Reading Italian cycling

Yes, sharp-eyed reader, you eyes are not deceiving you. The background to le grimpeur is now a shade of pink. This minor cosmetic change is to signify that 2012 will be the year of Italian cycling, your author’s attempt to better understand the subject (and perhaps to balance the critical perspective already offered here). With …

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January 2, 2012 – 7:23 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Posts | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

A winter reprieve

Blue sky has been a relatively frequent visitor to these parts recently, which is unusual given the season. This has enabled riding in a bright and clear sky, despite temperatures only just around 5 degrees C above freezing. Winter riding in the sun can be a deeply, deeply satisfying outing; but a recent ride, when …

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December 12, 2011 – 8:43 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Local Climbs | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

On form versus function

The bicycle is a splendid thing. Or so says Bartolomeo Aymo in Ernest Hemingway’s book, A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway based his character on the real-life Italian racer, see more here). Many have expressed similar sentiments about the wonders of the bicycle. Indeed, contemporary writer Graeme Fife has a book-long paean to the bicycle entitled, …

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December 9, 2011 – 9:28 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Climbing Skills, Meanings | Tagged , , | Comments (12)

On narratives (the interludes continue)

Thanks to the kind folks at VeloPress, your author is enjoying Geoff Drake’s sweeping new book, Team 7-Eleven, niftily subtitled: How an Unsung Band of American Cyclists Took on the World – and Won. The book is an essential history for anyone who has ever swung a leg over the top tube of a racing …

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December 1, 2011 – 10:53 am | By Guy WR | Posted in Classic Stages | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

On places (yet another interlude)

It has come to your author’s attention that there has been some lamenting of the absence of pictures on this blog. Naturally, with its literary pretensions, this absence has been largely deliberate as its preference is for long passages of text where one single image would do. But that’s not entirely true, and below you …

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November 15, 2011 – 7:52 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Classic Climbs, Climbers, Meanings | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

On religion, sociology and cycling (another interlude)

Like any good religious devotees, roadies have their rituals. One such ritual is the formulaic way in which training is discussed. These discussions typically take place when greeting old acquaintances at races, notably in the springtime when racing resumes and winter training results are in the minds of many. A typical discussion might begin with …

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November 10, 2011 – 7:23 pm | By Guy WR | Posted in Meanings, Posts | Tagged | Comments (6)

On fall (a short interlude)

The English writer George Eliot lived just long enough to witness the invention of the bicycle, at least its early manifestations as a velocipede, variously invented and improved in France and in England from the late 1860s. Whether she had any interest in cycling is perhaps up for debate, but she was a fan of …

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October 20, 2011 – 8:23 am | By Guy WR | Posted in Climbing Skills, Local Climbs | Tagged , | Comments (3)