Have you seen the picture on page 16 of the March C+? Just look at the mud and gravel collecting on the sidewalls and around the brakes!
The caption says "Thirties riders may look quaint now..." but that doesn't do any justice to this wonderful picture. Quaint?... that's one tough-ass rider, struggling up one tough-ass climb, battling some tough-ass conditions. Nothing "quaint" in that pic.
See the concentration in the rider's body, arched in effort, gloveless hands gripping the drops, wrists and ankles wrapped against the elements, long sleeves pulled up to the elbow.
And just look at the spectators! These guys ain't clapping and cheering on some sunny summer's day... these guys are witnessing human struggle, their gazes nearly as intense as that of the rider, tough men standing high on a muddy mountain trackon a wet and ugly day, anonymous footfalls lost in time.
I can just imagine the moment - no yells, just the sound of wheels sucking thin wet mud, a rider's locomotive breath, a few gravelly footsteps, racer's names murmured one to another, following the rider up the climb, halfhearted clapping here and there.
I don't know who the rider is, or his team or his bike, or the event or the date, but I know the expressions, and thanks to that picture, I know a little about those anonymous men.
Aldo Ross Monroe, Ohio, where the fog has settled around the new streetlights outside, creating little pink galaxies in the black-grey night