Is pro cycling f**ked?

Italy, it would seem, attracts more than its fair share of platitudes in the cycling world, and justifiably so. We might contrast this, though, with the approbation in receives from elsewhere, particularly over the state of its economy and politics. It also causes many a commentator to fall into what Karl Popper calls the “myth” …

Read More →

October 17, 2012 – 8:33 am | By Guy WR | Posted in Meanings | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Seasons in the abyss

It was cold coming down off the mountain. A low mist had settled across all of the city, and the air was cold and biting. I was falling like the barometer, the last vestiges of our late summer dropping away, my legs prickly in the wind, recalling – for some reason – high school years …

Read More →

October 11, 2012 – 9:37 am | By Guy WR | Posted in Doping, Meanings | Tagged , | Comments (1)

The dangerous summer revisited

Back in April, your author posted The Dangerous Summer, a somewhat convoluted discourse on Ernest Hemingway and cycling (an ongoing theme on this blog). Hemingway’s legacy is a mixed one, particularly in literary circles. In reviewing the publication of the first volume of his collected letters (in itself an interesting story, given that all the …

Read More →

October 2, 2012 – 8:18 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Doping, Meanings | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Un petit tour

The dangerous summer is almost over. One must confess, dear and faithful reader, that your author’s intention was originally not to return to posting on this blog. One always questions whether one has anything useful or interesting or constructive to contribute to the discussion on cycling, given the crowded marketplace and the already very insightful …

Read More →

September 26, 2012 – 12:46 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Posts | Tagged , , | Comments (7)

True patriot love

The ‘dangerous summer’ is interrupted for a special post. It is an interesting quirk of professional sports, which typically know no national boundaries, that nationalism is still celebrated. As you may have read, seen, or even witnessed, a Canadian on an American cycling team, supported by a multinational cast and crew, sponsored by two American …

Read More →

May 30, 2012 – 6:32 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Classic Stages, Climbers, Meanings | Tagged | Comments (1)

The dangerous summer

In 1959, Ernest Hemingway returned to Spain to cover the summer bullfighting season for Life magazine. The extend account of his trip was later published as the book The Dangerous Summer. For Hemingway, the 1950s were a period of nostalgia. After the acclaim for The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway was somewhat adrift with …

Read More →

April 18, 2012 – 8:20 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Meanings | Tagged | Comments (11)

Ultimate climbing guide, part 3: weight and training

In 1952, Alpe d’Huez was included for the first time in the Tour de France and it was also the Tour’s first mountain-top finish of its kind. Its inclusion was somewhat of a novelty, and it would seem that few predicted at the time that the climb would become one of the most famous in …

Read More →

April 17, 2012 – 8:03 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Climbing Skills, Local Climbs | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (4)