Anatomy of a Photo: The Shoulders of Giants
The question tackled here is of carrying the bicycle, should it require carrying. The non-cyclist is perhaps more inclined to consider carrying their bicycle than is the Cyclist. Examples that come to mind include the navigation of a giant mud pit or a steep twisty narrow snowy descent, where the uninitiated may erroneously contemplate the likelihood of survival between riding the bike as opposed to walking or carrying it. Other examples might be bunny-hopping a 1 meter vertical wall where a slight miscalculation may result in going from being Awesome to merely being OK.
But if one thing is certain, should matters come to carrying the bicycle, it is the shoulder that should be employed for this task, as time-tested by cyclocross riders for well over a century. No further research is required to resolve this matter. And, should the question of leather handles come up, I put it to you thusly: are you a giant hipster douche nozzle, or are you a hardman with Ultimate Rule #5 Leg and balls so big you could wear a sun visor with a gauze stocking cap?
Thanks to KRX10 for making me aware of this abomination of a leather handle.
@Buck Rogers I cant wait till this comes out
BTW have you all seen Black Dynamite? It had me rolling
@frank
Marriage to an Irishwoman, it turns out, ranks on the high risk list…
@RedRanger Holy shit! I must be living under a rock or something as I had not heard about this film. Man I love Westerns and Quentin is one of my favorite modern directors. Says the release is Christmas, eh? Sounds like I need a night out during Christmas vacation!
@frank
He’s pouring black powder down the barrel.
Definitely.
@frank
Space shuttles and shit like that are fucking dangerous too, but I prefer to watch, get piss drunk while observing, marvel at the skill, etc etc….wait I did that…all while thinking about crashing. Did that too, IIRC…
@the Engine
Almost but not quite. He’s getting ready to launch a mortar round. After all, we’ve already established that this is a ‘cross race, and cross fans love doing sillystupid stuff for shits ‘n giggles.
@Nate
You do realise that there is an opposite side of the world where the seasons are reversed. Crazy I know. We’re bang in the middle of Cross season down here in Aus and NZ.
So although I didn’t carry my bike anyplace today, I did put the CX-jets back on after riding the slicks all summer. The jets are back on to start training on gravel for the Heck of the North in a month and change. So yes, I’m thinking about fall riding but am happy there’s so much summer left.
And after tipping over on the Koppenberg after a wheel slip I can attest to needing to carry a road bike. That said, I didn’t have to carry it far as my boy Alex at Pave gave me a jump start.
Looking over the thread leadhoto again it blows me away how cool all the spectatorsnare dressed. Nice jackets and shoes and all those fuckin’ bomber chapeau. Man, I need to get me one of those hats!
Ah, that would be “lead photo” and “spectators are”, not what the Grand Marnier had me writing.
Also, would that be chapeaux? Always sucked at French, even after eight years of schooling in it!
@TommyTubolare
BOOM! You got it, mate! That’s the one.
Thanks for the reminder. First ‘cross race of the season is less than 2 months away. Practice starts tomorrow. Gotta get a step out of that remount.
@mouse
that is just crazy talk, the things you read on the interwebs.
@mouse
As long as you’re still ripping it up on a pink cross bike what else do I need to know about the antipodean cross scene?
@Buck Rogers
Oui.
@Nate
ah, mercy buckets!
I carried my bike on and off like that for 10km the other day after my chain broke…..serious sense of humour failure I can tell you…..
@TommyTubolare
Hey, I see we (Nederland) made it into the final for the 4×100 relay. Did someone tell the team that the Nazi’s were in that heat? The last time I saw the Dutch run so fast was during the invasion.
@Adrian
I carry a spare Master Link in my EPMS for just this reason.
@Xyverz
(Said EPMS is soon to be replaced by a Lyzene pouch or something similar)
There’s no way in hell that any of those barriers that are being hopped are 100cm high. No way.
@frank
I think they hinted that authentic stroopwafel was at the finish line.
@frank
Given their origins, a greater threat would have been the Dutch West India Company.
@frank
Okay, fine. You can carry your bike after flying off hairpin turns in the Alps, OR when riding the Koppenberg in the wet!
(And yes, holding the bars to keep the wheel from flopping about is the proper method.)
@The Oracle
It’s an awfully wee picture, but unless I’m mistaken, that’s Mr. Sherwen and Monsieur Fignon enjoying a stroll upon the stones.
@wiscot Good call!!! I had not noticed it but I think that you are absolutely correct!
Wait, shoulder it on the top-tube? Doesn’t work out for me, for some reason. I always hang the saddle on my shoulder (the Arione is quite comfortable from that side, too!), wrapping my arm around the entire triangle, with my hand holding the downtube and front wheel to stabilize. Maybe it works out easier for shorter people with smaller frames? Plus, when you have two bidons in the cages and the brake-cable running below the top-tube, it’s quite uncomfortable.
@sgt
The Russians used to produce this little piece of awesome. Talk about rifle thingies…
@tessar Fuck me!! That’s cool! Sure that is not from a James Bond movie?
Imagine having that in your hand luggage…
@tessar
If you’re walking, I doubt it makes much difference. If you’re running up a hill in CX or MTBing, that approach won’t have the back wheel high enough for you; in order for your feet not to slam into the bike, you need the back wheel up by your ass at least.
Fuckin’ timely…now that I’m a proud owner of a V-jersey…I can wear it when cross riding & training, right? Feel a bit bad subjecting it to mud, but it’s too awesome to save just for the road. (I’m asking due to the Rule on mtn v. road kit…)
And regarding shoulder. I have dreams all the time that I’m as smooth as a PRO. Those guys are just bonkers. They go faster in sand than I could go on pavement! They dismount, shoulder, run, mount with a ease. Then crank out major power. All while looking so fucking Casually Deliberate. Damn impressive. I guess it’s because if you push it too hard in cross you go haywire. Just gotta stay smooth, in control, and…smooth!
@Ron
Refer to Bill Fucking Murray above for smooth and in control. The university advancement team wanted a couple of pictures of me on my commuter as part of a bike project I’m coordinating here. I’d love to get them one of me in full Bill Murray pose here, but I’m lacking the panache to pull that off. I might just send them the Bill Murray pic and call it a day.
@Steampunk
That is about as smooth as rhey come. Man, what a photo. Might have to make it my wallpaper.
@Steampunk
I’m sure the U can find someone around who wouldn’t mind photoshopping your mug on there. The wire cutters top it off. So awesome.
@Buck Rogers I’ve actually encountered one – Russian immigrants brought many Soviet cameras with them after the wall fell. It’s unbelievably cool, although the camera itself is quite shit; the East German or Japanese camera bodies for that mount (M42/Pentax Screw) were miles ahead. It also weighs like the brick it actually is.
Speaking of Hardmen – I met Jens at the Tour of Utah yesterday.
Crap, I thought I could embed a video.
Click Here to see it.
@Cyclops Did he know what the Rules are?
@tessar
Are you serious? Are you IDF or something? That is cool as shit!
@RedRanger
Not consciencously, but I think we can all agree that Jens transcends the Rules
@frank Indeed, I don’t tend to run with a bike on me. Not enough rain and mud here to justify cyclocross as a separate activity, and I can’t afford the minor injuries that come with MTBing. But, just to check it out (and in the absence of my road bike), I lifted my TT frame – a size 60 Felt B2 – and while I couldn’t figure out a way to elegantly stick my arm into the frame, hanging it by the saddle resulted in the rear wheel being just around ass-height.
@Cyclops
did you tell him that you ate the JENS of Velominati?
Sorry – “are”…
@sgtSeen very clear in the photo!
Hans Landa shooting out tyres with a Luger.
@Cyclops
Outstanding work man. On video. We’ve done all we can here. Our work is done. Site closes at midnight.
@unversio
Mad skilz, man, mad skilz!!!
@unversio FTW!