Growing up, I imagine my dad did his fair share of worrying about me getting into trouble with chemicals and girls. Like with most problems in life, the solution lay in Cycling; training encouraged healthy behavior and once my dad convinced me to shave my legs, no one needed to worry about the girls anymore.
Cycling caused its fair share of problems of its own, but nothing that couldn’t be solved by more Cycling. I stopped spending as much time on my studies as I might have, and all my creative energies and capacity for remembering things were spent on Cycling. Who won the Tour stage on Bastille Day in 1989? Vincent Barteau. Who were the Founding Fathers? Washington, Franklin, Jefferson…Can I use a life line?
We’re big fellas, my dad and I, and that poses certain challenges in Cycling. A love for suffering and for a sense of accomplishment meant our hearts drifted towards the mountains, but our physiology pulled toward the rollers and flat terrain. We were never going to be the fastest, or the skinniest, or the best sprinters. But we could twist the throttle, watch the the needle rev up to just shy of the red line, and hold it there for hours. We could use our momentum to carry speed over the short, steep hills we found dotted along our routes. At one point in my youth, I remember looking at the little ring on my bike and wondering, in all earnestness, what it was there for.
The first time we went to France, I discovered quite handily why that little ring was there. We were not grimpeurs; we were rouleurs, and rouleurs use the little ring when the road points up for a long time. A rouleur, in Cycling, is a rider who goes well on the flat and rolling terrain. They are characterized less by their size, but by their style on the machine; a magnificent stroke tuned to sustained power, not high revolutions or bursts of acceleration. Rouleurs are good time trialists, they do well on short climbs, but are usually found in the laughing group when the profile starts to look like the cardiogram of a teenage boy who just saw his first pair of boobs. Some of them can climb well for their weight, but a rouleur is rarely at the front when the big mountains come along.
Translated from French, rouleur means having wheels, or to roll. But Hinault would use the word roule in conversation in the context of standing, or pushing, on the pedals. I quite like the sound of that. They have a wide power band, but can only win a sprint from a group of one or a small group of other rouleurs – although technically those tend to be more akin to “drag racing” than “sprinting”. They are characterized by being able to gobble up an enormous amount suffering, and are usually just dim enough to wear a wide smile on their face when its happening. And giggle maniacally when describing the suffering afterward.
Winning isn’t everything to the rouleur, which is why they’re often found among the ranks of the domestique. The rouleur needs to study the map, looking for the right terrain with the right kind of lumps if they’re going to have a chance of being at the front in a road race. They are possibly the most exciting to watch race; races of attrition suit them, as does bad weather – and when they’re in the break, they’re usually dumb enough to take their strength for granted and over-estimate themselves. Betting on the rouleur is a gamble, but their style of racing often means that even when they lose, it was a great show.
Merckx bless the rouleur.
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I certainly can't compare myself with The Likes of Vansummeren et al but based on height and build (183cm and 82kgs), I feel I'm probably too densely built to class as a rouleur. I have always enjoyed the rollers and can certainly dish out my own humble fair share of V when the mood takes me but I lack the diesel engine to do this for any stretch of time. I sometimes feel the (perhaps misguided), notion that I an may be closer to being a puncheur or a Sprinter, except that most of the time I punch like a true sprinter and sprint like a true Puncheur.
No, I suspect in fact that what I may be is a fourthcateur.
@roger
This got me to re-read his Rouleur bit. He is the master. The Velo version of the book does help the book become more of a book that you pick up, read one or two bits of, and put down again. I shunned the new format at first, but revisiting it now I see its strength. That book is strongest in little bits when inspiration is needed.
@frank
I have a friend that rides with his bars and hoods just like that. I did some work on his bike and test rode it after. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. He doesn't want it changed either.
@DerHoggz With rule 43 in mind, I say:
Galileo spoke about bodies in freefall in vacuum... Cyclist are bodies on an inclined plane with air's resistance: not quite the same thing!
The fact is, heavier bodies on an inclined plane do get more acceleration than lightier ones, assuming they all have the same drag! Furthermore, bigger cyclist can tuck into a more areodynamical position (because they are capable of riding with almost horizontal back, which reduces the surface exposed to air's resistance).
That said, the difference is on a descent is made by skill, heart and nerves!
Four year old post, but at 65 and contemplating knee replacement I'm finally accepting that any grimpeuresque days are long past. Now as I grannygear up any incline, I look down and wonder what that large chain ring is for...