Cyclopedia. Part 4

Further information: movingtargetzine.com CRITICAL Ma.s.s Widely perceived as ma.s.s protests by cyclists in major cities worldwide, Critical Ma.s.s rides are informal, leaderless events that partic.i.p.ants insist are celebrations and spontaneous gatherings, which means they fall outside rules that may require organized protests to be notified to local police. The aim is simply to reclaim road s.p.a.ce from motorists, if only for a while. Critical Ma.s.s rides are usually held on the last Friday of every month and have a nonhierarchical structure: the routes may simply be decided by whoever happens to lead the group or by a vote from a variety of routes handed out to each partic.i.p.ant. All that matters is that enough cyclists turn up and ride together so that they can "occupy" the road.

The first Critical Ma.s.s ride was held in San Francisco in 1992 with a couple of dozen cyclists. Now over 300 cities worldwide host Critical Ma.s.s rides, with a biennial event in Budapest drawing over 80,000 cyclists. Sometimes as the cyclists roll along small groups will block traffic on side roads for a few moments to enable the others to pa.s.s through junctions without stopping, a practice known as "corking."

There are now variants on Critical Ma.s.s including Critical Manners rides in the US, which aim to encourage cyclists to observe road laws; Critical Sa.s.s is an all-women ride in Louisiana; NUDE CYCLING campaigning rides have adopted the names Critical a.s.s and Critical t.i.ts.

CURSE Cycling lore has it that the rainbow jersey of professional road world champion carries a hex, a belief based on the number of pro road world champions who have suffered a poor season immediately after taking the t.i.tle.

The list begins with FAUSTO COPPI, 1953 world champion and never again a major winner after a spate of crashes and illness. The notion of the curse started with the 1955 world champion Stan Ockers of Belgium, who died the winter after winning the t.i.tle; he crashed and cracked his skull while track racing, throwing Belgium into a state of mourning. The 1987 winner STEPHEN ROCHE barely raced in 1988 due to a knee injury that he said flared up the morning after his victory; he was never the same athlete again.

TOM SIMPSON, 1965 champion, broke his leg skiing over the winter and missed most of 1966. The 1997 rainbow jersey Laurent Brochard was embroiled in the Festina DOPING scandal, while the 1970 t.i.tle winner Jean-Pierre Monsere died in a racing crash in 1971.

The 1981 world champion Freddy Maertens slumped into obscurity after that win, the 1990 winner Rudy Dhaenens was barely seen in action again after contracting a virus, and the 1994 rainbow jersey winner Luc Leblanc's sponsor went bust the next season. The 1969 world champion Harm Ottenbros was unknown when he won and quickly went back that way.

The 1996 champion Johan Museeuw was plagued by troubles that included an infected scratch in his knee, tangling his wheel in another rider's quick-release mechanism, punctures, and a urinary infection. More recently, Romans Vainsteins (2000) and Igor Astarloa (2003) disappeared without trace, while 2003 time trial world champion David Millar was busted for drugs the following year.

There are some exceptions, however. Being a world champion did not seem to affect EDDY MERCKX adversely, while GREG LEMOND won the TOUR DE FRANCE a year after taking the world t.i.tle in 1989, and 1980 world champion BERNARD HINAULT won the Tour de France and Paris...o...b..ix in the next season. Perhaps the curse applies only to mere mortals.

CYCLE SPEEDWAY Cycling discipline run along the same lines as motorized speedway, with short, sharp races run counterclockwise on an oval track, with a standing start. It developed in the 1940s when the motorized version was at its zenith, when kids began racing on British bombsites using discarded bikes, with bars made of copper piping to imitate motorbike handebars. Now, races are held on outdoor dirt tracks between 65 and 90 meters in length. As in TRACK RACING, bikes have single speed gears and no brakes, but the gear is a freewheel not a fixed and is far lower than that used for track racing, spun at up to 200 pedal revs per minute. The races are usually between four riders over four laps, most often between two pairs of riders from opposing teams; first over the line is the winner, with points awarded over an evening's racing. The riders draw for grid position, which can be a critical factor as overtaking is difficult-inside grid is best. All the tracks are subtly different, so previous knowledge of what lines to adopt around the curves can be important. Physical contact is permitted-jostling and barging for corners-but the referees have tightened up on it in recent years. The best riders are explosive sprinters but stamina is needed for up to 10 races in a meeting, while cornering, overtaking, and physical contact mean that high skill levels and decent upper body strength are called for.

There are about 40 clubs in Britain, with regional leagues, and also clubs in Australia, the US, Sweden, Holland, and Poland. Among the major names, the first rider to take the "Grand Slam" of national junior, under-21, senior, Australian, and world t.i.tles was Jim Varnish of Great Britain. The 2009 British champion was Gavin Wheeler, while the 2009 world champion was Daniel Pudney (Australia).

(SEE BMX AND GRa.s.s TRACK RACING FOR OTHER BRANCHES OF CYCLING INVOLVING SHORT RACES ON STRIPPED-DOWN BIKES ON OUTDOOR CIRCUITS).

CYCLO-CROSS The oldest form of off-road racing has been upstaged by brash newcomer MOUNTAIN-BIKING, but remains popular at a gra.s.sroots level in Europe, particularly in Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland, and is gaining popularity in North America. Cyclo-cross racers use adapted road-racing bikes on circuits that are usually short and include obstacles: ditches, steps, tree roots, logs, mud, sand, ice; one famous course used the steps leading up to Montmartre in Paris in the 1940s.

Most cyclo-cross circuits require the rider to run with the bike, meaning that the ability to dismount and remount smoothly is paramount. Bike changes are permitted; on muddy courses, racers will switch bikes as their machines become clogged up.

Compared to road and track, cyclo-cross is a latecomer: the sport was in existence in the 1900s, and a French national championship was run in 1902, but the first world championships were only held in 1950. In Britain, the toughest 'cross race in the world, the THREE PEAKS, was founded in 1961.

Traditionally, continental cyclo-cross was a way for road racers to keep fit in winter-the first man to put a bike over his shoulder 'cross style is said to be Octave Lapize, 1910 Tour winner, and another star of the HEROIC ERA, Eugene Christophe, was seven-times French champion.

The first world champion, Jean Robic, had won the TOUR DE FRANCE in 1947. BERNARD HINAULT was a regular cyclo-cross racer, and his final race was a 'cross in his home village in Brittany in 1986, but the most successful 'cross and road racer was ROGER DE VLAEMINCK of Belgium, a multiple CLa.s.sIC winner in the 1970s and also world cyclo-cross champion in 1975. De Vlaeminck's elder brother Eric (b. 1945) won the world 'cross t.i.tle seven times, and also took a stage in the Tour de France. In the 1980s, Adri Van Der Poel of Holland won a world cyclo-cross t.i.tle and several Cla.s.sics. Recently, however, 'cross has been dominated by specialists, some of whom double up with mountain-bike racing in the summer.

Cyclo-cross bikes now use a mix of road- and mountain-bike technology with the emphasis on two factors: coping with mud and with a variety of other surfaces. Clipless mountain-bike pedals are ubiquitous, while CAMPAGNOLO Ergopower and SHIMANO STI gear-changers are common, with a few die-hards sticking to old-style handlebar-end gear-changers.

Most cyclo-cross bikes now have double front chain rings rather than the traditional single, with mountain-bike rear derailleur and ca.s.sette for a wide range of gears. Frames are specially built with larger clearances and fittings for cantilever brakes. Tires are specially made high pressures or tubulars, much wider than usual (34 mm rather than 23 mm for the road), with studs. Top riders will choose tires for a particular course or conditions. For years the whole pedal issue was a nightmare, with riders fitting double toeclips for extra strength and customizing toestraps to eliminate mud build up. Then Shimano invented the SPD pedal for the mountain bike and 'crossers immediately latched on.

CYCLOSPORTIVES Offering a challenge midway between racing and touring, cyclosportives have been run in Europe since the start of the 20th century. Since the 1990s they have been cycling's biggest growth area, with events proliferating across Europe-many of them oversubscribed-and a field of 35,000 turning out for the most popular event worldwide, the Cape Argus Pick'n'Pay Tour in South Africa.

They are to cycling what the great marathon events are to runners. The key attraction is that riders can choose their pace: whether that means going with the best or pedaling gently. The huge fields mean you never lack company. The best follow the format of the eTAPE DU TOUR, founded in 1993, which itself drew partly from major mountain-bike events where completing the course and having a good time was what mattered, and partly from the more spartan AUDAX and randonneur events such as Fleche Velocio and ParisBrestParis. Sportives are hugely popular in Great Britain and France, and in Italy, where they have a long history and are known as Gran Fondo, or "long distance."

A Sportif route is tough and if possible linked to a major professional race or at least including climbs that are a little out of the ordinary. Most offer a variety of route lengths so that all abilities are catered for, with a well signposted course. In the best events the riders are timed accurately, so that even though they are not-officially-compet.i.tive events, all starters have something for posterity and to compare with their friends. There may be medals for finishing within a certain time for certain age categories. Support is provided, with feeding stations, a broom wagon to pick up stragglers, and sometimes service vehicles. There is usually a prerace pasta party, possibly a "village" of sponsors' stands where the riders can spend their money, and everyone is given a goody bag containing free gifts from sponsors. In many cases, sportives are run by or on behalf of former pros in their local area; media stars such as PHIL LIGGETT also have their own events.

Recognizing the popularity of the events, the UCI created the Golden Bike series of seven long-established sportives around the world. In 2009, they were: * The Cape Argus Pick'n'Pay Tour, starting in Cape Town. See separate entry for CAPE TOWN.

* The Tour of Flanders, over the same course and cobbled climbs used for the professional CLa.s.sIC, with options from 74 to 257 km, and mountain-bike events as well. It's run the day before the pro event, starting and finishing in the town of Ninove.

* L'Ariegoise, uses relatively unknown but tough climbs through the Pyrenees, finishing at the Plateau de Beille ski station, which has hosted Tour de France finishes.

* Gran Fondo Intern.a.z.ionale Felice Gimondi, starts and finishes in Bergamo and takes in the Dolomite foothills. The Giro winner and world champion uses his connections to bring a bevy of former stars along.

* Quebrantahuesos, starts and finishes in the northwest Spanish town of Sabinanigo and takes in some of the cla.s.sic Pyrenean climbs such as the Col de Marie Blanque, the Portalet and the Somport.

* Gruyere Cycling Tour, around the lake where Switzerland's famous cheese comes from, with a host of climbs in the hills around Lausanne.

* Wattyl Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, another lake, but on the other side of the world in New Zealand. The course is 160 km, and can be covered in relays of 40 km for those who want to share the challenge, or as a 320 or 640 km event for true m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.ts.

Other great sportives include: * The Autumn Epic, a 90-mile event through the hilly Welsh borders, voted best sportif in the UK.

* etape Caledonia, 80 miles through the Scottish Highlands from the town of Pitlochry, the only UK event offering closed roads. In 2009, it was. .h.i.t by saboteurs who strewed tacks on the road, causing over 50 punctures.

* The Fred Whitton Challenge, in the Lake District, a 112-mile event starting and finishing at Coniston and including the climbs of Kirkstone, Honister, Whinlatter, Hardknott, and Wrynose pa.s.ses.

* Northern Rock Cyclone, the British round of Golden Bike, starting and finishing on the north side of Newcastle and taking in the moors of North East England.

* Gran Fondo Nove Colli Marco Pantani, starting and finishing in Pantani's birthplace of Cesenatico on the Adriatic Coast, and taking in nine tough ascents in the Apennines. The field is up to 11,000.

* The Ardechoise, is a hugely popular and often overlooked series of events in the tough hills of Central France. 14,000 people took part in 2007; they offer a big range of distances, up to 654 km in three days, with 11,255 m of climbing.

The cyclo-sportive phenomenon of the 1990s drew heavily from mountain biking, and there are many well-established off-road sportives such as the Rough Ride in Britain's Welsh Borders and the h.e.l.l of the North Cotswolds.

(SEE ALPS, PYRENeES, AND DOLOMITES FOR EVENTS THAT TAKE IN THESE LEGENDARY MOUNTAIN RANGES; SEE MOUNTAIN BIKES FOR THE BEST OFF-ROAD SPORTIVES).

D.

DA VINCI, Leonardo Learned and heated debate has raged for three decades among a small group of art historians about Leonardo's "bicycle." The issue is whether, at the very end of the 15th century, the Italian artist and inventor, or one of his pupils, actually drew what appears to be a sketch for a bicycle, or whether the image is a fake added in the 1960s by patriotic restorers who were keen to claim the bike's parentage for Italy.

Scholars believe the bike may have been drawn around 1493; the drawing is on the back of papers later used for architectural sketches. About this time, Leonardo was developing chain and cog wheel devices. There is much discussion of ink types and lost ma.n.u.script sheets, but no one knows the answer.

(SEE DRAISIENNE AND HOBBY HORSE TO LEARN HOW THE BIKE WAS BORN).

DE VLAEMINCK, Roger Born: Eeklo, Belgium, August 4, 1947 Major wins: MilanSan Remo 1973, 19789; Tour of Flanders 1977; Paris...o...b..ix 1972, 19745, 1977; LiegeBastogneLiege 1970; Giro di Lombardia 1974, 1976; Het Volk 1969, 1979; Fleche Wallonne, 1971; Championship of Zurich 1975, Paris-Brussels 1981; Tour of Switzerland 1975; world cyclo-cross champion 1975 Nicknames: the Beast of Eeklo, the Gypsy Possessor of the finest pair of sideburns cycling has ever seen, more importantly De Vlaeminck was the best CLa.s.sIC rider of the 1970s after EDDY MERCKX. Between 1972 and 1977 he won PARIS ROUBAIX four times, which is still the record. He rode the race every year bar one between 1969 and 1982, never finishing lower than seventh. The one major single-day race to elude him was the world road championship.

He remains one of FLANDERS' and cycling's great characters: after retirement he was to be found living on a farm outside his home village along with a vast menagerie of animals that included ducks and deer, and he was still trying to outride professionals and amateurs a third his age as he entered his 60s. De Vlaeminck's training rides over the border into Holland are legendary: each rider spends 1 km on the front, single file is maintained, and not a word spoken.

De Vlaeminck was born into a family of traveling clothiers and thus acquired the nickname "the Gypsy" at school. He never attained Merckx's popularity and avoided the TOUR DE FRANCE once it became clear that he would not match Merckx in the event. The pair had a bitter rivalry early in the 1970s, whipped up by the national press. "When a Belgian daily paper ran a photograph of Merckx entertaining De Vlaeminck at his breakfast table, it was as if the Pope had been caught supping with the Devil," wrote Geoffrey Nicholson. (See RIVALRIES for other great cycling head-to-heads.) Later, however, the two Belgians buried the hatchet and formed an alliance against another Cla.s.sics specialist, Freddy Maertens; De Vlaeminck's son is named after Merckx. While never a Tour de France star, he was one of the few cyclists capable of winning any one of the Cla.s.sics, be it in the steep hills of the Ardennes, the sprint finish of MilanSan Remo, or the cobbles of Paris...o...b..ix. He was also a winner of the CYCLO-CROSS world championship and took a ma.s.sive 22 stage wins in the Giro d'Italia.

DEFEATS Unfairly, some cyclists are better known for losing than for winning. LAURENT FIGNON has gone down in cycling history for being just 8 seconds adrift of victory in the 1989 TOUR DE FRANCE, a record margin estimated at about 100 m in a race lasting 3,285 km and 87.5 hours. As Fignon said, "Eight seconds, 20 seconds, a minute, what's the difference?" Not all notable runners-up have said similar things. A year after Fignon's defeat, the Canadian Steve Bauer came within a millimeter or two of winning PARIs...o...b..IX, only for the photofinish to be awarded to Eddy Planckaert of Belgium. "Second in Roubaix is OK l guess," was his reaction.

The most famous and popular loser of all was RAYMOND POULIDOR of France, the first man to be nicknamed the "Eternal second" after finishing second or third in the Tour eight times. Poulidor lost the 1964 Tour by 55 seconds-an astonishingly small margin at a time when margins of 5 to 10 minutes were not uncommon-yet lost a minute when he sprinted for a 60 second time bonus on the wrong lap at a stage finish. The second "Eternal second" was Joop Zoetemelk, a Dutchman who made a fine comeback from a life-threatening head injury to finish runner-up in the Tour six times between 1971 and 1982. Jan Ullrich, who managed five second places in six starts to one win between 1996 and 2003, was the third.

Unlucky losers are everywhere in cycling, but few are as unfortunate as the French sprinter Lucien Michard, who was given second place in the 1931 world championship in spite of photofinish evidence and even though his opponent Falk Hansen of Denmark declared that he had definitely lost. Officials simply pointed at the rule book that said their decision was final and gave Hansen the gold medal.

DEFENSIVE CYCLING Term used to describe the tactics cyclists adopt to protect themselves from motorists on busy modern roads. Cyclists view this as defensive a.s.sertion of their right to s.p.a.ce in order to avoid injury or worse; motorists may not share that view.

Defensive tactics include: * Looking over the shoulder at cars approaching from the rear to alert the driver to the fact that the thing in front is a human being. Riding out of the saddle and wobbling slightly works as well, as this gives the cyclist a bigger profile, encouraging the car driver to give the cyclist more road s.p.a.ce.

* Pulling out a little to prevent drivers overtaking on blind bends, indicating if necessary that the driver is to stay behind.

* Pulling out before a left-hand junction to prevent a car from overtaking and then cutting in to turn left.

* Riding a little further out from the gutter than might be expected to create "escape s.p.a.ce" if a truck overtakes or a car comes too close.

* Allowing s.p.a.ce when riding down a line of parked cars for the one driver in a hundred who hasn't seen you coming and opens his door on your fast-moving knee.

DERAILLEUR see GEARS DERNY Small motorbike with a gas tank across the handlebars used in TRACK RACING. Dernys have a 98 cc two-stroke engine backed up by the driver pedaling a large fixed gear, typically 70 11, giving smooth acceleration and deceleration. They have to be b.u.mp-started, and their top speed is about 50 mph.

Dernys take the field up to speed in the opening laps of international KEIRIN races, are used to pace riders in MOTORPACE races at track meetings, and can be seen making the pace in training and warming up. They were also used for many years in the BordeauxParis motorpaced CLa.s.sIC.

They are named after the firm that first made them in 1938, Roger Derny et Fils in Ave St. Mande, Paris. Derny et Fils shutdown in 1957, and most of the machines are now made in Neerpelt, Belgium. The term is listed in the French dictionary Larousse as a generic description for a small pacing motorbike. Contrary to popular belief, there is no contractual obligation for the drivers to be overweight, to have bizarre facial hair, and to wear obscure Belgian cycle club jerseys. It's just coincidence.

DESGRANGE, Henri (b. France, 1865, d. 1940) The father of two of the sport's premier events: the TOUR DE FRANCE and the HOUR RECORD, and also a founder of the leisure cyclists' AUDAX movement.

An austere figure who began working life as a lawyer's clerk but was caught up in the 1890s pa.s.sion for cycling, Desgrange lost his job for riding barelegged. He turned to recordbreaking, setting the first hour record at the Buffalo velodrome (see TRACK RACING) in Paris on May 11, 1893, and new standards at distances from 1 kilometer to 100 miles. He then became manager of the Parc des Princes velodrome and later the track that was known as the VELODROME D'HIVER. In 1900, Desgrange was appointed editor of the fledgling newspaper L'Auto, but he did not manage to break the market stranglehold of its rival, Le Velo. In December 1902 at a crisis meeting to devise ways to give the paper new impetus, he took up the suggestion of his a.s.sistant Geo Lefevre, a writer on rugby and cycling, for a novel publicity stunt: a bike race longer than any other run before, along the lines of Le Velo's PARISBRESTPARIS but that circ.u.mnavigated France in five stages. The initial plan was for a race that would take 35 days, but after protests from the professional cyclists who would make up the field this was amended to a six-stage event taking 19 days.

The race was announced in the paper on January 19, 1903. Desgrange was not confident of its success and stayed away from the first Tour when it began on July 1, 1903 at the Reveil-Matin Cafe in the Paris suburb of Montgeron (the centenary Tour of 2003 also began from the Reveil-Matin, still in situ but by then a Wild-West themed restaurant). It was Lefevre who followed the race from start to finish, traveling by train and bike and providing a page of reports every day. His son described his role like this: "lost all alone in the night, he would stand on the edge of the road, a storm lantern in his hand, searching the shadows for riders who surged out of the dark from time to time, yelled their name and disappeared into the distance. He alone was the 'organisation' of the Tour de France."

The first Tour was an unqualified success: L'Auto's circulation jumped from 25,000 to 65,000, and Le Velo went bust. By the second running of the Tour, however, the field had worked out ways of getting around the rudimentary rules and there was a wave of cheating, which led Desgrange to announce that "The Tour de France is finished." But in 1905 he personally took over the running of the race and brought in numerous changes, most importantly shorter stages that meant the riders would not be out on lonely French country roads at night.

Under Desgrange, the Tour was run dictatorially but also with a constant search for novelty and timeliness, which remains part of the organizers' ethos today. It was, wrote Geoffrey Nicholson, "established as a battle against fearful odds often fought in inhospitable regions which the readers of newspaper reports could only imagine." He took the event into the disputed territory of Alsace-Lorraine in 1906, ran the first mountain stages, experimented with team time trials and attempted to limit the influence of the cycle manufacturers by making the riders use identical machines issued by the race organizers. He also brought in the advance caravan of advertising vehicles that draws spectators today.

A believer that exercise and suffering led to moral improvement, he was uncompromising in his merciless att.i.tude to the riders, giving rise to some of the Tour's most legendary episodes (see HEROIC ERA; PELISSIER for examples). During the First World War, Desgrange enrolled as an infantryman and won the Croix de Guerre; he returned to his paper in 1919 when he conceived his masterstroke: the introduction of a distinctive jersey as a way of recognizing the race leader. The jersey was yellow, the same color as the pages of L'Auto; the jersey bears his initials even today, and every stage race in the world has a leader's jersey, usually yellow.

Desgrange began the tradition that the Tour organizer should also be a journalist. As a writer, he modeled himself on emile Zola. His style was florid and crammed with imagery and is still imitated by color-writers on L 'Auto's successor L'Equipe today. His essay in L'Auto introducing the Tour was ent.i.tled "The Sowers" and begins: "With the broad and powerful swing of the hand which Zola gave to his ploughman in The Earth, L' Auto, a paper of ideas and action, is going to fling across France today those reckless and uncouth sowers of energy, the great professional road racers.... From Paris to the blue waves of the Mediterranean, along the rosy, dreaming roads sleeping under the sun, across the calm of the fields of the Vendee, following the still and silently flowing Loire, our men are going to race madly and tirelessly." He described Henri Pelissier's win in 1923 as having "the cla.s.sicism of a work by Racine, the value of a perfect statue, a faultless cla.s.sic or a piece of music destined to stay in everyone's minds."

Desgrange cohabited for much of his life with the avant-garde artist Jeanne (Jane) Deley. In 1936, after a prostate operation, he gave up the running of the Tour de France to Jacques G.o.ddet-the son of the L'Auto treasurer Victor G.o.ddet-and after he died in 1940 a MEMORIAL was put up in his honor on top of the Col du Galibier. A street off Quai de Bercy next to the Seine, on the southeast side of Paris (post code 75012) is named after him.

DOGS Man's best friend, a cyclist's worst enemy* (and occasional training aid as you sprint to get away from those snapping teeth). Victorian cyclists carried heavyweight small-caliber pistols to deal with threatening mutts-presumably on a high-wheel Old Ordinary there was a serious risk of losing control during a dog attack. The Germans made gunpowder-filled anti-dog grenades, while US cyclists could buy ammonia sprays and some still carry mace or pepper spray. One US study estimated that 8 percent of cycle accidents were caused by Fido and friends.

While matches between cyclists and HORSES go back over a century, races between cyclists and canines are more recent. In 2009, the Spanish champion Alejandro Valverde lost a circuit race in Valencia against a team of six huskies drawing a wheeled sleigh. A rematch was called for, with two cyclists taking on the huskies, but halfway through the animals decided it was time for a nap.

Dogs sometimes intervene in major bike races, for example in two stages in the 2007 TOUR DE FRANCE, where pooch-bike interface resulted in injuries to, firstly, the German Marcus Burghardt, and, later, Frenchman Sandy Casar, who won a stage after being brought down by a dog early on.

The best-known dog in pro racing belongs to the 2009 world champion Cadel Evans of Australia. In a media crush at the 2008 Tour, Evans shouted at one journalist, "If you stand on my dog I'll cut your head off." His website later sold T-shirts with the motto: "Don't stand on my dog."

In the 1950s, the cycling cartoonist Johnny Helms perfectly depicted the cyclist's nightmare: a mischievous breed of hound with sharklike teeth and gaping grin, often with a sc.r.a.p of cycling shorts in its mouth. The bestselling bike bible Richard's Bicycle Book by RICHARD BALLANTINE offers a grimly detailed guide on dealing with vicious dogs. He recommends using pepper sprays, ramming the pump down the dog's throat, kicking its genitals. He concludes: "If worst comes to worst and you are forced down to the ground by a dog, ram your entire arm down his throat. He will choke and die. Better your arm than your throat."

* THIS IS TAKING "ENEMY" AS REFERRING TO AN ANIMATE ENt.i.tY; THE GREATEST DANGER, OBVIOUSLY, COMES FROM INANIMATE OBJECTS WITH FOUR WHEELS OR MORE AND AN ENGINE.

DOLOMITES It was not until the 1930s that the GIRO D'ITALIA visited the pa.s.ses through the section of the ALPS that dominates northern Italy. However, they are now decisive in the race, which also uses the climbs of the southeastern Alps and the shorter, less testing ascents in the Apennines. Geographically, Dolomites refers to the mountains between the Adige river in the west and the Piave valley to the east. Dolomite climbs frequently have spectacular backdrops such as the rock pinnacles on the Pordoi pa.s.s. They are shorter and steeper than the Alpine climbs that figure in the TOUR DE FRANCE.

The Giro tackles the Dolomites in early summer and is vulnerable to extreme weather. The most legendary example was in 1988 on the Gavia Pa.s.s, which lies in the west of the range between Sondrio and Brescia. This was the springboard for the first win in the Giro for the UNITED STATES as Andy Hampsten took over the pink leader's jersey on a notorious day when heavy snow fell unexpectedly on this high pa.s.s with its unmetaled roads. There were dramatic scenes as shivering riders stopped on the descent to urinate on their frozen hands.

The most notorious Dolomite pa.s.ses are shown below.

Numerous CYCLOSPORTIVES take in the great pa.s.ses of the Dolomites, most notably the Maratona dles Dolomites, founded in 1987 and now so popular that 5,000 of the 9,000 places are designated by a lottery; the event draws around 20,000 applications. The event is subdivided into three courses of varying severity, all starting and finishing in the town of Corvara in the Badia valley: the toughest, over 86 miles, includes the climbs of Campolongo (twice), Pordoi, Sella, Gardena, Giau, and Falzarego. None of the pa.s.ses is over seven miles long but their steepness means the total amount of climbing is 13,747 feet.

The Granfondo Sportful, (previously known as GF Campagnolo, but now with new sponsor) is held on the third Sunday in June, based in the town of Feltre, and covers six Dolomite pa.s.ses, including the Croce d'Aune (see CAMPAGNOLO for the significance of this climb in cycling history).

The Granfondo Marco Pantani includes the Gavia and Mortirolo, starting and finishing in the town of Aprica.

The great Dolomite climbs feature in the RAID Alpine route from Thonon les Bains to Trieste.

DOPING See DRUGS DOUBLE Cycle racing has two legendary "doubles": most prestigious is the GIRO D'ITALIA followed by the TOUR DE FRANCE in the same year, a rare feat achieved only by the greats: FAUSTO COPPI (1949 and 1952), JACQUES ANQUETIL (1964), EDDY MERCKX (1970, 1972, 1974), BERNARD HINAULT (1982, 1985), STEPHEN ROCHE (1987), and MARCO PANTANI (1998). MIGUEL INDURAIN of Spain achieved a "double double" by winning Giro and Tour two years running, 1992 and 1993, while in 1974 and 1987 respectively Merckx and Roche achieved a legendary triple: Giro, Tour, and world championships.

The other "double" is the Ardennes double: victories in Fleche Wallonne and LiegeBastogneLiege in the same year (see CLa.s.sICS). Cyclists who have managed this are: Ferdi Kubler (Switzerland) 19512; Stan Ockers (Belgium) 1955; Eddy Merckx (Belgium) 1972; Moreno Argentin (Italy) 1991; Davide Rebellin (Italy) 2004; Alejandro Valverde (Spain) 2006.

DOWNHILL The original form of MOUNTAIN-BIKING, and still the most traditional variant of the sport, with its principles unchanged since the days of the REPACK downhill in California in the late 1970s. It is simply a downhill time trial on a short course-usually lasting between two and six minutes. Compet.i.tors wear full-face helmets and sometimes body armor. Downhill has become a natural summer sport for ski resorts, many of which now have marked, graded runs and open ski lifts to transport the bikers to the top of the runs. The UCI runs a season-long World Cup and a world championship.

The Repack riders used the "clunkers" that evolved into the mountain bike, and later downhillers rode either conventional mountain bikes or customized variants. It was not until the 1990s that specialist downhill machines became widespread. These have large-diameter disc brakes, front and rear suspension with far more travel than machines used for cross-country and touring, and more laid-back frame design so that the rider can get his or her weight further back. More lightweight dual suspension and discs are now ubiquitious on all top-end mountain bikes; in these areas downhill has pushed development forward.

Downhill was included in the first UCI mountain-bike world championships at Durango, Colorado, in 1990: the winners were Greg Herbold of the US and Cindy Devine of Canada. The bike-handling element and need for upper-body strength has meant there has always been crossover with BMX, with one early champion the former BMX racer John Tomac. GREAT BRITAIN is surprisingly strong in the discipline. Steve Peat was world champion in 2009, while the union jack is flown by the Atherton family from Wales: Rachel, Gee-the 2008 world champion-and Dan.

Variants on mountain-bike downhill include Super-D, a mix of cross-country and downhill with uphill sections that discourage the use of downhill machines; Freeride, a test of riding skill scored for riding style, selection of trajectory, tricks, and time; Dual-Slalom, a knock-out event with two riders side by side on identical courses; Four-Cross, four riders starting together like BMX with an initial timed solo round for seeding, followed by knock-out rounds.

Downhill venues include some of the same French Alpine resorts that host Tour de France stages, including l'Alpe d'Huez and Morzine, Italian ski resorts such as Bardonnechia and Pila, while in Liguria there are downhill courses that end by the Mediterranean. In Great Britain, most downhill courses are in Wales and Scotland, with a World Cup and world championship venue at Ben Nevis.

There are few comparable events in road cycling, although there is the Red Bull Descent, a timed downhill challenge using the hairpins that wind down from the Pyrenean ski resort of Pla d'Adet. The 2009 winner was the Frenchman Fred Monca.s.sin, a former stage winner in both the mountain-bike and road Tours de France.

BIZARRE DOWNHILL FACTOID.

The Bosnian capital Sarajevo, which is ringed by mountains, has a downhill race that goes through streets on the steep slopes.

4.

There is a curious subculture to downhill, in which speed record attempts are made on frozen ski-slopes by heavily protected downhillers, a fashion that caught on in the late 1990s inspired by Frenchman Fabrice Taillefer. These are fear-inspiring and very quick: the record is over 130 mph.

DRAISIENNE Early bicycle, invented in 1817 by Baron Karl von Drais, Master of the Forests in the duchy of Baden, Germany, whose other inventions included a typewriter and a meat grinder. Made of wood, it consisted of two wheels joined by a frame with a seat for the rider, with the front wheel able to rotate freely so the machine could be steered. There were no pedals. It included a seat, luggage rack, and a "balancing board" on which the rider placed his elbows. The speeds attained by the Draisienne depended on the road surface and gradient, but it was found to be fourtimes faster than post-coaches.

The Draisienne was patented at the start of 1818 and launched in France later that year; by then there were four companies making similar machines in Germany, and others across Europe began copying the model.

In December 1818 a patent was registered in London by a carriage maker named Denis Johnson, for a "pedestrian curricle" made largely of iron and selling at 8 or 10 guineas, and based on the Draisienne design. The "hobby horse" was born and was rapidly taken up by Regency London; the wealthy would turn up at his two schools to be instructed in riding the machine. A drop-frame version was made for ladies to accommodate long skirts. So many people rode the hobby horses that they were banned from pavements in London; the craze spread to America, pushed by Johnson, but eventually died out.

(SEE BONESHAKER FOR THE NEXT STAGE IN CYCLE DEVELOPMENT; HIGH-WHEELER AND SAFETY BICYCLE FOR LATER VARIANTS ; BICYCLE FOR A SUMMARY OF THE MACHINE'S DEVELOPMENT; LEONARDO DA VINCI FOR THE DEBATE OVER A POSSIBLE EARLY MACHINE) DRUGS Cycle racing is one of the toughest endurance disciplines in sport, and a variety of illegal substances have been used over the years as cyclists have attempted to go farther and faster. Doping began with the marathon events of the 1890s, particularly the SIX-DAY races, where riders would use caffeine, strychnine, and a.r.s.enic. By the 1930s, drug-taking in cycling was so inst.i.tutionalized that the rider contracts in the TOUR DE FRANCE stated that the cost of "stimulants, tonics and doping" had to be paid by the riders themselves, according to historian Benjo Maso.

Ironically in view of the mythology that surrounds drug-taking, the effects have often been counterproductive rather than performance enhancing. Cyclists have ended up with long-term injuries and mental problems through drug taking-not to mention the deaths-while recent developments in professional cycling suggest that winning the biggest events "clean" thanks to proper training is probably more straightforward.

Alcohol was often used up to the 1970s for its painkilling and euphoric effects. TOM SIMPSON was seen drinking brandy shortly before his death in the 1967 Tour de France.

Amphetamines became popular during the 1950s after large amounts of Benzedrine produced for the airmen of the Second World War came onto the market. Its euphoric effect enabled a cyclist to ignore the pain, but it is highly addictive so regular users ended up taking more and more to get the same effect. In addition, the feeling of invincibility reported by amphetamine users could lead to crashes and bizarrely timed attacks that resulted in defeat. After Simpson's death, testing was brought in and the use of amphetamines in major events declined, although the Irish pro Paul Kimmage wrote that it was widespread in lesser races as late as the 1980s.

Anabolic agents were most used in the 1970s and 1980s.