Why is it that all the greatest riders look strangely happy when they are suffering the most? Hinault says he still hasn’t regained the feeling in some of his fingers from racing off the front that day in Liege in 1980. He wanted to get someplace warm as quickly as possible, he said. That’s why he went off the front so far from home. Seems to me the 151 riders who climbed in the bus found a more expedient way of doing it.

And I’ll tell you something else: it would have been a crime to cover up those guns. Respect.

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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  • @Ron

    Mmm, let the good photos roll! I still can't comprehend 'crossin' with toe clips. I don't need anything else making racing on cross courses a challenge.

    The dismounts are MUCH faster now without toe clips. Either you didn't use toe clips or you took your left foot out and rolled the pedal over just before the dismount. It was easier to do a step through dismount back then but there was a higher danger of your foot slipping off while doing it, especially when it was sloppy out. Of course there was little danger of not clipping out your left on a step through and the carnage that follows...

  • On Hinault smiling: he was just conserving energy. It takes less muscles to smile than to frown.

    At least, that's what those inspirational posters would have you believe.

  • On Saturday's ride I was working quite hard into a bit of a headwind, in a bit of a zone, mouth open to trying to scoop up more O2 and not really paying too much attention to what was going when I realised my lips were flapping around in the wind. Does that count as a nine-face?

  • Seems I'm more a graduate of the Whale Shark school of V face pulling rather than the Badger's...

  • @wiscot

    @The Grande Fondue

    "I can go faster if you like" says Laurent, "would you like me to?"

    That was the year he really could go faster, too. In his book he talks about how Hinault kept attacking but he wasn't worried because he had an answer for everything Hinault could do.

  • Read about the rider protest at the Tour of Oman today. Can't say that I blame them. Hinault, Hampsten, et al. had to be some crazy bastards.

  • @therealpeel

    Read about the rider protest at the Tour of Oman today. Can’t say that I blame them. Hinault, Hampsten, et al. had to be some crazy bastards.

    Heat and cold are one thing but a sandstorm is something completely different. Rule #9 doesn't quite cover it. That shit gets in everywhere. Stay inside.

  • smiling releases dopamine and helps you relax.    also they like the suffering, if they didn't, they couldn't force their body to be so damn awesome.

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