Diggin the history

Mostly spurred by reading The Rider, then Rough Ride, then North Wind, but it is there. And Dave Moulton has some great content and stories about the old giants from days gone by.

On Saturday he put up a bit about Fiorenzo Magni. Some great stories there.

You can read the interview with Fiorenzo Magni here. The responses to the questions show acceptance of the hand that life dealt him, without regrets. He also shows humility in accepting praise for his achievements, and a willingness to give credit to others. It shows the wisdom and character of Fiorezo Magni.

The joy for me is that this great man is still with us, when so many of the heroes of my teen years are not. Coppi, Koblet, Robic and Bobet, died tragically, and all relatively young. My memories of this era are from almost sixty years ago, and still there is a remote possibility I could one day actually meet Fiorenzo Magni.

Amazing no?

All spurred on by the entry about a Broken Clavicle.

Thinking about how tough Magni was in '56, reminded me of the Bob Roll quote in Velonews bird cage liner.

“Bike racing is about two things: pain and revenge. If you go through so much pain that you want revenge, you’ve got it made.” - Bob Roll

I wanted to make sure I got it right so of course I googled it and found it, but also found this:
Base Miles with Bobke by Dave Ochs

More good stuff. A bit of a sales pitch, but then if you were invited to a training ride like that - why not toss in the sales bit, the least you would do, no?

pain and revenge...

i need more pain... definitely need more pain, the truth is, i'm a big sissy when it comes to this bike stuff...

going to try for some pain tonight...