Anatomy of a Photo: Snowy Mountain Stages

Vittorio Adorni taught Merckx how to manage himself during a Grand Tour. I wasn’t a part of any of those conversations, but I’m betting there were heavy conversations about not being a little bitch about bad weather, gravel roads, and high snowy mountain passes.

This photo proves the entire modern peloton needs a giant Rule #5 suppository.

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37 Replies to “Anatomy of a Photo: Snowy Mountain Stages”

  1. Imagine how Adorni would react to his riders sitting in the nice, warm team bus and tweeting about how they didn’t feel like racing that day, due to less than ideal weather…

    I wager he’d leave a few smashed smart phones in his wake!

  2. its suppose to be 80 next week here in the mid Atlantic, warmest weather so far.  Part of me is very excited,…..part of me is mourning winter, and the roads who were shared by only the most committed.  My saving grace is the fact that there is a steady rain today, maybe i’ll take the long way home.

  3. Gravel roads? This weekend I’m doing the Bear 100 in Laona, WI. Temps in the 70s expected! 160kms in total and about 150 of those on gravel.

  4. @wiscot

    Gravel roads? This weekend I’m doing the Bear 100 in Laona, WI. Temps in the 70s expected! 160kms in total and about 150 of those on gravel.

    Really awesome!!!  I’m jealous!  I am riding the Battenkill ride, around 110 k’s but only 20 of those dirt/gravel.

    And Frahnk, what is there to say on this thread that you have not already said.  That pic stands alone!  fucking brilliant!

  5. @hudson

    @wiscot

    just looked that up, looks pretty epic. good luck!

    Thanks! I did it last October too. They call it the Hibernator 100 in October! This time I know what I’m in for, but the forecast is for 70s! (Last year it was upper 40s). Biggest issue is water – there’s only one rest stop – the Rescue squad trailer in the middle of the woods at the 35 and 77 mile marks. Food I can carry, but water is the issue. I said I’d pay another $10 to have one more water stop. We’ll see . . .

  6. The end of the ride at the North Cascades Highway, Washington, USA this spring.  A great ride if you time the road closure well.

  7. @Olli

    I’m so jealous, it takes us 3 days to get our roads cleared after 4 inches…..i mean i’m jealous of the ride and scenery too,…but really, your plow guys must be on it!

  8. @hudson

    The credit goes to the Rocky Mountain National Park here in Colorado. They usually try to open the pass (Trail Ridge) on Memorial Day, so they work hard beforehand. It’s certainly impressive and as of know, still closed for cars.

  9. I can almost feel the waves of refrigerated air coming off those ice walls – Vittorio has on the same gear I might wear on a showery but warm summers day ride. Tough as nails..

  10. @frank is this not a reflection of society in general ?

    Seems the values, work ethic and respect of ” the good ol’ days ” has gone and the era of entitlement is here.

    Instead of doing the work then getting rewarded, it seems that now people expect the reward, then they will do the work !

    Thus flowing into sport.

     

     

  11. Go out and explore!  It might not be as bad as you think.  What’s the worst that can happen aside from your own personal remake of the final scene from the Shining?

    Last weekend we left home to ride Juniper Pass – topping out around 3350m.  It was 3C at the base of the climb 1000m below the summit.  But by the time we were about 1/3 of the way up the pass, we crossed an inversion and suddenly it was 11C.  Not great, but warm enough.  We kept climbing above the clouds and eventually into the sunshine.  Unfortunately we did have to descend back into the icebox.

    Trail Ridge would probably be in the line of sight from the left edge of this photo if not for the spruce trees and isn’t much higher.  Almost dry over on Juniper already.

  12. I’ll take the heat over the cold any day. And we’re fixen to get in to the hot season down here in the deep south of the US of A. No biggie. I actually love it. Hotter the better. But cold? Cold sux. Cold can kill you. You need fire to survive cold. Hot? Just some sweet tea and take a breather and all good. There’s been some hot stages at the Amgen in the past. Fun to watch that right now in add’n to Giro. Cheers all.

  13. I think Fiorenzo conversed with Vittorio as he conversed with Eddy.

    Finished 2nd in the 1956 Giro with two broken bones

  14. @imakecircles

    The end of the ride at the North Cascades Highway, Washington, USA this spring. A great ride if you time the road closure well.

    I smell an eastern WA cogal next spring…

  15. +1 Frank. But it seems to me that the softness goes deeper than wussy bitching about the weather. Back in the day there was no index shifting, much less brifters, 10 speeds. Period. Inner rings were a 42, so you dealt with it. And if you were so unlucky to not have Campy brakes, you damn well learned to descend effectively.

  16. @Bruce Lee

    { Forrest Gump voice } “They still 42.”

    My machine has reverted to 52/42 since my earliest training started on 52/42 — 27 years ago. I was lucky to have found my way with Campagnolo from the start — somehow.

  17. @universo

    @Bruce Lee

    { Forrest Gump voice } “They still 42.”

    Too bad the movie adulterated the actual line Winston Groom had Forrest say “Being an idiot a’nt no box of chocolates.”

     

  18. @Ccos

    @universo

    @Bruce Lee

    { Forrest Gump voice } “They still 42.”

    Too bad the movie adulterated the actual line Winston Groom had Forrest say “Being an idiot a’nt no box of chocolates.”

    { Burns Red In The Sun voice } “There is a pain between my ears that I do not understand.”

  19. @Barracuda

    @frank is this not a reflection of society in general ?

    Seems the values, work ethic and respect of ” the good ol’ days ” has gone and the era of entitlement is here.

    Instead of doing the work then getting rewarded, it seems that now people expect the reward, then they will do the work !

    Thus flowing into sport.

    Top marks; of course it is. Sport is but a simplified reflection of life.

  20. @Randy C

    I’ll take the heat over the cold any day. And we’re fixen to get in to the hot season down here in the deep south of the US of A. No biggie. I actually love it. Hotter the better. But cold? Cold sux. Cold can kill you. You need fire to survive cold. Hot? Just some sweet tea and take a breather and all good. There’s been some hot stages at the Amgen in the past. Fun to watch that right now in add’n to Giro. Cheers all.

    Heat can kill, too.

  21. @Bruce Lee

    +1 Frank. But it seems to me that the softness goes deeper than wussy bitching about the weather. Back in the day there was no index shifting, much less brifters, 10 speeds. Period. Inner rings were a 42, so you dealt with it. And if you were so unlucky to not have Campy brakes, you damn well learned to descend effectively.

    Fuckin’ spot on, Bevin. Nicely played. And extra points for not shitting on delta brakes.

  22. @frank

    @Bruce Lee

    +1 Frank. But it seems to me that the softness goes deeper than wussy bitching about the weather. Back in the day there was no index shifting, much less brifters, 10 speeds. Period. Inner rings were a 42, so you dealt with it. And if you were so unlucky to not have Campy brakes, you damn well learned to descend effectively.

    Fuckin’ spot on, Bevin. Nicely played. And extra points for not shitting on delta brakes.

    I’m guessing you’ll agree that Delta brakes were and are still awesome, Frank. Hell, Campy should bring them back into the line. Bikes are so light now the weight penalty is no longer a factor. Not to mention that Deltas are way better looking than discs are on their best day.

  23. @universo

    @Ccos

    @universo

    @Bruce Lee

    { Forrest Gump voice } “They still 42.”

    Too bad the movie adulterated the actual line Winston Groom had Forrest say “Being an idiot a’nt no box of chocolates.”

    { Burns Red In The Sun voice } “There is a pain between my ears that I do not understand.”

    Man, I love that book.  The movie is great as well but the novel,as always, outshines the movie.

  24. OK, long time reader, first time poster.  Apologies for a seemingly off-topic post (although I’m sure Rule #5 will be invoked by some, which kind of fits with the photo).  And honestly, I’m only writing this because I consider the readership of this website a ‘safe space’ to bring this up.  That and the fact that the offending article (which I’ll get to in a second) was recommended here in a post relating to shaving of one’s legs.

    Tomorrow I’ll be taking part in the San Diego Century – 105 miles with over 7,000ft of climbing.  Here’s my problem…. I recently bought the Norelco Bodygroom ‘male grooming’ device, on the recommendation of several contributors.  As someone endowed with more than enough hair (all over), I was keen to try it out.

    Not content with maintaining my legs, last night I decided to venture ‘further north’, safe in the knowledge that others had blazed the trail and I had nothing to worry about.  Then the inevitable happened.  Over-enthusiastic application of said device led to a nasty nick in the worst possible location (the taint, in case you were unclear).

    Now I face the prospect of attempting an Imperial ton with (at best) a sore arse, and (at worst) a DNF due to excruciating pain and bleeding rear-end.  If anyone else is in San Diego, taking part in tomorrow’s event, and sees someone on the side of the road crying and holding their backside in agony, that’ll be me.  Stop and say hi.

  25. @Gordon

    Welcome.  Though forgive me but I’m not sure whether to wince or cry laughing.

    They key that you missed of course was hidden in your line “recommended here in a post relating to shaving of one’s legs”.

  26. @Teocalli

    Having read pretty much the entire back catalog of posts here at velominati.com, I deemed all the advice given here to be completely trustworthy….  Although I am very trusting as a rule.

    Maybe tomorrow will serve as a valuable life lesson… I’ll keep you posted

     

  27. @Teocalli

    And just to reinforce my lack of cognitive ability – I managed to set up my username incorrectly, hence the (now correct) handle.

     

  28. @chuckp

    Awesome pic.  Especially the dude poking out the top of the Fiat in his single-breast coat, cig hanging out of his mouth.  Casually deliberate, no?

  29. @Bruce Lee

    +1 Frank. But it seems to me that the softness goes deeper than wussy bitching about the weather. Back in the day there was no index shifting, much less brifters, 10 speeds. Period. Inner rings were a 42, so you dealt with it. And if you were so unlucky to not have Campy brakes, you damn well learned to descend effectively.

    Shifting? Inner rings? Those things would have seemed cool, but already soft, to the old timers. They changed their gearing manually, on the side of the road. They road 400km stages. The first Tour was won on a bike not with a relatively poor braking system, but no on-bike system at all. The application of sturdy footwear to crappy roads was the approach for these hard men.

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