. The leader is fueled by something that is not externally driven, it is born from within and appears in this world as passion and conviction. These qualities, in their genuine state, are irresistible.
Style is a special kind of art, it is not the kind of art that is hung on the wall and gazed upon by passers by; like leadership, it is not externally focussed but instead is something one uses to shape how we feel. We become a piece of living, breathing art. And then, hypothetically, after you spill some mustard down the front of your lovely, crisp shirt, the art might also take on an olfactory quality as well.
A foundational principle of La Vie Velominatus is the power of Looking Fantastic: of dressing up in impeccable, matching kit and climbing aboard a perfectly curated, cleaned, and tuned machine before setting out onto the road brimming with confidence and oozing morale. As Paul Fournel said, “To look good is already to go fast.”
There might actually be some science behind it, which I’ve never needed but always assumed there would be.
Research suggests that our own body language can alter our hormonal levels to the effect that they significantly change the way we perceive ourselves. (If you haven’t watched Amy Cuddy‘s TED Talk on Body Language, you should.) In her studies, she found that something as simple as adopting a high power stance for two minutes can increase testosterone levels by 80% (making one more confident and assertive) and reduce cortisol levels by 25% (making one less reactive to stress).
Both of these sound a lot like how kitting up for a cold, rainy ride in my Flandrian Best makes me feel; I will set out into the deluge brimming with confidence and ready to face the cold and risks that come as a part of not only riding a bike, but riding one in wet, poor-visibility conditions. At high speed. If standing in a bathroom with your arms in the air for two minutes can measurably change your hormone levels for the better, then I have every reason to believe that knowing that you Look Fantastic at All Times would have the same, if not stronger, effect.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
Im assuming then that having one’s arms crossed is a sign of closed communication or It’s a sign of “I’ll smile for the camera but then get out of my face ! “
I’ve listened to that TED Talk more than once and loved it. Can’t believe I didn’t consciously connect it to Fournel’s Theorem.
@Barracuda
Nope. Just being casually deliberate.
@frank It’s a fine theory and one that I try to adhere to but the tricky bit is to maintain those high levels of self confidence/dutch delusion when you hit the first hill or turn into a headwind.
In reality the benefits of Looking Fantastic are ephemeral without serious application of the V and Training Properly.
Yes. I’ve been having a bit of a crisis of confidence recently (am I training too hard, am I not training hard enough, am I ill, should I just HTFU, have I got my bike set up wrong,etc), but through a bit of PMA and an application of the V I’m feeling much more positive and ready for the racing season.
Just hope I can engineer a race situation where I can use my sprint.
Of course, there is always the possibility that looking fantastic is simply le poseur.
Brilliant TED talk. I had never seen that. I think she says around minute 11:00 that it is a 20% increase after two minutes, not 80%, in testosterone but even with that logic, I wonder how much increase I can get if I walk around ALL DAY and even sleep in a POWER posture, Baby!
But this really hits home for me as on two of my deployments to Iraq my Unit had a full company of Navy SEALs attached to us and it was a standing joke amongst my guys that you could not graduate SEAL School until you learned to permanently stand in a “Tough Guy” stance. Seriously, those dudes ALWAYS stood with their chests flared and their thumbs in the tops of their pants, even right before going on target. Guess it makes sense as they all had a ton of testosterone, both endogenous AND exogenous!
When I put in the effort to pick out what looks fantastic, I therefore feel fantastic and therefore perform fantastic. When I don’t put this effort in, like when I just pull something out of the drawer because I’m in a rush or don’t really care, right off the bat I’ve made an unconscious decision to not perform my best. This is especially true on the bicycle, but looking fantastic also transcends other aspects of my life. My other passion, golf, is just as much of a mental grind as is riding a bicycle up a long false flat into a headwind. If any part of my mind has any doubts, I might as well not play. Wearing the right golf attire takes about 5 strokes off my game before I even arrive at the golf course. Same is true at work, in the gym, or when going out in public.
Looking fantastic and the benefits one derives from doing so therefore all boil down to one thing: confidence.
In my weekly core/strength training class (full of triathletes, runners, and an occasional cyclist), a woman told me once that she had received the advice to not ride too close to people who didn’t shave the guns (I’m paraphrasing). Even the non-Velominati understand the implications of avoidance of traditions.
First of all, introducing myself: Sebastian, novice cyclist (graveur/CX) from Chile (South America)…
As a psychologyst, i’ve been applying this from a long time: usually used it with my patients with low self steem or the ones that have issues addressing their needs or acting assertively: works like a charm!!
As an aesthete myself, I use it too: fully combined cycling attire, my beloved bike looking great, and a big attitude, intimidates even the hardest MTB’ers and makes them wonder if they should keep using full-suspension bikes to stand a chance against my rigid bike, heh…
Cheers!!!
@Buck Rogers
Contrasted with…….
@Sebastian Bustos
Welcome. Cool photo.
This! This is what its about. As much as i adore tanned guns and the quiet hum of the tires on the road on a June afternoon, out sprinting my ghost adversaries…i even more so have fallen lustfully over the V that it takes to kit up at 5 am knowing full well the pain of the frigid air awaiting me and the slush that has been deposited on the road while i slumber, taping over the cleats just so i can make it through the snow in the drive to get to the road. To me this is cycling at its finest. Early morning hours or not, i will look fantastic even if no one sees me.
I had two incredible social psychology professors in college. Both were brilliant, yet both were also able to truly connect and teach, which is something many geniuses lack.
One of them is actually the person who accidentally gave me the nickname “Ron,” which stuck.
I need to Look Fantastic, by default. I have a closet of clothes I’ve never, ever worn because they don’t fit Just Right. From kit to street clothes, I have to have the perfect fit.
As for body stance, leading, and looking fantastic, since most of us have played competitive team sports/sports in our lives, these are all things we’ve learned and developed over time. It’s something that you can’t quite get from other pursuits. To sweat, to bleed, to argue, to compete teaches so many important lessons.
Sebastian – welcome! (the carrot). Now…are your bars wrapped with the Shroud of Turin? (the stick).
@Sebastian Bustos
Welcome! Beautiful photo, but I’m with @Ron… what in the name of Merckx is going on with your bar tape?
@RobSandy
Patience fellow Pedalwan, patience. Don’t be too keen to engineer a situation in a race unless you’ve got a team to work for or to work for you. Take time, and a few early races, to read the field; watch how others ride. The patient warrior waits for the opportunity but is always preparing and ready for its arrival.
Then, when that moment arrives, you can crush the fools, ride them off your wheel, and hear the lamentation of their coaches. (paraphrased from a certain barbarian)
@Sebastian Bustos
Welcome aboard! Our first South American Velominatus unless I’m much mistaken. Keep sending the awesome pictures (but fix the bar tape and position of your rear wheel skewer first!)
@hudson
Perfectly stated! Recently I realized that instead of complaining about not riding my bike much I could start riding to work as a means to fit more time in on the bike. On one of my first rides in it started sleeting heavily as I rode in. While I was firing up my lights on my bike in the garage I thought it was just snow. I was wrong. At any rate while all the motorists sat in gridlocked traffic on the main roads because of the weather and related accidents I rolled down the side streets with the biggest nervous smile thinking “man I can’t believe I haven’t crashed in this sleet and I bet I look like a fantastic badass in this black kit/black bike combo.” My coworkers all thought I was insane, I pointed out that I probably made better time than them that morning.
@Buck Rogers
Are those guys doping? I suppose in war it doesn’t matter, I’m just a little surprised to hear that. Fuch, though, anything to win a war! That actually IS life and death!
When you come out here in May, you’ll have to come prepared with a doping schedule for me for l’Huere!
@chris
A symbiotic circle, my friend. Dressing well will only give you the confidence to be able to train hard and well, it won’t actually make you strong in and of itself. Do your time in the saddle, and Look Fantastic at all times.
@PeakInTwoYears
Did you watch the one I linked to the other week on The Golden Circle? Brand Management is near and dear to my heart for the obvious reasons, and the simplicity of that message, not to mention the biological connection to the style of communication is just brilliant.
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en
@Vince
This.
@Sebastian Bustos
Welcome! Beautiful photo! And don’t listen to these savages about your bar tape. I know what tape it is, and good on ya, mate.
@hudson
Yes! We Look Fantastic first and foremost for ourselves, the fact that other people see us and bask in our Awesome is just icing on the cake.
And you’re riding in slush? On what kind of tires? The only time I reach for the trainer in lieu of a road ride is when it’s black-ice territory. Which isn’t to say I don’t ride the trainer otherwise – I do because it is good training and makes the stroke more magnificent, but the only weather that keeps me indoors irrespective is ice…
@Buck Rogers
I’ll have to listen to it again, I watched it twice, but English isn’t my first language so I might have gotten it wrong.
@frank
Let’s just say that I would check a bunch of guys liver function tests and kidney function levels a few times a year to make sure that no one was destroying their organs JUST IN CASE they were on steroids,HGH, etc.
But, yes, they took PEDs in order to better kill people that needed killing, not win a sporting competition. Different arena for sure.
@Frank two things.
Great that you started “A true leader rarely asks someone to do something for them” in so far as a true leader does not have to “tell”.
But I can’t quite get my head around “standing in a bathroom with your arms in the air for two minutes” beyond trying to fix the lightbulb.
@Teocalli
Don’t knock it till you trot it, motherfucker.
@frank
Ha Ha. That would be those leadership skills bursting out again?
@Sebastian Bustos
Mountain biking?? You call those mountains??? Just jokes. Very cool scenery. Cheers indeed.
@Barracuda
OK I give up: who is that simply relaxed Mapei billboard, and how can I get some of that cozy-looking kit? I’m breaking in my new Mapei Team Colnago EPS and I just gotta wear that full-on hideous outfit. While Looking Pro over a Cappuccino, it’s so important to look fast while sitting still. Deliberately.
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!!
The bar tape is my old racer-grandad’s trick ;) plus, cloth has an excellent grip!! just used it for a while, though, due to busting my tape going down a singletrack the evening before that ride ;P already adressed both the tape and skewer issue!!
@Sebastian Bustos
There seems to be a fault with the punctuation keys on your keyboard. It must be that because emoticons are frowned upon here so you can’t be using them.
@DeKerr
Wisdom indeed.
I will wait, and watch, and learn. And when they time is right, only then will I crush fools.
@Ron
Wait a minute, are you telling us NOW that Ron isn’t you’re real name? Not sure I can deal with that.
@Teocalli Gotcha! T’was indeed a keyboard fault… Will address it asap
@David Beers
If you mean the guy in the lead photo, that’s Johan Museeuw, The Lion of Flanders. Forgive me if you already knew this. I wasn’t sure if you were asking about him or not in your above post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnX4uaDYyIU
@frank
S-Works Turbo 26mm, nothing special…the VMW won’t let me purchase a cross bike for the task or it “comes out of my funds for my new #1”. I justify the stupidity of being ill equipped by calling it “Bike handling skills training”. They do tend to be adventurous mornings! I refuse to go to a trainer, i see too many that make it a “go to” from October to March. I do not deny the training value of them and perhaps i’m cutting myself short, but for me road cycling is done on a road. I wouldn’t train for football/soccer on a treadmill. Maybe if i lived in the PNW i’d have a different outlook.
@RobSandy
Hey Rob. Sorry for the misrepresentation. It was completely unintentional. Give first name = Ryan. Named used by anyone friendly with me post-2001 = Ron.
Story is pretty funny. Was in a large college course, raised my hand to make a smartass comment to try and get my friends laughing. Professor calls on me, “Your name, please, first.” I said Ryan, but I’m a low talker. “Okay, go ahead Ron…” Numerous friends throughout the room let out a low laugh. I just let it go, though I raised my hand as much as possible that semester so she’d call me Ron again. Summer off, then I spent a semester abroad. I return a full year later and have a much smaller class with the same professor. She asks me to stay after class on the first day. “Oh god, I’ve already made a bad impression and am getting a talking to?!” She asks if I prefer to be called Ryan or Ron. I had completely forgotten, it being a year on (very long ago for a teenage mind). “You can call me whatever you want, but my given name is Ryan.” I didn’t realize until I was walking back to my dorm what had happened.
She became my advisor and actually told my parents that story at my college graduation when she met them. Good god, a full adult, a college grad…and I was still the same wise guy I was in 2nd grade.
So, there ya go! I see it as a sign of affinity, since only my pals and those close to me call me that. And, since I feel like I’m amongst pals here, I just decided to use my nickname. Sorry for the confusion and I hope we can still be friends.
TGIF everyone. Commuted in full kit this morning on the carbone road bike, which feels a lot more awesome than riding the heavy commuter steed. Enjoy your weekends!
@David Beers
Try here……. http://www.prendas.co.uk/teams/mapei-retro-team.html
@frank
Just watched it. Yeah, that’s a fabulous talk. (And I could listen to his mid-Atlantic accent all day.)
@Ron
Great story! And FWIW, my real name’s not Wiscot . . . I’d be quite interested in knowing what some of the other Velominati are really called. I heard Frank’s real name is Hennie.
I might get out for a ride on Sunday – mid 30’s forecast!
@litvi
You know how it goes. There are no pants pockets on fast kit. If you don’t have a bike to hold or lean on, what are you going to do? I suppose there is the “Napoleon” solutions, but really…
Years ago when doing a surgery rotation as a student, one of the Surgical Attendings loudly told a turtle-neck wearing intern to go home and put on a “proper shirt and tie” because he looked like a “fucking neurologist.” That has stuck with me.
Looking the business extends beyond the bike. Gotta look the part to be the part. (Apologies to all the turtle neck wearing Neurologists who may be reading this).
@Teocalli
Funny to think that this Mapei kit was seen by many as particularly ghastly back in the day, even by mid90s full-on hideous standards.I remember Vittorio Adorni writing in his Bicisport column that having to wear that kit -especially those bib shorts- was a human rights violation or something of the kind…
How time passes… We know look at Museeuw in awe, we see a champion, one of the last true greats -he could make any piece of bike clothing look great. Even those terrible cycling shorts you see in discount retail chains in July. Even the Footon-Servetto kit from 2010.
@Mick
It also doesn’t hurt that kit AT ALL that he is in the rainbow jersey. I still maintain that it was (is) a hideous kit but the jersey was made incredibly better with the rainbow jersey.
@Ccos
Conformity has its place/use. But there’s also something to be said about not going along with everyone else and just being different. Being “proper” can be oh so dull and boring. You need to have fun every once in a while.
@wiscot
FFS … Frank’s real name is Francis … and he is a she.
@Buck Rogers
I know I’m in the minority with this group, but I loved it then and still do. The Mapei kit was so hideous it was beautiful. So 90s, which was the apex of my racing days.
@Buck Rogers