Marc De Coster points to the early cycling entrepreneur Henri Desgrange (prior post) and his training manual, La tête et les jambes, which I have in Spanish, and whose title he suggests may refer to a Provençal saying: If you haven’t got a head, you’re going to need some legs. Desgrange was a quite extraordinary person, but I suspect that the closest he ever got to grand philosophical schemes was the elementary dualism of Me vs Them. Lots of empirical head-and-leg work over at another of my favourites, Dawn Sev’s Spanish Cyclepaths.
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I was sure the saying was Polish… But hey, I still enjoy my bike.
On the same note http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeBiqVJrJ08
My only experience with Polish cyclists was when my chain broke somewhere near Krakow and a horde of old men dragged me into a farm building full of old rover and parts. Their repair philosophy was that if you haven’t got a head, you’re going to need a big hammer, and they were quite upset when I took out my link changing gadget.
I once cycled over that bridge–Michael Jackson was filming on the other one. I’ve read 19th century stories of the water mills on the river, so it’s good to see a wheel turning on the water.