Are they showing the joy of cycling?
Did they synchronize their moves to show how harmonious a couple they are?
Or are they riding fixed-gear bikes and have suddenly realized that they don't know how to stop without brakes?
How would you explain this image?
Recently, Rolling Stone revised its 500 Best Songs of All Time list for the first time in 17 years. For the first time, the Bob Dylan song from which the magazine took its name is not at the top of the list. (It's now #4.) I'm glad that some of the new songs make the list more diverse, in terms of identity as well as musical style. Still, I think such lists are pointless exercises, at best, and at worst arrogant, as they reflect nothing more than the worldview of the lists' compilers.
What if cyclists had a "500 Best Songs" or "Greatest Musicians" list? Would they include "Freewheeling" by Ali Spagnola?
This post is about Andre Breton.
No, I'm not referring to the author of Manifeste du surrealisme. But the man I'm about to mention is something of a philosopher.
On 6 September, the 50-year-old began a "prologue," if you will: a ride from Fort Collins, Colorado to Bradford, Kansas. From Bradford, he undertook his "real" journey, which he dubbed "Connecting My Grandfathers."
His maternal grandfather was born in Bradford. According to his website, he expects to arrive in Waterville, Maine--the birthplace of his paternal grandfather--some time later this month. Along the way, he saw, and anticipates seeing beautiful landscapes, and visits with friends and family members.
The 50-year-old Breton is a relative newcomer to cycling. He bought a bike on impulse in 2010, on Saint Patrick's Day. He said he was "guilted" into the purchase because he was living in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he was working on his third post-doctoral fellowship as a wildlife biologist. "That community rides bicycle far more than any community I've encountered in the United States," he explains.
Buying that bicycle might've been one of the best bits of timing in his life: He had just broken up with a paramour and felt ready to do the same with the academic world. Riding again for the first time since he was a teenager sparked "a massive fire" in him that led to racing. "This is my ninth season, the last two years as a pro," he says. "I got my butt kicked, but when else am I going to do it?"
He's also taken some long tours, in North America and Europe. All of those hours in the saddle, he said, helped him out of a depression. "There are lessons you can gain on a bicycle in a short time that can teach you about your whole life," he explains.
His current ride is to connect his grandfathers. The real connection, I believe, is the one he made with himself. In a way, that's not so different from what the French writer did when he used his dreams to tap into his creative subconsciousness.
Andre Breton. Photo by Della Taylor, for the Potter Leader-Enterprise.
