I bought a bicycle off Craigslist recently. It was a Trek 3500 series that I scooped for $50 dollars. That 50 spot included delivery to my front door. It rates as one of my best buys off the "CL." Any which way, I have really enjoyed riding the bike, learning the nomenclature, and scouring the web for related information. I usually go through spells where I am submersed in a particular subject matter that I have recently discovered. As always, My Girlfriend treats all of my obsessions with a nonchalance. However, when she notices any withdrawal from the checking account, she subsequently withdraws her support from my new hobby or venture. Still I continue to research the subject, and this time around I have fallen in love with the early Tour de France pioneers. There is a beauty when looking back to a vintage era of all things that time transforms into monetization, globalization, corporatization and so on. There is something pure about the beginnings, before the sciences and technologies. Nostalgia for a simpler time maybe? For instance these early "Tour Riders" would smoke cigarettes before an extreme uphill battles on the Pyrenees Mountains. They believed the smoke opened their lungs for improved oxygen intake. Prior to the late 60's, Cycling's elite would use opium, drink brandy, and employ a variety of other concoctions to relieve the suffering of the harsh mountain climbs. Jacques Anquetil, five time winner of the Tour de France, famously said, “You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water.” No guilt.
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| 1925 Omega Cycles Poster. Notice the cigarette the cyclist is enjoying. |
1926 Bicyclette Lucifer original poster. "Schilles on an Lucifer bicycle" winner of the Grand-Prix de Paris 1925 and the French speed championship 1926. Stone lithograph printed by Affiches Kossuth.
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| That's not water... It's wine. |
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| Drinking wine on the Tour. |
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A competitor giving an injured rider a lift.
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I bought a bicycle off Craigslist recently. It was a Trek 3500 series that I scooped for $50 dollars. That 50 spot included delivery to my front door. It rates as one of my best buys off the "CL." Any which way, I have really enjoyed riding the bike, learning the nomenclature, and scouring the web for related information. I usually go through spells where I am submersed in a particular subject matter that I have recently discovered. As always, My Girlfriend treats all of my obsessions with a nonchalance. However, when she notices any withdrawal from the checking account, she subsequently withdraws her support from my new hobby or venture. Still I continue to research the subject, and this time around I have fallen in love with the early Tour de France pioneers. There is a beauty when looking back to a vintage era of all things that time transforms into monetization, globalization, corporatization and so on. There is something pure about the beginnings, before the sciences and technologies. Nostalgia for a simpler time maybe? For instance these early "Tour Riders" would smoke cigarettes before an extreme uphill battles on the Pyrenees Mountains. They believed the smoke opened their lungs for improved oxygen intake. Prior to the late 60's, Cycling's elite would use opium, drink brandy, and employ a variety of other concoctions to relieve the suffering of the harsh mountain climbs. Jacques Anquetil, five time winner of the Tour de France, famously said, “You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water.” No guilt.
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