Categories: Anatomy of a PhotoKeepers TourLook ProNostalgiaTechnique

Anatomy of a Photo: Cornering on Cobbles

The look says it all. Keep it clenched, sir.

A lot of things taken for granted in Cycling go swiftly out the window when cobblestones are introduced to bicycle and rider. The notion that your wheels should both be pointed in the same direction at any given moment, for instance, or that that they should in some way be in alignment with the direction of travel of the rider/bicycle unit, such as it is. Not true, in fact. As it turns out, wheels can move wildly in any maner of directions and not greatly impact forward motion. Another misconception is this notion that one needs to have their handlebars reliably in hand while whisking through a corner or that the direction the handlebars are pointing should be in the direction of travel. Also untrue.

Riding cobbles is a matter of going full gas over the secteurs, no holds barred. The faster you go, the more your bike cascades over the tops of the stones; as the bike flails along, the rider links together recovery after recovery to stave off the imminent crash caused by any of the above conditions going catawampus. Riding the pavé is basically like a toddler learning to walk: always one step away from a face-plant.

For me, though, the biggest challenge is recuperation during those intense efforts. Over the years, I have gotten good at faking it and stealing a few deep breaths during short windows of opportunity, like when the pressure comes off the pedals briefly when cornering. On the cobbles, however, this matter is complicated somewhat by the bouncing wheels, jackhammering of the bars and saddle, and the certainty of an imminent crash.

Which leads me to conclude that while endurance, strength, and interval training will all form critical elements of my training for Keepers Tour 2013, I’m going to also make a point of learning how to take recovery breaths with a tightly clenched bunghole as I try to keep from shitting myself. That’s going to be a differentiator for sure.

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

Giles says:

Oct 12 2012 at 5:09 pm

Had my first few kms on gravel a couple of weeks ago, hated it, couldn't get any traction bike sliding left right and centre, absolutely exhausting - I went from reasonable shape to hammered in about 15 minutes. Can't even imagine what the Pave are like. Kudos to all who've survived!
mxlmax says:

Oct 12 2012 at 5:38 pm

Ooof-fuck!
itburns says:

Oct 12 2012 at 7:19 pm

@mxlmax

@Buck Rogers

@mxlmax I think that was in regards to descending and cornering, no cornering on the pave'.

That shot of him on the pave' is just a millisecond in time. You cannot catpure pave' cornering in stop motion, probably in the next frame his leg is going in the opposite direction!

Obviously

Not so fast. It is a well established practice to take a millisecond in time and extrapolate minutes/hours down the road. A prime example is Frank and the photo of The Prof with an "unorthodox" hand position.
sthilzy says:

Oct 13 2012 at 3:24 am

@Marcus

@the Engine funnily enough - in the fucked way nearly every suburb in Melbourne nay Australia is named after some place in the UK (eg I live in Malvern), Montrose is a suburb out in the hills (or what pass for hills) - so when one says I am heading out to Montrose- it means a hard hill ride.

Our only cobbles are not too challenging bluestone ones - but they are only in alleys - which presents a different challenge as a fall may result in a needlestick injury.

The back alleys of Malvern/Caulfield were our cobble training grounds. One mate suffered a busted rim from getting wedged in between the bluestone, another a smal wrist facture from stuffing up a turn in them narrow alleys.

Good times!

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sthilzy says:

Oct 13 2012 at 3:32 am

@sthilzy

Caulfield cobbles for my post above. (Can Google Maps, Street View link be posted?)

Since seeing this in Winning back in 1985, this image of cobble rash has been imbedding in my mind;

Yvon Frebert on the descent from the Intelvi in the 1985 Tour of Lombardy won by Sean Kelly - 171 starters, 32 finishers.
The Potato Man says:

Oct 13 2012 at 4:18 am

@frank

How about this photo. Inside knee inside of his elbow. Looks like he is using the "lean your bike more than your body" technique here.
czmiel says:

Oct 13 2012 at 6:28 am

Cobblestones (or how we used to call it in Poland: "The Cats' Heads") aren't my favorite. They might be technically tough but what's more important they are tough on my balls...
Winelli says:

Oct 13 2012 at 8:01 am

@mxlmax

Cobbles covered in shit!

YES.
scaler911 says:

Oct 13 2012 at 8:16 am

I don't think you can really compare cornering today to cornering 20 years ago. Think about the differences in frame sets in general. My #1 is a carbon compact frame with Speedplay pedals; ton's of clearance, I can pedal through corners there's no way I could on my standard steel framed #2. Even more so on #2 when I had Time Equipe pedals.

I learned a technique for cornering in the 90's to pedal through 90d turns by practicing this: i.e. left turn, hands in the drops, as you corner you push on the right drop keeping the bike more horizontal, "turning" the bars left while keeping on the gas with the pedals. It's a bit disconcerting at first to get used to the right "feel", but when you figure it out, you can pedal (see go faster) through the turn than those coasting. I use a variation of that on my #1 in crits with sharp turns, >90deg.
Dan_R says:

Oct 13 2012 at 9:33 am

@scaler911 i had an opportunity to practice some of those turns with a coach last year...really opened my eyes to what can be done to maintain speed in a turn