Categories: Defining MomentsExportLa Vie Velominatus

Youth

René Privat wears yellow as Master Jacques reads a newspaper and tries not to notice.

I’ve never been afraid of imitating my heroes, they always seemed like the best examples available and as a student of life (as every child is) it seemed normal to me to copy every aspect of their lives that I had visibility into. I copied my dad’s handwriting as I was learning to write just as I copied Greg LeMond’s position on the bike as I was learning how to get serious about Cycling. None of my friends recognized my dad’s handwriting; they all thought my handwriting looked different from everyone else so they figured I had “cool” handwriting. All of my friends who rode bikes recognized Greg Lemond’s riding style; they all figured I was a copycat.

It was an early lesson; neither the complement nor the criticism meant terribly much to me; I was busy learning and that was good enough for me. I have to say, though, that as I’ve grown older, I’ve become more fond of my younger self, that version of me who didn’t feel the influence of what others believed so much. As we age, we “know” more and we “believe” less. Preserving the ability to believe is what keeps us young; for that reason alone, I refuse to grow up and insist on believing in everything I find beautiful, however irrational it might be.

Which brings me to Cycling; Cycling is the perfect way to stay in touch with the more delicate aspects of what we love in our lives. Riding in the first place is already enough; breathing the air and indulging in the tension of strength in our muscles and body as we ride brings an awareness that most people don’t have the opportunity to experience. As we develop in the sport, we start to test the limits of our bodies and equipment; testing is the way we experience growth and the development of our skill.

Every time we climb aboard a bicycle, we are testing our limits the same as we did as children; to be a Cyclist is to be young again. Vive la Vie Velominatus.

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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View Comments

chuckp says:

Feb 15 2017 at 7:40 am

@Jay

Frank: I like this essay and you express in it thoughts that many of us probably also think. But, I have another view of my bicycle and riding it. My bike is a time machine. When I ride it I am often transported back to my youth and the feelings that I enjoyed while riding my bike, at least in a metaphysical sense. That is the best part of riding for me. I am chasing my youth and while I will never capture that, I can recapture those feelings and I will do so for as long as I am able.

In a similar vein, I know I'm old(er) but when I ride I don't feel quite so old. Not quite chasing my youth, but feeling younger than my actual chronological age. And always nice when I'm able to hang with the young(er) guns.
Ron says:

Feb 15 2017 at 7:50 am

My bike is a time machine for me due to the fact that whether I ride for 30 minutes to get to my office or for a few hours for pleasure, I'm always transformed, calmed, and of a better mindset than prior to the ride.
Ron says:

Feb 15 2017 at 8:33 am

Was playing soccer last night when a sweetheart of a Youth decided he wanted to kick around my spare ball on the sideline. He and his pal kept on coming onto the field, interfering with the game. Someone told him to cut it out. He proceeded to punt my ball into the woods, then try to walk off. Told him to go collect it. He did, then threw it into the middle of our game. I told him to quit being a puke. He gave me the finger and told me to fuck off.

I imparted some wisdom to the scrawny teen: You're going to do that to the wrong person one day soon and it's gonna hurt. Badly.

I cannot imagine acting like that to a field full of much larger adult strangers. Good god.
wiscot says:

Feb 15 2017 at 8:55 am

@Ron

Was playing soccer last night when a sweetheart of a Youth decided he wanted to kick around my spare ball on the sideline. He and his pal kept on coming onto the field, interfering with the game. Someone told him to cut it out. He proceeded to punt my ball into the woods, then try to walk off. Told him to go collect it. He did, then threw it into the middle of our game. I told him to quit being a puke. He gave me the finger and told me to fuck off.

I imparted some wisdom to the scrawny teen: You’re going to do that to the wrong person one day soon and it’s gonna hurt. Badly.

I cannot imagine acting like that to a field full of much larger adult strangers. Good god.

The kid is lucky you were not the "wrong person."
wiscot says:

Feb 15 2017 at 8:56 am

@Ccos

No matter how they feel, I think cyclists look younger on the bike. I also think I (and most people) look heavier when on the bike for some strange reason. The Gorilla for example looks well, like a gorilla on the bike and like a little kid on the podium (if you don’t look at his guns that is).

Agreed. Off the bike in street clothes I look pretty decent (6' 1" and around 190lbs) but I've seen pics of me on the bike and I look like Lampre man. WTF?
Teocalli says:

Feb 15 2017 at 1:14 pm

@wiscot

@Ron

Was playing soccer last night when a sweetheart of a Youth decided he wanted to kick around my spare ball on the sideline. He and his pal kept on coming onto the field, interfering with the game. Someone told him to cut it out. He proceeded to punt my ball into the woods, then try to walk off. Told him to go collect it. He did, then threw it into the middle of our game. I told him to quit being a puke. He gave me the finger and told me to fuck off.

I imparted some wisdom to the scrawny teen: You’re going to do that to the wrong person one day soon and it’s gonna hurt. Badly.

I cannot imagine acting like that to a field full of much larger adult strangers. Good god.

The kid is lucky you were not the “wrong person.”

Many years ago in the era when I used to play Rugby, 3 guys went to mug a chap who happened to play for another Rugby club in the area. They picked on the "wrong person", 2 ended up in hospital with broken bones and the 3rd ran off while he was dealing with the other two. In those days the Police were able to say "they got what they deserved". They still charged them with attempted mugging though.
Ccos says:

Feb 15 2017 at 2:33 pm

@Teocalli

@wiscot

@Ron

Was playing soccer last night when a sweetheart of a Youth decided he wanted to kick around my spare ball on the sideline. He and his pal kept on coming onto the field, interfering with the game. Someone told him to cut it out. He proceeded to punt my ball into the woods, then try to walk off. Told him to go collect it. He did, then threw it into the middle of our game. I told him to quit being a puke. He gave me the finger and told me to fuck off.

I imparted some wisdom to the scrawny teen: You’re going to do that to the wrong person one day soon and it’s gonna hurt. Badly.

I cannot imagine acting like that to a field full of much larger adult strangers. Good god.

The kid is lucky you were not the “wrong person.”

Many years ago in the era when I used to play Rugby, 3 guys went to mug a chap who happened to play for another Rugby club in the area. They picked on the “wrong person”, 2 ended up in hospital with broken bones and the 3rd ran off while he was dealing with the other two. In those days the Police were able to say “they got what they deserved”. They still charged them with attempted mugging though.

I'm told, "he had it coming" was (or perhaps still is) a legitimate plea in Texas courts for when you're charged with killing someone...
ChrisO says:

Feb 15 2017 at 3:44 pm

@RobSandy

@Teocalli

The purple bike’s seattube looks more angled back – but the saddle looks like it’s pointing up so perhaps the front wheel is slightly raised on something.

The top tubes seem to be running parallel but I think it's just the angle and that the bike behind is further forward.

Any idea what the thing on the bottom of the down tube on the blue bike might be? A sort of canister. Maybe for tools or something but it seems an odd place to put it.
Randy C says:

Feb 15 2017 at 6:36 pm

@chuckp

Very cool. And these cats too, Low bikes in San Fran, are building custom alloy frames and bikes. They have quality snapshots of their bikes at Flickr and that are fun to check out different colorways.
Cameron W says:

Feb 15 2017 at 9:07 pm

Looks to me like the purple frame is sitting more upright, and the blue is leaning over at a greater angle against the car.

To me the canister looks like some sort of Wile E Coyote rocket apparatus. i'd like to think that is what it is anyway. I loved Road Runner.