I have a friend who is borderline OCD. He’ll sometimes wash his hands dozens of times a day, doesn’t like sticky stuff, cats drive him to antihistamine hell and there is a place for everything, with everything in its place. This can be annoying, not only for those around him, but especially for himself. It’s not a great place to be.
The upside is his bikes are always meticulously maintained, fully Rule compliant, or they are in a state of tear-down having last week’s grease freshened up and each ball bearing individually polished. He’s gotten it under control quite admirably these days, and while a chip in the duco of his beautiful steel frame will still understandably piss him off, there’s not the slightest hint of sending it back to Italy to be re-sprayed by the 78 year old artisan who originally painted it, who inconveniently happened to retire in 1984. But you can rest assured the touch-up job he’ll do himself is of paintshop standard.
But I’ve never seen him muck around with his seatpost height. Not once it’s set, anyway.
This poses the question: did The Prophet have OCD? To this observer it seems so, if numerous viewings of Le Course En Tete and A Sunday in Hell are any reliable indicator. The guy was constantly fiddling with his seatpost height. His mechanic must’ve been ready to throw his hands in the air proclaiming “Merde, Eddy! I’ve measured it three times already! Why do you not trust me?”
It seemed to matter little to Eddy that poor Charly had adhered to the numbers scribbled on the lid of his toolbox, taken the slide rule and spirit level to every possible surface and angle, and used his impeccable line of sight to position the saddle just right, exactly where it was requested to be. “How’s that Eddy?” “Is perfect.” “Then why are you borrowing a spanner from RDV’s team car? Hmmm?”
If he wasn’t adjusting his saddle, he was adjusting his stem. If he wasn’t adjusting his stem, he was squirting water from his bidon onto his brakes. If he wasn’t doing that, he was simply laying down the law. The law of The Prophet.
Obsessive? Yes. Compulsive? For sure. Did it affect his ability to waste all comers? Not likely.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/brettok@velominati.com/merckx terryn/”/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@James
That sounds just the ticket - and I guess if you don't need it you can always spread it on a toasted muffin to go with a nice cup of tea - sounds tasty
@Dr C
Indeed, although I can't decide if it's a good thing to smell like chocolate down there!
@James
I thought the ladies liked the smell of chocolate.
Depends on what is on the menu I guess
@zalamanda
Try some mild cortisone cream, as long as you aren't subject to doping controls.
I wonder what it would be like if this guy met the Prophet in person:
Bike fit is an evolving science but the modern foundation was begun almost 30 years ago with the Look system,probably derived from the Renault team Hinault, Lemond,Fignon ,Madiot etc the first team to really look at ergonomics.I used this system back then about 1988 and used it for the next 5 years or so.I stopped riding for about 13 years or so and then after 3-4 years of riding got a Specialised BG fit, the only thing I needed to change was putting shims into the cleats and shoes to counter leg length discrepancies So I'm not sure if it's due to good bike fit in the first place or because I was used to riding in that position that I now naturally morph to that position despite my age and lack of flexibilty, muscle memory perhaps or a vain attempt to copy the pro's. The thing that strikes me most looking at modern riders is how far forward the seat is set, compared to riders like Hinault Lemond Fignon, Indurain, Rominger they all sat far back and churned a big gear in the mountains, and also the TT position. I think the theory was the higher the saddle and further back the set the better the aero position and power, just like a track rider. Perhaps a Velominati keeper could shed some light on the way top riders find the V locus?
Man I should look at the date's on these posts I tink I'm still in Feb 2012.
Whatever his OCD, they left the loading dock door open one day in 2002. Johan's steed laying against the wall of the loading dock and the Prophet himself, who was the perfect host.
Ok, with the picture this time.