Profile Of A Cycle Tourist by Pierre Roques from 1965

[hujev]

Gee, this is so great and - amazingly - it doesn't seem to be posted on the web anywhere yet, so...
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PROFILE OF A CYCLE TOURIST
Pierre Roques
November 1965

Writing in Miroir Cyclisme of June 1965, Pierre Roques gives a neat and hilarious description of the cycle tourist. According to Monsieur Roques, a cycle tourist has these characteristics:

He is eccentric. H e is extremely fond of physical exercise, but he does not give a hoot for competition. He despises fashionable hotels and would rather stay in a quaint old hostel. He is bored with small talk but fascinated with a whispering tree. He can give you the name of every little village in a hundred-mile radius but he does not know the latest football score.

He is bullheaded. He undertakes tours that are completely beyond reason. The more tired he gets, the less he admits it. Then, when he is back, he wants to show you his pictures, exhibit his souvenirs, lick his wounds. Even when his tour has been a complete washout, he will tell you that this was the best one he has been on. For him, the bicycle can do no wrong.

He is fussy. You should see him when he discovers a scratch on the frame. You should see him spit on his finger to wipe off a smudge. You should see him filling his bags with all sorts of ridiculous articles. You should see him trying to take a picture: his body contorted, his neck twisted, his face convulsed, his duff in the brambles, all to get his eye to the viewfinder.

He is nosy. Invariably , he leaves the highway to explore the byway. Then, when he still has miles to go, he stops to poke around ancient buildings, size up rustic bridges, fathom gurgling streams. Completely unconcerned, he drags his bicycle through dingy alleys of decrepit villages. Night or day, he is always on the prowl.

He is incomprehensible. At the very moment his train gets to the mountains, he gets off to continue on his bike. Then, after crossing the highest passes, he pitches an impossibly small tent in a far-out corner while everybody else settles down in a normal tent in a normal spot with normal people. Apparently, he is not happy unless he does battle with weather, barriers, and terrain.

He is illogical. He does not want anything to do with racing, but he pushes himself to the limit on a century run. He belongs to all sorts of touring societies but he rides mostly alone. He will start on a long ride against the wind, knowing full well that the wind will turn when it is time to go back. When you stop your car to offer him a lift, he says no thanks, even though sweat is streaming down his face.

He is prejudiced. In full knowledge of his shortcomings, he does nothing to correct them. He does not even try to deny them. Instead of listening to normal, sensible, rational people, he gives them the cold shoulder and goes merrily on his way. It is as if he lived in a different world. All he cares about is his bicycle. On his bike, he is brisk, bright, and easy. Off his bike, he is dreamy, drippy, and droopy.

Riddled with these taints, vices, and infirmities, he is really nothing but a freak. In polite company, he should be banished and not befriended, rejected and not adopted, dismissed and not pitied. He will thank you!

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From "the Best of Bicycling! (Harvey Leete, ed.; 1970), one of my favo[u]rite bicycle books.
Worth reading... To prove it, I've posted a pdf of this & two other short articles and the ToC here (7mb): http://rjl.us/velo/BoB.pdf

[horizon]

So no change there then.

[Samuel D]

Brilliant!

If the account of Paul de Vivie (on page 305) is the one I think it is, that is good reading too.

[hujev]

Here it is (the Velocio biography by Clifford Graves - I just found it by accident somewhere else!)
http://cycling.ahands.org/bicycling/velocio.html

[pedalsheep]

Great stuff!

[Samuel D]

That’s the one. What a man!

I have added The Best of Bicycling! to my curriculum.

[PH]

That’s the one. What a man!

What a man indeed, in 1965 Pierre Roques dosen't seem to think there were any female cycle tourists! Or maybe that's lost in translation?

[hondated]

Here it is (the Velocio biography by Clifford Graves - I just found it by accident somewhere else!)
http://cycling.ahands.org/bicycling/velocio.html

Thank you. Reading that was so interesting. Reading of his ending was as sad as that of little Nell in a Dickens's novel. Reading it also made me think about the many I cycle with who still use down tube lever's and rather than worry about having the latest equipment get out there and ride.

[loch eck steve]

Excellent stuff ! What a good read .

[Heltor Chasca]

I was born in 1974. I'm loving the fact that you wise-old-men are travelling back in time to your youth [emoji6]

That's my playful take on it anyway. Don't ever stop guys. I will be like you one day. For now I'll remain young and handsome! Well...maybe not handsome [emoji84]

[Samuel D]

I was born in 1981. However, I should have been born in about 1951. I am clearly made for a simpler age.

But I enjoy good writing whatever its era. Regarding the kind of thing PH brings up, I make allowances for the times while taking a pretty progressive view on those things now.

[Bicycler]

Well, on that point we have to bear in mind that it is a humorous caricature of a typical cycle tourist. So it is a description of an individual which appears to typify a group rather than an inclusive description of all people in that group. Its humour arises from the fact it is a recognisable stereotype. Those stereotypes are still with us. A CTC member might still be caricatured as bearded and sandal-wearing, which is not the same as implying that there are no female, clean shaven or shoe-wearing members Indeed, the stereotype needn't even be true of the majority as long as it is recognisable.

The other thing to note that in the 1960s 'he', 'him' and 'his' were used in English when referring to individuals of unspecified gender. This is still the case in French, though it is now more common in English to use singular 'they', 'them' and 'their'. A contemporary audience would have read a sentence like "a good cyclist always cares for his bike" without assuming that the sentence only applied to men.

[Bicycler]

But, yes, back to the article - it's a corker! Thank you so much for digging it out

I'm afraid I see far too much of my slightly younger self in it

[Graham O]

Formatting the article with each characteristic on a single line, reveals 41 different points. I score 31 of those. Does that make me a Cycle Tourist?