Althouse: "On Tuesday, 27-year-old Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski showed off what his legs look like after 16 stages of the famous cycling event."

July 20, 2017

"On Tuesday, 27-year-old Polish cyclist Pawel Poljanski showed off what his legs look like after 16 stages of the famous cycling event."

After sixteen stages I think my legs look little tired 😬 #tourdefrance

A post shared by Paweł Poljański (@p.poljanski) on Jul 18, 2017 at 10:04am PDT

ADDED: Interesting tan.

24 comments:

Ralph L said...: Not very aerodynamic. Or savory.; 7/20/17, 6:40 AM
Wince said...: "You probably think this song is about you. Don't you? Don't you?"; 7/20/17, 6:49 AM
David Baker said...: Incredible photo.; 7/20/17, 6:51 AM
ngtrains said...: Classic 'biker's tan"

only the knee area is in the sun; 7/20/17, 6:51 AM
Bob R said...: My phlebotomist would love him. I used to be embarrassed about my farmer's tan. That was 45 years ago. Now I just have a pale, pasty glow.; 7/20/17, 6:53 AM
rhhardin said...: The 1971 edition of Tom Cuthbertson's Anybody's Bike Book had a chapter heading cartoon of a bicyclist, a weakling from the waist up and huge muscles on the legs, which is only a slight exaggeration of what happens.

I never saw the veins effect, just big muscles.

The bike book was great - do your own bike work - but became obsolete when manufacturers started going with stuff requiring specialized tools which kept changing with new models. The "current" version has a lot of take it to a bike shop stuff which never happened in the old days.; 7/20/17, 7:12 AM
Danno said...: only the knee area is in the sun

It depends on the length of socks the bicyclist wears. Most pro-cyclist types have ankle-high or shoe-high socks these days.; 7/20/17, 7:14 AM
Danno said...: Yikes is right. From the "before" picture it looks like this guy wears lower calf socks. Maybe they rub sunscreen on his lower leg when they warm-up his muscles. He is burnt where his shorts ride up after riding a while.; 7/20/17, 7:24 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Blue feet?!; 7/20/17, 8:00 AM
Rocketeer said...: The bike book was great - do your own bike work - but became obsolete when manufacturers started going with stuff requiring specialized tools which kept changing with new models. The "current" version has a lot of take it to a bike shop stuff which never happened in the old day

I'm not a hardcore cyclist, but I like to ride and I like to tinker. All to say - the above is why I like to ride pre-1990 steel lugged frames with straightforward moving bits. I can do my own work - all of it, including frame repair. Surpassingly few cyclists are good enough to benefit from the weight savings and other marginal improvements that super expensive composite frames, gear setups, derailleurs, etc. provide - although there are thousands that like to think they do.; 7/20/17, 8:08 AM
Xmas said...: Reminds me of the Triplets of Bellville...; 7/20/17, 8:20 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I ride an old Schwinn Tempo and don't have time to do its maintenance during this stage of life. The bike shop people love working on it.; 7/20/17, 8:21 AM
rehajm said...: Blue feet?!

Very sexy in the Galapagos I hear.; 7/20/17, 8:22 AM
Michael said...: Freeman Hunt
We may be the last to shift off the down tube!!; 7/20/17, 8:28 AM
Infinite Monkeys said...: Very sexy in the Galapagos I hear.

Only if you like boobies.; 7/20/17, 8:29 AM
Hnkn said...: The advantage of being out of shape is your legs look like that after climbing just one flight of stairs.; 7/20/17, 8:43 AM
richlb said...: Reminds me of the animated film The Triplets of Belleville.; 7/20/17, 8:49 AM
richlb said...: Argh. Xmas beat me to it.; 7/20/17, 8:50 AM
Bill said...: The first thing that came to mind: Grunewald's Isenheim Altarpiece.; 7/20/17, 9:40 AM
Rusty said...: Looks like an outtake from a horror movie.; 7/20/17, 10:07 AM
CStanley said...: Hubs has a tendency to get tan lines like that but fortunately doesn't have that kind of extreme lean body mass to produce the grotesque veins.; 7/20/17, 11:49 AM
Michael McNeil said...: Folks might like to check out MIT physicist Philip Morrison's terrific Ring of Truth TV series and book, in episode 2 of which he investigates the energy budget of bicycle-riding Tour de France contestants, observing that such participants “each day, each racer, puts out two or three times the work of a successful marathon runner… and he does it the next day, and the next day, and the next day” for a total of 23 days.

(Also don't miss the Rube Goldberg machine that is built and executed earlier on in that same episode, to demonstrate the constancy of weight, even given much chaotic change.); 7/20/17, 1:59 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: That's inspiring. I missed my workout yesterday because of the weather, but I'll be back at it today (minus the drugs Pawel is probably taking).; 7/20/17, 2:05 PM
Aggie said...: >Black humor< the envy of heroin addicts everywhere.; 7/20/17, 8:12 PM