But every once in a while you see an image that totally confirms that cycling is indeed the most beautiful sport in the world. A sport which rewards technical ingenuity and good-old-fashioned-hard-work equally. The pinnacle of sports performance played out in grand theater on the world's most beautiful country roads and mountain passes.
Without further ado, courtesy of Zinn at Velonews:
In all his glory, the Chief Mechanic of the Astana team, wrench to The Boss himself scraping tubular glue of a rim with a butter knife. After all those hours in the wind tunnel, the months of training and millions of dollars in logistics; it is on the shoulders of this man to keep the machine running.
Nietzsche wrote of the uber-mensch, the Superman whose understanding of life was so great and so thorough, that he knew that life in common society was a waste of time. He left to the dark hills of the Heartland to achieve a higher state of self-mastery. In time, one by one, the plebians would recognize his enlightened state, abandoning their material lives and discover their true purpose.
The true uber-mensch is hidden away from society, amid the exhaust of diesel trucks, surrounded by the most simple of machines, made from the most advanced materials. Constantly conducting a symphony of the ancient and cutting edge. Facilitating the wildest dreams of the world's most devious men. Wearing only a shop apron.
