Group ride w/ Greg LeMond May 1

[dk2ck]

Originally Posted by brando

You should have come for a spin. Riding in a massive group actually makes it really easy to get through the city. Peds and drivers were cheering on the peloton! (and 2% were infuriated lol)

That's really cool to hear. Sounds like it was a good time for everyone involved!

[redir]

Originally Posted by fuzzalow

Very cool ride. Sure to be a great experience for those lucky enough to attend. No doubt Greg will be his usual affable self.

That Roubaix picture is a great testament to how effortless and lithe was Greg's posture and position on a bike. An American rider, tutored to the way of the EuroPro by the Frenchman Guimard and having a posture and position on the bike like the Italians! Down low in the drops, nice droopy rounded shoulders into weightless relaxed arms, a minimal amount of torso showing into the wind. Sean Kelly, seen to the left of Greg in the photo, has a position in the drops by comparison to Greg's which is much higher.

Lemond was, is, and ever shall be, the real deal.

Kelly's position is just amazing. A bike fitters worst nightmare. You simply can't ride like that! But try and tell Sean Kelly's he's doing it wrong

[blessthismess]

Didn't make the ride, I was downtown and thought about stopping by (to shamelessly get my free water bottle) but decided not to. I'm not a big crowd type if guy, especially when it comes to city riding. If I had the time it would have been fun to wait on the Marin side of the bridge and catch the group there.

[Hawker]

Originally Posted by weaponsgrade

Lemond fixing his own flat!

Greg gets a flat and none of you bums offer to fix it for him? Or play TDF and just give him your bike.

[ScottM]

Thanks to all who posted pics. I hope Greg is enjoying this era. The last era of cycling was unjustifiable cruel to him.

ScottM

[enr1co]

Originally Posted by John H.

Easy Greg- that's Barry Bonds' woman.

I thought Bonds was going out with cyclist, Mari Holden?

[Hawker]

Originally Posted by enr1co

I thought Bonds was going out with cyclist, Mari Holden?

Holden? Really?

[fuzzalow]

Originally Posted by redir

Kelly's position is just amazing. A bike fitters worst nightmare. You simply can't ride like that! But try and tell Sean Kelly's he's doing it wrong

Sean Kelly's position on a bike is one that is uniquely his own. Based on results you could not say it was a bad position for him but I would most certainly say that it was an inelegant one. To me the balance and alignments are not in concert as to the elements of his positioning if looked at from a dance aesthetic of grace in motion. It is not a position that anyone could or should try to emulate as there is no rhyme or reason to it other than making it work.

And that is the key - Sean Kelly is and was one of the true, epic, hard man, toughest and fastest mo fo's out there. In select company as one of the most victorious riders in cycling history for the spring classics. A different time. A different age. An age now marketed and made into an adjective "epic" with sepia imagery in selling bike clothing. A fantasy in mining the past.

None of the coddled, social media swaddled riders in Rapha with hipster facial hair will ever be as tough as Sean Kelly or even half the rider he was. It is almost better he rode without the outward style & grace of the Italians because there would be no denying by just looking at him ride in personifying brutality and steely will that he was one tough and formidable adversary on a racing bike.

[enr1co]

Originally Posted by fuzzalow

Sean Kelly's position on a bike is one that is uniquely his own. Based on results you could not say it was a bad position for him but I would most certainly say that it was an inelegant one. To me the balance and alignments are not in concert as to the elements of his positioning if looked at from a dance aesthetic of grace in motion. It is not a position that anyone could or should try to emulate as there is no rhyme or reason to it other than making it work.

And that is the key - Sean Kelly is and was one of the true, epic, hard man, toughest and fastest mo fo's out there. In select company as one of the most victorious riders in cycling history for the spring classics. A different time. A different age. An age now marketed and made into an adjective "epic" with sepia imagery in selling bike clothing. A fantasy in mining the past.

None of the coddled, social media swaddled riders in Rapha with hipster facial hair will ever be as tough as Sean Kelly or even half the rider he was. It is almost better he rode without the outward style & grace of the Italians because there would be no denying by just looking at him ride in personifying brutality and steely will that he was one tough and formidable adversary on a racing bike.

Effin good post fuzzalow- King Kelly was the real deal! Of all my cycling DVDs , The Sean Kelly Story gets played over and over...

[hokoman]

Originally Posted by enr1co

I thought Bonds was going out with cyclist, Mari Holden?

Yes he is.

[tiretrax]

Originally Posted by fuzzalow

None of the coddled, social media swaddled riders in Rapha with hipster facial hair will ever be as tough as Sean Kelly or even half the rider he was. It is almost better he rode without the outward style & grace of the Italians because there would be no denying by just looking at him ride in personifying brutality and steely will that he was one tough and formidable adversary on a racing bike.

Seriously, why the Rapha hate on a post praising King Kelly?

[Black Dog]

It is not Rapha hate. He was pointing out that Rapha sells the fantasy version of being the type of Hard Man® that Kelly was. Is this not true?

[roubaix]

Originally Posted by enr1co

Love that guy and I love that bike! Thanks for posting the pictures!

[redir]

Lemond was a tough guy with good work ethic too. Have any of you read 'Hunger' I was thinking of picking up a copy of that.

[tiretrax]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

It is not Rapha hate. He was pointing out that Rapha sells the fantasy version of being the type of Hard Man® that Kelly was. Is this not true?

If marketing angles were banned, then all ads would be black print on a plain white background. What's wrong with selling heritage or tribute. I doubt everyone buying a Porsche thinks they're as good of a driver as Derek Bell or Jacky Ickx.