The question has been raised a number of times and the answer has always been vague: do the pros set The Rules, do they Obey them, or are they beyond them? As with everything philosophical, the answer is open to interpretation and difficult to identify. The Rules are about history, culture, etiquette, class, and style. That necessarily means that no active Pro has set The Rules, yet as an inextricably bound fiber of the fabric of our sport, they also significantly contribute to their definition and evolution.
Tyler Farrar hosted a group ride on Mercer Island in Seattle to promote USA Cycling, a program that helped him and many other American cyclist reach the highest levels of our sport. Donations were the only requirement to join the ride, and all proceeds went to towards helping to grow the program. What this means for idiots like me is, “Pay $50 and you get to ride with T-Bone.”
Saturday morning dawned with gray skies and wet roads. Sipping espresso while kitting up, I kept glancing out the window as I got ready. Do I take Bike #1, or do I do the “group ride” thing and take the Rain Bike, fully adorned with mudguards and mudflaps? Knowing this was Seattle and I'd be encountering many a Fendangelist, I was tempted to do The Right Thing, but the Loud Voice That Talks About Things I Like To Hear kept hollering, “YOU ARE RIDING WITH A PRO. TAKE BIKE #1, FUCKTARD.”
It called me a fucktard. I had little choice but to listen. Besides, as any Dutchman knows, the loudest voice always wins. Off I went on Bike #1, with tire pressure reduced to 100psi for improved Rule #9 compliance. One doesn't want to slip out in a corner and take out a Pro, does one?
I rode over to the gathering location, propped my bike up against the wall, and went in to register. There, on a sofa in the corner, sat my boy, T-Bone, chatting up a storm with a kid who was no more than 11. Simultaneously normal and surprising, one of the most remarkable things about meeting people you'd only ever seen on TV or in pictures is how much they look like you expect them to.
I signed up and headed over to introduce myself. Within minutes, we had concluded that he was not in fact the rider I had encountered the day before, but his fellow teammate who also lives in the area. With our first Awkward Situation behind us, I felt ready to move onto the ride itself, complete with its associated non-zero chance of irreparably harming the career of one of my favorite riders by doing something “stupid”.
The ride was incredibly mellow, and Tyler was the perfect host, rotating through the group to make sure he spent some quality time chatting with everyone. We chatted about this and that. Before long, he asked, “What's Rule #1, Rule #5, and Rule #10?”, reading them from my bibs. I explained, he chuckled, and the conversation carried on. As a segue from Rule #5, the topic of his second place finish with a broken wrist in the Tour came up; I mentioned something about that being “impressive”. He mentioned something about “not wanting to quit” and “just not thinking about it”. I don't know, I didn't really understand what he was talking about.
Eventually the topic of Nordic skiing came up – it turns out he also raced the Nordic boards until he turned to cycling, and still skis today. I mentioned that as a Nordic skier, when I switched to road racing, my first thought was, “FUCK. This is hard.” He laughed and said, “That's funny because when I switched to cycling, my first thought was, “This is way easier than skiing”.
I suppose that's why he's the one racing on a ProTour team, not me. But that's little more than a hypothesis – there could be other reasons, too. Like talent and hard work. But like I said, those are guesses.
Tyler kept rotating through the group, making sure to talk to everyone, but spent a lot of time riding with the same kid I'd seen him talking to earlier, when I first signed in. The kid was on a tiny little road bike, unafraid of anything and anyone, bumping shoulders with the rest of us. Every time I caught a whisper of his conversations with Farrar, it was to the theme of, “So, how old where you when you…”, and “So what do you think I should work on next?” He was eating up everything Tyler would tell him, and Tyler was taking great care to share everything he thought might help the little whipper. Class.
As for my central anxiety, throughout it all, no one openly berated me for riding without fenders. In fact, I was pleased to see many other riders were riding similarly naked bikes. We rolled back into the meeting place and everyone dismounted. More pictures were taken with Farrar, more stories were exchanged. I couldn't resist the temptation to have my picture taken as well, and I asked a goateed young dude who rode in a Spinal Tap t-shirt and floppy spandex shorts to take a shot using my phone. He happily agreed but as he did so took care to say, “Sure, take the picture now that you look way cooler covered in mud from the ride because you didn't use fenders like you're supposed to.”
So there it was, the inevitable.
Before I could rattle off my retort, filled with a comprehensive account of his Rule violations, our Professional Hero and Host responded simply, “Hey, I didn't have them either. Maybe I'll put 'em on when it starts raining more.”
The ride was filled with people who were willing to go out on a ride to support USA Cycling and spend time with one of the nicest guys in the Pro Peloton. Rule Violations were rife; but each and every one of these riders came out on a cold, wet, dreary day to ride bikes. On the other hand, Tyler Farrar did not violate a single Rule that I noticed. Here is a Pro who is (was?) unaware of The Rules, but at the same time does not violate them. Because Tyler Farrar, whether consciously aware of it, lives La Vie Velominatus.
An amazing bike racer, an incredibly nice and approachable guy, and a Velominatus. My kinda guy. I rode away a bigger fan of Tyler Farrar than I already was.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/T-Bone/”/]
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View Comments
@Durishin, @michael, @Adam
What are you guys on about with a Rule for which way to put your eye wear in your helmet? It depends on your helmet, eyewear, and preference for which way to put them in. It does appear to be common to put them in upside down, but right side up is perfectly secure, more easily accomplished, mo' bettah, and also condoned by the Grimplette.
@Brett
That train has sailed; nothing can contain that thing. I'm thinking a Velominati Muumuu.
@Frank
Great write up. Awesome story. Damn, if I'd known about this event, I would have been there.
Being the dad of an 11 year old cyclist - very cool of Tyler spending some riding time with the young rider. My son would have gotten a huge kick out of that as well.
@Ron
Interesting dissertation on "Grow". I have various similar pet peeves such as people saying "jump off of" rather than "jump off" or mixing tense and saying "there is several ways of doing this" rather than "there are several ways of doing this".
But grow seems to be defined appropriately for it's use in the place of develop:
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GROW
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grow_(Kubb_song)
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grow
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
So, it begs the question, how would you have rephrased the statement?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&defl=en&q=define:grow&sa=X&ei=rHDhTNH7LI-Qnwe5gZG3Dw&ved=0CBMQkAE
@Collin
Yeah, I was gonna call him out on it, but let it slide. I also was going to take some video and have him to say that I needed to bed the pace back down cuz I was drilling it so hard and he couldn't hold my wheel.
All things that should have been, but weren't.
@Marko
The picture makes it look a bit high, but it's within the tolerances of Rule 45. Although we all know how much we like to see a zero-stack. Now that he and I are best friends, I'll talk to him about it.
At least his was rocking white handlebar tape. Also, I asked him what he likes to ride when he's not on his team bike, he said he only rides his team sponsored bikes. I was a bit bummed by that, but I'm sure it's a bit like Jordan only being seen in Nike shoes... if it's what you're paid to rep, you can't be seen on something else.
I really wanted to hear about his favorite old ride he still keeps in his garage and sneaks out for a spin on, but he was sticking to the team line on only riding their bikes.
That's Corn-fed?? I thought it was the 9-year-old Frank was talking about. And that's why I gave him a pass.
@Ron
Grow up.
@mcsqueak
I didn't know you were in Portland, I am too. I didn't go last night for a number of reasons, but I did almost go because they were giving a Garmin 500 as a door prize, a rule violator for sure, but possibly free.
Of course his team bikes are nothing to sneeze at. Any one else enter the cyclingnews reader poll for Millar's Felt F1 SL? I know I did. It'd fit me well and I could use another bike. Plus it's the only way in hell i'd go with Di2.
I suppose on some level it's hard for riders to get completely excited about the bikes they ride as it's work and they ride what they're given. Or at least different from most of us who scrimp, save, hem, haw, and ogle over a bike or piece of gear and then spend countless hours cleaning and staring at it in our living rooms while we think about living the dream after our meager 4000k summers. That said, if I were Tyler, I'd be stoked about riding Cervelos next year. I reckon he'll be roulin on the R5 for a lot of the season. Anybody heard if they're sticking with Shimano?
@michael
Yeah, I'm in good 'ol PDX. Great town to be a cyclist in, all things considered. The "conversation" was pretty cool, it was a hosted by a local journalist who asked all sorts of questions, and would throw it to the audience every so often so they could ask questions as well. I wanted to win the Garmin 500 as well, and since I already own one I was just going to sell it on flea-bay and then buy a new saddle...
@Marko
Oh no doubt, I'm a Felt fanboy so I think their bikes are sweet. I understand a lot of them race on AR/F-series bikes and train on their Z-series.
He did say he was excited to get on his new Cervelo, and that he is getting his new bikes so he can start training on them in a month.
Personally, I'd like to know the background dealings on why Felt decided not to re-up their sponsorship for another year, which they had an option of doing.