I just got back from a circuit of the city on my bicycle. During lockdown I’m told this is legal. It’s a sharp, still, sunny day and Melbourne is at her winter’s best. There’s hardly any traffic and those who are using the roads smile and are courteous. Melbourne is perfectly suited for cycling. Not too many hills, more and more bike lanes and a growing awareness from drivers of the habits of bike riders. My favourite hospitality family can still make me a rich coffee to take away and today I understand Heinz Stucke’s comment “It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels.”
It’s also a good time for thinking, and on the way home it occurred to me that at this time of year, as the days are starting to grow longer again, we should be watching the Tour de France every evening, becoming cycling experts for a few weeks every year, but of course we are not. It’s been postponed to begin on 29th August.
A few years ago I was asked to make some portraits of Cadel Evans shortly after he won the Tour.
It was only a brief encounter and he was obviously a little jaded by the rounds of media he must have endured following his victory, but he was friendly and accommodating if little distracted.
I sometimes feel that we are attracted to simple full-face portraits because they confirm our preconceived opinions of a person. A type of confirmation bias (this is especially the case for family portraits). Admittedly this only works if you know, or know of the subject.
We all know who Cadel Evans is. He won what is perhaps the toughest sporting event on the planet. So, when we look into his face, we subliminally find the characteristics we would expect: determination, obsession, toughness. But perhaps if we didn’t know who he was, we might instead see apprehension, regret or even paranoia.
The quote in the title about bicycles is by Christopher Morley, journalist, novelist, essayist and poet.
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