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Hair of the Cog..

Hair got me into cycling. I know it sounds ridiculous – the leap from barnet(1) to bicycle is not an easy one to imagine – but it’s true. The ponytails of firstly Robert Millar and then, and more importantly, Laurent Fignon bewitched me more than any lofty mountain pass or low-profile time trial machine. Who were these sportsmen who exhibited such flair with their hair? It is said that the aero disadvantage of Fignon’s follicle affectation cost him the 1989 Tour, which he lost to the tousled golden locks of the American Greg Lemond by just eight seconds, but (and I realise that it would have been scant consolation to the distraught Frenchman) it won my undying admiration.

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Fignon and on and on.

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Poster Boys – Cycling Jersey Prints by Rouleur and David Sparshott

A new appearance in the Rouleur online shop this week attracted my attention and also reminded me of something similar – and equally beautiful – that has been around around for a little while..

Two different takes of a poster of various cycling jerseys. The limited edition Rouleur version (£45.00, A2 sized), by illustrator Beach, chronologically details the jersey’s of the 101 Tour de France winners in an attractive flat graphic style whilst David Sparshott’s (£55, A2 size) pencil crayon sketches capture a wide range of vintage jerseys in his signature style. Both prints are very simple and just let the beauty of the jerseys – and the magic of a bit of repetition – do the hardwork.

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Yorkshire’s Grand Depart – Rapha Tempest Festival

It’s the night before the Grand Départ and things are not looking too rosy in ‘God’s Own Country’. To use the local phrase, it is ‘siling down’ and the floodlights outside the Rapha HQ tent at Broughton Hall in Yorkshire are in danger of being extinguished by a deluge of fierce intensity.  The rain is beating heavily on the plasticised canvas marquee, providing additional percussion to the Friday night beats being played by Rapha DJ’s Joey Hall and Festus. The throng of people inside are having a good time enjoying the tunes, the beer and the company but eyes keep flicking outside and you can feel minds wondering whether the name of the Tempest Festival will prove prophetic. I’m inside too, chatting to a couple of guys sitting at one of the long tables in the bar end of the tent. One notices my concern and leans in conspiratorially. “Don’t worry.” he says over the noise of the music. “I work as a trader in Amsterdam. I have to study the weather to make my bets. The sun will come out at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. I promise you.”

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Bonne Anniversaire – Laurent Fignon

Laurent Fignon 12.08.1960 – 31.08.2010

Tour de France winner – 1983, 1984
Giro d’Italia winner – 1989
Milan-San Remo – 1988, 1989
Fleche Wallone – 1986

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Perhaps the most naturally gifted rider of his generation, Laurent Fignon burst onto the Grand Tour scene by winning the Tour de France aged just 22. France, still enthralled by his then team leader Hinault, foresaw a processional handing on of the baton; even more so when Fignon decimated the field in 1984 and staked such a claim to the throne that had already prompted Hinault to move elsewhere. Injury and bad luck blighted the bespectacled Parisian’s next few seasons and he never won ‘le grand boucle’ again. Indeed in many ways he is more famous for his 8 second loss to Lemond in 1989 than for his emphatic earlier triumphs.
One of my all-time favourite riders, his loss to cancer aged just fifty – after he had carved out second and third careers running (and saving) some of the less popular French races and in commentary – was a huge loss.

Fignon was cremated and there is a small memorial plaque in Paris’ famous Père Lachaise cemetery. More info on finding the plaque can be found on this page from inrng.com

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Breaking The Chain – Book Review – Willy Voet

We all know the facts: Belgian soigneur Willy Voet is stopped by customs officers on his way to the 1998 Tour de France start in Dublin. In his car are a massive amount of performance enhancing drugs, destined for the riders on the squad that Willy works for and by which the ensuing scandal will be known. Festina. The lid on organised, team-wide doping is lifted and the Tour comes close to collapse as, over the following days, police raid rooms and haul riders off to cells. Teams are thrown off the Tour and reputations are ruined. But the Tour somehow survives this three week evisceration with Marco Pantani winning but the writing is on the wall for a generation of dopers. Well, it is until the following year when it all starts all over again on an even bigger scale..

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‘SplashMaps’ – The answer to Life, the Universe and Everything?

It’s reasonably common knowledge that, for an intrepid traveller exploring the universe on a budget, nothing is considered more useful than a humble towel. In his seminal work, The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the late Douglas Adams went to great lengths to describe just how useful one could be, suggesting that it could be used as a sail, a weapon, protection against the heat or cold, a gas mask, emergency signalling or, if impregnated with the appropriate substances, a source of vitamins or anti-depressants. At the end of this exhaustive list he also noted that (should it still be deemed clean enough) it could be used to dry oneself.

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Tour de France – Final Roundup

When we look back at the 2014 Tour de France and debate the outcome a couple of things should be kept well to the front of the mind: Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali extended his lead over his rivals on every single significant stage. On the cobbles, in the Vosges on Bastille Day, in the Alps & Pyrenees and in the time trial. That fact alone should mark him out as a champion of some distinction. His win also completes his set of all three Grand Tours and allows him to join a select group of some of the greatest names in cycling. He won more road stages than any champion since Eddy Merckx, elevating the achievement further. The side-note that he did it in his national champions jersey will have pleased his home fans and cycling history aficionados in equal measure. He focused his season entirely on these two weeks and utterly dominated the race – appearing serene even when coolly dispatching the podium pretenders with stage winning attacks. The words ‘worthy champion’ should not even be being debated.

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Reinventing the Wheel – Loopwheels

On the face of it ‘Reinventing the Wheel’ is the paradigm of a redundant endeavour. Taking a three-thousand year old invention – arguably the most important invention in the entire history of mankind’s development – and making it anew  would be incredibly difficult to be novel or to be seen as worthwhile. But those particular facts haven’t deterred Sam Pearce from having a go, nor from using the famous saying in the marketing for his company Loopwheels. He acknowledges that the phrase is a bit of a joke but he is deadly serious about his new tangential suspension wheels and the benefits that they can bring.

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Tour de France – Rest Day Roundup 2

When I was a kid watching the Tour de France in the late Eighties, my rider allegiances often switched with whichever was my favourite jersey design. I would find myself supporting Renault one year, PDM the next, Z-Peugeot the year after that. As with football a few years earlier (and in the very same way as my young children today) I was something of a itinerant fan. I would pick a jersey, a haircut or a battle between two big stars and plump for one of them. The following year I could very well pick the other guy and have him as my favourite. This certainly happened in 1990 when my support switched from Laurent Fignon the year before to Lemond. Even though my football allegiance had very quickly solidified into one team over the others (mainly due to the fact I that I outgrew the Tottenham shirt – and the associated desire to be Steve Archibald – that I had been given and which caused much confusion in my Manchester-leaning mind) cycling remained ever thus. Unbiased. Unencumbered. Un-tribalised.

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‘We Were Fought By Men Very Fast’ & Massif Central Exhibitions

Two small (but perfectly formed) exhibitions are on in East London until the end of the month. Both are worth a visit. If I may be so bold as to suggest an itinerary you might chose to visit the first one, Emily Maye‘s photographic exhibition ‘We were Fought by Men Very Fast’, earlier in the day than the display of Massif Central’s incredibly beautiful cycling data posters. A lunchtime visit to Beach London on Cheshire Street would allow a quick stop-off for a salt beef Brick Lane beigel whilst an after-work detour to The Things We Love on Hoxton Street will allow a drink at the small bar at the back of the space.

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