The Belly of Vigorelli
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| Joe Strummer | Vigorelli Velodrome | Photo ©: Janette Beckman |
From 1935 to 1967 eight PRO cyclists set the world hour record at Milan’s Vigorelli Velodrome on ten separate occasions, making it the most heralded venue in the lore and legend of the almighty Hour. No other velodrome has seen as many successful attempts to further the distance a human being can power a bicycle over 60 immensely painful minutes:
- 1935 October 31…Giuseppe Olmo (ITA)…45.090 kph
- 1936 October 14…Maurice Richard (FRA)…45.325 kph
- 1937 September 29…Frans Slaats (NED)…45.558 kph
- 1937 November 3…Maurice Archambaud (FRA)…45.747 kph
- 1942 November 7…Fausto Coppi (ITA)…45.871 kph
- 1956 June 29…Jacques Anquetil (FRA)…46.159 kph
- 1956 September 19…Ercole Baldini (ITA)…46.394 kph
- 1957 September 18…Roger Riviere (FRA)…46.923 kph
- 1958 September 23…Roger Riviere (FRA)…47.346 kph
- 1967 September 27…Jacques Anquetil (FRA)…47.493 kph
And then The Clash rolled into the Vigorelli Velodrome in May, 1981.
This past month or so has been a time of intense reading…all 8 fantastic issues of Rapha’s Rouleur in rapid succession, plus plenty of books. And what held my attention the most were a couple of biographies about The Clash: Johnny Green’s A Riot of Our Own and Pat Gilbert’s Passion is a Fashion. And while the only hour record Joe Strummer and company may have been setting in the nether regions of the Vigorelli Velodrome was how may pounds of weed four human beings can smoke, Strummer and bass play Paul Simonon were hardly strangers to cycling. According to Pat Gilbert, while recording Combat Rock,
Paul and Joe turned up to Freston Road [at the Ear Studios recording studio] each day on their bicycles: very unassuming, very English. Joe used to borrow Gabriella’s [Gabriella Salter] bike, actually, that was his favorite mode of transport. Paul, he always cruised around West London on a bicycle with cow-horn handlebars. He used to ride everywhere with his hands in his pockets, hair greased back in a quiff.
Who knows…maybe Joe and Paul bumped into the Masi family prior to hitting the stage.
And for something that has nothing to do with cycling, but everything to do with today’s date, I leave you with one of the greatest, if not the greatest, April Fools jokes of all time: the mysterious tale of Sidd Finch.
Roman Holiday wrote:
Great photo of Joe. “The Future is Unwritten.” - J.S.
Posted on 02-Apr-08 at 11:43 am | Permalink
pietro wrote:
Roman Holiday-
I happened to find this Joe Strummer mural today: http://pages.citebite.com/k3h8b6p6jlby
Posted on 02-Apr-08 at 4:46 pm | Permalink
Ryan wrote:
Ah, two of my favorite things come together — bike racing and the Clash. Thanks for putting the two together.
-Ryan
Posted on 03-Apr-08 at 11:50 am | Permalink
sebastian wrote:
This blog is brilliant.
By the way, I just heard the news about Trek dumping LeMond. Could it be any clearer? Mess with Armstrong and sleep with the fishes.
Posted on 08-Apr-08 at 10:41 am | Permalink
george wrote:
Just like Ryan said: the Clash and Bikes. So sweet.
I named my blog after a Strummer song so to come across your post about Joe really resonated.
Thank god the sport I love has the people with the capacity to love the clash…thanks for the post. I think the picture is by Penny Smith though, not Janette beckman.
Posted on 08-Apr-08 at 1:29 pm | Permalink
bikesgonewild wrote:
…ah, *the clash*, the awesome clash…when i was younger, i saw all the early heavies…yardbirds, who, zeppelin, hendrix, beck & stewart, stones, santana & all the sf based bands, janis & big brother, quicksilver, dead, airplane, blue cheer, plus alice cooper, iron butterfly, zappa…
…saw a ton of other great bands & then came…*the clash*…WOW…first american tour in smaller halls & they frickin’ ROCKED san francisco…their drive, their need to say “we’re here, america” was visceral…it was like joe strummer hung from a church spire & screamed out their name to the world…
…*the clash* that first time were as good as any band i’ve ever seen…
…unfortunately, the next years tour in huge halls, w/ extra sidemen didn’t come close…but the memory of that first time remains sweet…
Posted on 14-Apr-08 at 12:14 am | Permalink
GJP wrote:
As long as we’re discussing cool musicians and their love of bicycle riding, there is a neat interview with David Byrne of Talking Heads in this month’s issue of Bicycling.
Posted on 03-May-08 at 9:40 pm | Permalink