historic photograph: real or fake?

[jnantz]

the b/b circus does something like this these days
except instead of pedal bikes they have motorcycles ...

[Darin Boville]

the b/b circus does something like this these days
except instead of pedal bikes they have motorcycles ...

Well, if you are going to add motorcycles yo need to also add a cantaloupe-sized metal, chromed ball.

--Darin

[Kirk Keyes]

Having ridden on a concrete velodrome that had 41 degree banks, I do not believe the riders could be riding slowly or near stationary on a small, wooden track with gaps between the slats. You need some speed to keep up on a track with high banks, otherwise your tires will slip down the surface of the track. The slower you go, the more upright you will be, and they guys are just not going very fast.

I like the suggestion someone made that the bikes are suppored. Perhaps there are pegs under the tires to hold them up on the banks.

[dsphotog]

We may never know how the shot was made, but, bike racers are tough, I think this sport should be part of the X Games . Sponsored by RedBull or Monster, & perhaps BlueCross Medical.

[rdenney]

Having ridden on a concrete velodrome that had 41 degree banks, I do not believe the riders could be riding slowly or near stationary on a small, wooden track with gaps between the slats. You need some speed to keep up on a track with high banks, otherwise your tires will slip down the surface of the track. The slower you go, the more upright you will be, and they guys are just not going very fast.

I agree. The maximum lean possible on a bicycle is about 45 degrees. The contact patch is not large, and the gaps between the slats on this "track" would create holes in that contact patch. The only way I can think of where riding such a track would be possible is to enter the track with some speed, even if from a standing start, so that the cyclists would be leaning into the track. The vector that describes the force of the cyclist into the track has to shift back and forth over the contact patch, else the cyclist falls.

My suspicion is that photographing stunt cyclists on such a track would be difficult, even with carbon-arc lamps, so they probably staged this photo for publicity purposes.

I do not, however, doubt that it is possible to ride such a track, even with four riders. These bikes have direct gearing, like all track bikes, and maintaining speed well enough for them to coordinate their actions is not that difficult. Those of us who have ridden track bikes on a velodrome will confirm that--one common practice in the early 20th century was for cyclists to follow motorcyclists on such tracks, with the cyclist having to maintain the tiny distance necessary to stay in the derny's draft without actually piling into it (though they did have rollers for casual touching).

Rick "whose track bike is collecting dust in the basement, as usual" Denney

[goamules]

Statues or a "still life" shot during the stated period. I read a snippet of this description somewhere but can't find it now.

[Kirk Keyes]

We may never know how the shot was made, but, bike racers are tough, I think this sport should be part of the X Games . Sponsored by RedBull or Monster, & perhaps BlueCross Medical.

Bicycle track racing is already part of the Summer Olympics. The real Olympics, not any X-Games or such thing...

It's actually pretty intertaining as the races are relatively short in length, run at high speeds, and very competetive.

[sun of sand]

11 thinks he's doing something people actually care about
8 knows he got bamboozled into it but now can only hope he doesn't injured by 5
5 is wondering how the other 3 got up on the track
2 is the eventual winner

[Kirk Gittings]

Board track racing was a popular spectator sport, so the theater setting was real.
I think it was a promo pic, with riders stationary on the track.
That had to be real scary to race on.

Only two of the bicyclist are actually on "racing cycles" (the ones with the drop bars-you can't generate any power in an upright position with the upright bars and too much wind resistance too). The other two are on cruisers. This is definitely not an actual race.

[sanking]

In one of her writings Susan Sontag talked about the veil of obscurity that eventually renders all photographs, even the most mundane, works of art. I suspect that the explanation for the making of this photograph is simple, but not knowing how it happened introduces an ambiguity that heightens our interest, as evidenced by the numerous comments in this thread.


Sandy King