Guido went to extraordinary lengths to shield young Joshua from the horrors of the war. On the way to the camp, a bicycle race passed their truck. As the riders, themselves escaping a life of grim toil, dirty and sweaty from the effort of heaving their heavy steel bikes up the col, rode by, Guido lifted his son from the truck and placed him onto the road.
The crowd clapped and yelled encouragement to their heroes, and the riders responded by rising from the saddle, straining to turn their big gears over as the slope steepened. Strange men ran alongside the riders, and the cars honked at them to get out of the way. A broad smile lit up Joshua’s face, and it was at that moment he knew that he too wanted to race a bicycle. Suddenly, as quickly as they appeared, they were gone. The crowd dispersed, silence returned, the truck continued on.
But for those few minutes, life was indeed beautiful.
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I'm not sure what it is about these old photos, but I just find myself staring at them, amazed at what what hard ass men these guys were, who rode without all the technology and creature comforts we are blessed with these days. I feel like such a feeble soul, that I sweat like a pig, pushing my carbon everything up these foothills of the Smoky Mountains
Agreed. One thing that always strikes me is that the fans back in the day were just that - fans. Not some twat dressed like a freak with the sole aim of getting his fancy-ass costume on the TV.
@brett Great stuff. Like VeloSix, I love these classic photos. The guy in second position has that look on his face. You know the one. The one that says "I'm going to ride up to you, rip your legs off and beat you with the bloody ends before I crest this mountain.
Interesting to see that lunatics chasing climbers is nothing new.
@Mike_P
That's because rider #2 is Gino Bartali. Awesome bike rider and awesome human being. His covert wartime exploits aiding Jews in Italy are incredible and earned him the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" at Yad Vashem. Truly one of the all-time greats. His rivalry with Coppi is also one for the ages.
I would be happy for a dozen lifetimes if I was half this badass.
@wiscot
Here are they are a few seconds later, with Bartali in the lead. I think Coppi took the stage though.
@pistard There's that weird extension off the crankset. What was that for again?
Excellent photo, delving into the past and how these tough souls battled with demons we can only imaging in our new world of high tech carbon fibre this and that.
Im doing some delving of mine own of my families cycling past off the back of a chance encounter with a photo.
You can almost hear the crowd and the sound of tyres rolling emanating from that photo - excellent
I think having Quasimodo pace you uphill would motive anyone to rise from the saddle and push a little harder, big gears and steep slope notwithstanding.
@Mike_P
That's Dieter "Didi" Senft's grandad