Crazy Legs! I found this article in the local Belgian newspaper earlier in the week. These are really the legs of George Hincapie (Team High Road)! For those of you who may not know who he is, he spent the last many years racing as both a one-day race specialist and Lance Armstrong's right hand man. Apparently, he has a circulation problem that leaves him with a funky left leg. They call it Spataders in Dutch. The literal translation is "splattered open veins" which i think means varicose veins.
Based on today's result, it clearly doesn't hold him back from performing at the highest level! Go George Go!
11 comments:
I have been behind George in a few races, and yes, those veins are creepy looking.
Funny, this was the first i've heard of it. I have also heard since then that this is somewhat common among cyclists. Strange. Maybe we should all ride with those "old people" support socks that come up to our knees...it will provide sponsors with more logo space!
Ick.
I heard on the ToC coverage that Team Slipstream has argyle compression socks for when they fly. And, more distance runners are wearing compression socks when they run (without the argyle).
I must admit i own both "dress-up-old-people"-style compression socks as well as the sport-style socks. I got them in a drugstore and use them for flying or long drives. I think they do help but i wouldn't show them off unless they were as trick as team slipstream's version!
Although I missed the veiny leg, I was totally stoked to watch him zoning in on the victory yesterday in my local arroyo. It was awesome to be there. Best finish ever. Go George!
And, of course, congrats to you, Peanut, on a challenging cross season. Way to finish strong! Enjoy a little rest…
It's always fun when the big guys (or gals) are coming to town! For me, it's especially exciting when a 'local', in this case an American, wins.
Thanks for your kind words about my race season. I'm off for nyc tomorrow to take a few more days away from the bike.
Oh, man, Georgie's veins are getting worse every year. Checked out seatod's video interview of you. Sweet! Love your imitation of the coach. I know that type, they scream and get all bent-out and hyper because they're fat slobs and have no talent of their own and they're just envious, which they're projecting. As they say, those who can, do, and those who can't, teach, right?
Cheers, Ivymum
Hey ivymum:
Yeah, he's a hardass type but unfortunately i can't assign the rest of your description to him because he's a former pro racer himself and hasn't yet lost that level of fitness. But once he gets above what appears to be 6% body fat OR when he's not within ear (or eye) shot, I can use your description to make myself feel better! haha.
...ctod interview: two thumbs up...& we never crossed paths when you were home last summer, so now i owe you two ears of fresh corn, when the season comes up...
Lucky for you guys Elmo is too snobby to read blogs! Ow! It must be admitted, though -- and this didn't quite come through in Peanut's otherwise uncanny rendering -- that when he's fulminating like that it's at least as likely that he'll be shouting the fourth act of Lady's Windermere's Fan as the F-word, C-word, T-word, A-word, P-word, or B-word. Pretty fair entrechat-six for a guy that out of shape, too.
-- E.C. Chamberlain
Yikes - doesn't seem to slow him down any.
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