You can’t really know what it’s like to be stranded in a jury room while the team is on campaign, but you can read about it because I hand-typed it. So I was there with 11 or 12 others - not really counting, but rather, thinking, imagining. We were supposed to be talking about her, and if she did it, or if he did, or if his lover did. Rain streamed down the windows, obscuring the view of the adjacent building. A fluorescent light ballast whined. … [Read more...]
A Sunday in Hell
As I arrived to my login for the day, I was greeted with the following poignant insight from a fellow journeyman mechanic: "When I was having a shitty time at the bench, kind of being overrun by minor gripes &/ gangrenous management, I would watch the bit at the beginning of Sunday in Hell where the Sanson mechanic is cleaning the Benotto, or Bottecchia. It would remind me of how the basics serve to reinforce and inform and make way for … [Read more...]
Greg the World – How to Fix a Flat
The Right to Suffer
There is little time for rebellion. With all this standing around, adorning technologies, hue schemes, and eye ware, for the sake of representation and proper travel regarding the features of the weekend things are discouraging as hell. There's less and less of anything that qualifies a satisfactory effort, yet you paid for everything and the return policy made no mention of this. Satiety is having its way because it must begat a hunger and if … [Read more...]
Belgo-Californian Trail Mixxe
It was not so long ago that I had a hot pencil about this trip and this new friendset. Now, you see that it has been a long time, because that was Vuelta, and now it is CX, but here is what happened: I was thinking when I got to LA, "Great. I have worked so hard for the vacation. I will make some time for things I love. Hot Planks©, Quinoa 3 ways, Ice Yoga™, and a bike riding time. And of course, the Accu-tennis®. So how good is it that … [Read more...]
Caps Not Hats: Public Release
The Caps not Hats movement has keystone support in the PRO pelotong via OPQS. The movement would still be in the shadows without their acknowledgement of this timeless laurel du cycling However, in addition to this association, Superissimo.com and @truebs Bill Strickland (truebs.com) have determined an official release of the #capsnothats insignia for public use would be a good idea. The Caps Not Hats movement has seeped into the high … [Read more...]
La Vie Pugilat
If you look at Bernard Hinault's Wikipedia page it will show that his birthday is November 14th. That fact makes him a Scorpio. Anyone who has been entrapped by the claws of that dynamic can readily share the uniform understanding that a Scorpio is not to be fucked with. Yet as the years have passed, and the Tour has rolled on, we have developed a deep reticence regarding Hinault's diminished yet well respected presence within the order of … [Read more...]
American History M
This image comes to us from friend of Superissimo, Doug Ritter; a man who is no stranger to the Pro Wrench. He possesses a deep & dirty history of the American Professional Cycling saga as we know it. This image is from Spain in 1990. These kids? Doug asks, can you name them? We see some familiar faces here. So fresh, so young. You might even say poussaint? These days of 1990 were so close to the dawning of American Pro Cycling success. The … [Read more...]
Riggo: Superimposed Superhuman
I have a problem with the establishment, authority, the norm, the mainstream, McMansions, etc., but mostly I have a problem with status quo running free. Instinct has me refuse subscription, and take a pass on common memberships until the data are analyzed, but here I am, speaking to a niche. Aren't my ways contradictory? Not really, but also yes, but also who cares: the point was just to draft a semi-concise setup for explaining why … [Read more...]
Retrospective Heaviness: Hampsten ’85
I'm always digging around, thirsty as hell for sips of American greatness. Pre-90s feels better to watch, though I like the Pharma Years, too; it was spectator gold. Stateside, our gauge of roleur seems to have strictly to do with Le Tour, but the dudes who swung the long axe were present in all forms: the 1-days, the WT points, the Giro, and more. What's more, any Euro can tell you that heros don't have to win the whole tour. Heros are born … [Read more...]