When, for example, she invited me in 1974 to join her in watching the finish of the Tour de France at the Stade Municipale de Vincennes,
I ostentatiously chose instead to spend the day with a friend in a forest west of Paris, hunting mushrooms.
What made it ostentatious was that I had never looked for mushrooms before, as she well knew, and never did again.
This other friend, male, and I found quite a few of the big, meaty kind that the French call cepes and had them for dinner in a tasty omelet.
That was the worst trade-off since Esau gave away his birthright for a mess of gruel: I realized, years later, that I had blown my chance to see not only the last finish of the Tour in the Vincennes velodrome—the race ended the next year, and ever since, on the Champs-Elysees—but also the last Tour won by Eddy Merckx.
~
Preface from OFF TO THE RACES, Samuel Abt~
I started cycling in the next year, 1975, when Tour de France ended on the Champs-Elysees.
Japan’s cycling community was full of Eddy Merckx.
For example, Miyata was making many types of Eddy Merckx bike, road, track, camping, ranndonuer.
Major bike makers’ catalogue had “orange”.
Unlike Samuel Abt, I knew Eddy Merckx from the day 1 of cycling career, lol.
I wanted Miyata’s orange Eddy Merckx road bike, but for a high school kid too high-priced to buy.
I’ve never forgotten about Molteni orange Eddy Merckx.
This year, 2022, I got this Molteni orange Eddy Merckx corsa extra.
It took 47 years.
Tour de France 1975, Eddy Merckx was beaten by Bernard Thevenet.
I’m not sure, but suppose Eddy Merckx was riding like, “never, ever, give up until I cross the finish line.”
To buy a bike isn’t a big thing like winning a Tour de France, but I’ve never, ever, given up my dream bike.
Yeah, it was really long years, lol.
Oh, I couldn't buy a Miyata Eddy Merckx, but could buy 2 Pearl Izumi Molteni
