Friday 18 March 2011

St Hilaire Cyclist is first past the Post!

And, of course, in those days when you won the local cycle race, you were whipped off to the photographers studio to have your portrait taken. Here, Henri Petit of St Hilaire who won the race by 15 minutes poses with his bike. I note his bicycle only had one brake.

6 comments:

  1. Ah, reminds me of Eddy Merckx. Do you remember him? The Belgian cyclist?

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  2. Do I remember him, Margaret. One of my heroes - Eddy the Cannibal - together with Rik Van Looy (Emperor of Herentals), Rik Van Steebergen (great Six Day rider) as well as Patrick Sercu. All great in their own way, but Eddy Merckx? Wonderful!

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  3. Ha, ha. I'm married to someone that used to race with Eddy Merckz.

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  4. But who, Rosie? Not a climber by any chance?

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  5. I was on a sidewalk in southern Belgium (maybe Liege?) awaiting the cyclists. Eddy Merckz was in the lead and the crowd was screaming! The muscles in his legs were huge: he could have been Atlas holding up the world! Rosie, does that mean you're an athlete, too?

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  6. Curiously, Margaret, I was the official photographer on a Battlefield Tour in the early 1970s and our coach stopped for coffee at a hotel in Liege. The Manager was a relative of Eddy and gave me a card with Eddy's autograph on it. I still have it!

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