Conquista - The Cycling Quarterly Issue 7 | Page 10

K I T T E L N OT K I T T E N S
It is often observed that the richness of cycling is largely derived from its sheer
diversity. The variety of disciplines: road; track; time-trial; hill-climb; cyclocross;
all the various manifestations of mountain biking and bmx; offer scope beyond
the mastery of any single athlete (except perhaps Marianne Vos). And, we’ve not
even covered-off all the UCI officially recognised disciplines in that list. If yet more
diversity were needed we can throw-in trials, bike polo, artistic cycling and cycle-ball
(yes there is a version of football you play on bikes). And that’s just the competitive
stuff. How about touring, commuting, bike couriers, even spinning? Ok, not
spinning. Our world offers endless possibilities for rich and varied content and to us,
the more random and unexpected the better. Of course we like to dabble at the socalled “highest” level of the UCI World Tour - after all that’s an environment we know
very well, but it is our belief that there are so many more interesting and engaging
stories out there waiting to be told, that to devote our entire magazine to such a
narrow definition of our wonderful sport would be criminally neglectful.
Alternatively we could just publish hundreds of pictures of cute kittens, and no
doubt this would (inexplicably) be phenomenally popular with thousands of people.
But that would be easy. And spirit-crushingly dull. Here today we reinforce our
pledge to you, our reader, a humble promise to try to bring you the best of honest
cycling reportage. Join together with us in our campaign, preserving the spirit of
slow journalism, celebrating beauty and panache. Repeat after us “KITTEL NOT
KITTENS”.
As in all previous issues, this time out we have tried to sprinkle a little diversity
amongst the more predictable, so in between the stock coverage of freakishlyskinny-white-men-looking-tired-while-riding-expensive-carbon-road-bikes you will
find some more human stuff too. For your entertainment we punish ourselves by
riding the full length (and some) of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege - a tale of camaraderie,
suffering and ricecakes. And a reminder that just getting out and riding your bike
often brings unexpected pleasures.
We are immensely proud to bring you a stunning gallery by Gianfranco Tripodo introducing ‘The Roosters’ - a group of friends riding fixed through snowy Spanish
mountains. (Please check our blog piece profiling the video of their ride - we are
pretty confident you won’t be disappointed).
We profile Squid - a New York City cycle messenger, who also steals our cover shot.
Suze Clemitson goes behinds the scenes at the Tour or Turkey to give us her unique
perspective on life within the race bubble. Indulge yourself in the beautiful artwork
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