Reading this recent post on pub-lic spaces made me think of one of Wordsworth's famous quotes: The child is the father of the man.
Yesterday, I took my bike out for the first time this year, just to prepare a bit for next season. And at times like that, I cannot but acknowledge that these words are very true. Riding my race bike makes me think I'm Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck, Walter Godefroot, Lucien Van Impe, Sean Kelly,... I know: a 35-year-old pretending to be one of the cycling heroes from his childhood days is something most people will find a bit curious to say the least. But believe me: all those adult men riding their bikes as if their lives depend on it, do exactly the same. The question is whether they'll admit it.
One of my liveliest childhood memories is sitting at the living room table, playing with my toy cyclists. They were painted in the famous Peugeot, Molteni, Flandria,... colours. Each had a name (well, I gave them one - you can probably guess which). Of course, it wasn't until much later that I learnt who they really were, and how much they excelled in this wonderful but ever so tough sport as cycling. I no longer have these toys. Somehow they got lost. As a teenager I didn't really care. In my twenties, when I started cycling, I sometimes thought about where they might have ended up.
And now, having kids of my own, I regret the fact they're gone. Let's face it: deep down I'd just love to put them on the table again. Merckx first, of course. And if anybody would ask if I haven't grown too old for this, I could always say I did not put them there, but one of the boys. Still, I am not quite sure the stupid grin on my face would not betray me...
Perhaps I'll just settle for a retro jersey instead (Flandria: Godefroot, De Vlaeminck - St.Raphaël: Simpson, Anquetil - Molteni: guess...). If you'd like one too: you can look here, or maybe here. Let me know which one you got. Oh, and if you were to find my toy cyclists: let me know too, okay?
and I could wish my days to be bound each to each...by natural piety.
Trying to upload a picture to flickr, seems to be a really busy website. Has taken nearly 30 minutes so far and not completed yet.
By the way...what a poor choice of name: "flickr". "Flickr me". Why on earth didn't they consult with dutch speaking people first?
My user name is "printfolio".
Posted by: Le rasoir chantant | January 23, 2006 at 11:11 PM
A lecturer, writer, photographer, art enthusiast, beer connoisseur, cyclist ... is there anything you don't do?
Posted by: Andrea Weckerle | January 24, 2006 at 03:44 AM
He doesn't beat his wife as far as I know!
Posted by: Le rasoir chantant | January 24, 2006 at 09:29 AM
@ Ballistic: I'll check it out soon. You might want to save your photos in another format when uploading to Flickr (what's in a name, indeed - for you non-Dutch speaking readers: check out 'flikker' in the English-Dutch dictionary). That should help. A 3-megapixel picture, for example, is quite heavy. When using this type of format, you will probably also notice that your monthly limit is reached pretty quickly. And btw: I do beat my wife from time to time. But like I said before: only at Scrabble (or at Trivial Pursuit)... ;-)
@Andrea: You're right. I am interested in a lot of things. Too many, even. That's also one of my personal frustrations: so much to discover, and never enough time. Add to this the fact that I do not have a tendency to be fanatic. That leads to doing a lot of things, but never to extremes. For example: one of the reasons Lance Armstrong was able to win the Tour de France, is the fact that he is fanatic about his sport (about training, about his equipment, about his diet, ...). So I guess I'll never win the Tour de France (although there are other reasons for that as well ;-) ). In the past, that sometimes made me sort of restless. Over the years, fortunately, I have come to terms with this aspect of my personality. I have even embraced it, because I know there will always be something to do/see/learn/... at any point in life. And I have also accepted the fact I will never be able to do/see/learn/... everything there is to do/see/learn/... Whatever comes along, is fine. Besides, Jeanne Calmant (a French lady who got to be over 120 years of age) used to say that "everything with moderation" is the key to a long life. I am not planning on reaching 120, but there is a nice thought in that.
Posted by: Serge | January 24, 2006 at 12:57 PM
Clinging onto childhood memories? Beating your wife? Realizing you'll never win the tour the france?
Looks like someone's dealing with a bit of a midlife crisis...
But let's stick to the topic...retro shirts!
On some hot sunday in august, my girlfriend and I went to the over-crowded 'chatuchak' weekend market in Bangkok. After a hard day of finding our way between the 200 000 other visitors, I suddenly saw a Thai guy selling retro liverpool-shirts. He was the biggest liverpool fan I ever saw (and you can take that quite literally). He even had a liverpool-tattoo on his back. I bought an '80s shirt for 300 baht (that's about 7,5 euros).
Funny how everything seems to remind me of Thailand these days...
Posted by: Frederik | January 25, 2006 at 04:47 PM
...which brings up another subject! My girlfriend has an incredible talent in taking award-winning pictures. Curious? Check out jeske.skynetblogs.be. Where am I on the pictures? Standing right next to her, trying my best not to ruin the day...
Posted by: Frederik | January 26, 2006 at 02:30 PM
Serge,
One is never too old to dream of a career as a cyclist. In fact, I'm 21 and I plead guilty. But if you do want this childhooddream to vanish as fast as lightning, I can recommend you the Tour of Flanders for amateurs. That worked for me...
Posted by: car | January 26, 2006 at 07:52 PM
@Frederik: tell your girlfriend to clean up her scans. Also, the blog itself isn't appealing. Shame about the nice compositions.
Posted by: Le rasoir chantant | January 26, 2006 at 08:10 PM
Ballistic:
You're absolutely right. I guess we're just old-fashioned people who put more time and effort in developing pictures by hand, and then putting them in a frame or album...
Posted by: Frederik | January 27, 2006 at 02:24 PM
@ Frederik: thanks for the visit. I didn't know some of our former students were such talented photographers! And btw: it's not exactly a midlife crisis. More of a permanent state of childishness...
@ Carl: I know, I've tried it once (albeit not the whole tour). I almost threw my bike in the ditch afterwards... BTW: on your msn space: "hoe later de avond, hoe schoonder het volk?"
Posted by: Serge | January 27, 2006 at 03:28 PM