Anatomy of a Photo: Laurent Fignon, 1989 Tour de France

I know the feeling, Laurent. Sometimes I just want to give the cross winds a big, “Fuck You”, too.

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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michael says:

Aug 8 2011 at 9:50 pm

I like to be the first loser sometimes too.
GluteCramp says:

Aug 8 2011 at 10:27 pm

You should ride for #trekworld then... :-)
Eightzero says:

Aug 8 2011 at 10:34 pm

Note the sloped forward top tube.
Marcus says:

Aug 8 2011 at 11:02 pm

@michael

I like to be the first loser sometimes too.

Hmmm, Michael, aren't you the same fella who gets altitude training benefits by virtue of your stack height? And now you are dissing a two-time Tour winner?

Some respect would be nice!
Oli says:

Aug 8 2011 at 11:18 pm

Plus it's very bad form to speak ill of the dead...
il ciclista medio says:

Aug 8 2011 at 11:20 pm

@frank

yes exactly.
I have the maillot jaune, a fast bike, a pony tail because I can and want to and I am the strongest man in the tour who will ride everyone else into the ground. Don't fuck with me cross winds.
So true. This was his attitude.
Marcus says:

Aug 8 2011 at 11:27 pm

I recall reading somewhere many moons ago that disc wheels meant to be at their most aerodynamic in cross winds due to the "lift" that they get?

Of course, that same article did state that there may be some control issues which come into play...

And they sound sooooooo cool.
michael says:

Aug 8 2011 at 11:50 pm

It's not stack height, it's back inflexibility that keeps my head up in the air.
brett says:

Aug 9 2011 at 1:12 am

And he's got the wheel graphics aligned perfectly... how fucking pro.
ChrisO says:

Aug 9 2011 at 1:32 am

@Marcus

True but they are considerably more unstable because of the much higher side forces - the effect on handling would easily negate the drag reduction.