Bradley Wiggins' mullet, Whitney Houston's inability to know, and not backing down

Not long ago, I was lucky enough to stand by the starting line at Paris-Roubaix. It was a glorious moment for me, having grown up as a fan of watching young men ride around in tight pantaloons. As I stood there, watching professional riders having trouble clipping in, I suddenly realized something...and it wasn't just my fascination with the fact that professionals were fumbling around with their pedals like hapless commuters. It was deeper than that.

As I saw Bradley Wiggins' and his Paul Weller-inspired mullet ride by me (while Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" played loudly through the ASO's loudspeaker system), I realized that music and cycling don't often mix well. Furthermore, I realized that we should all stop our Caligula-like impulse to take everything we enjoy in at once. Some things, it turns out, are better when kept separate (like human beings and Paul Weller mullets).

As clear and insanely inspired as my realization was that day, I'm aware of the fact that not everyone has reached my level of enlightenment. Such is the life of a trailblazer. Always ahead of the pack, just as I was in the seventh grade, when I wondered why other kids didn't wear gold chains and use massive amounts of cologne. Their loss. At any rate, today I want to share with you two videos that combine music and cycling, in order to show you exactly what I realized that fateful day at Paris-Roubaix.

First up we have Green Edge singing their official team anthem, a cover of Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down", featuring back-up vocals by the riders, which were recorded in a fun "We Are The World"-like studio environment.





Next up we have the official anthem of the Vuelta A Chile, which just took place (oddly enough) in Chile a few weeks ago. This song serves as further proof of the differences that exist between us Latin-American folk and the rest of the world. Luckily, it also shows that people all around the world share the ability to make bad decisions, which lead to recording songs about cycling. (Link courtesy of my brother).





Lastly, here are two more videos which I've posted before. The first is the anthem for the Willems-Accent cycling team (not to be confused with the Wilson Phillips cycling team), a song that largely deals with the subject of the riders being clean, clever and competitive.






And in closing, a miraculous video from the 7-Eleven team about the seldom-discussed topic of hammering it out.