The story of the BoBruC Oil drawing

pencils are my first medium, although I am jack of fifty mediums, master of few.

to paraphrase the well known and common expression.

I will make this post about the drawing, but would love to write directly about my experiences as a racing cyclist someday soon.

BoBruC Oil team drawing 2010.

images by @spaingaroo, artwork by @spaingaroo

the drawing is in three parts, pencil, many grades, on three A3 sheets of medium weight Canson Drawing paper from a block. (A3 is 29,7 X 42 cms, or about 12 X 19")

I will put up some details at end of post.

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some back story, just the bare necessities

I came into cycling as an adult.
Far too late to try to be someone in that world, but in the end that didn't stop me from doing that very thing in my own minor way.

I was 26 years old when I first discovered there are bicycles and there are bicycles!
(this was in Australia, courtesy of my good friend Seton)
(I will tell the story in a different post)

Starting from absolute ignorance, but that first day I went out with Seton on the bike he lent me, and we did 75 kms out to Wellington point and back.
I vomited on a traffic island at one point.
(I was a heavy drinker and smoker too)
I couldn't believe we had done that.
needless to say, I found myself hooked, and ended up getting sober, at least partially because of the bike.

I stopped smoking cigarettes too, quick smart, although I never stopped smoking dope, until the year after I started racing.
But at first it took a long time to get any good at it.
It wasn't until 2007, now living in Spain, I was invited to join a 'Masters' racing team.
Finally, I had my go!
I was invited to join a team by a guy with power-cranks.
I recognised what they were and he was impressed, because nobody knows these sort of things.
(if you don't know what power cranks are, and want to, let me know. or google is your friend, but know that are nothing to do with power meters or anything like that.)

I said yes, as it sounded like the excitement was over that way.
I had already developed a very keen competitive aspect on group rides I was always attacking so it seemed fun to try and do it when it counted.
(And for delusions of grandeur you can always count on me.)

after all people were always claiming that they weren't trying if I beat them to some line or another, and then if they ever got the chance they would attack me mercilessly.

All good clean fun.

images by @spaingaroo
The drawing is from the last year I seriously raced. Or from the winter period before that season
(I, like many others rode right through the winter and every other season, and always raced the christmas season races. I raced every race I could from go to woe. But as noted, I will leave that for other post)

The team I was invited onto at first, (that shall remain nameless here) ditched me at the end of that very first season. :(
Very unceremoniously too.
After making me miss my friends birthday party to drive to team reunion in la sierra.
just to send me packing.
Very low class.

but I certainly didn't have the results.

and it was their decision.
there was nothing to do, but head on back to Madrid, and go look for my friends.
(I caught up with them at a restaurant)

I wasn't the only one booted.
My friend Borja Bergareche was also unceremoniously dumped.
Unfortunately, he had asked me to look after his interests at the meeting.

After I called him with the bad news, I started getting used to the fact that I might not race again.
After all, I wasn't really such a star.

However, as I rarely take things lying down, and since I had been booted for lack of results, I decided to train more and harder and do something in the Christmas races.

image by my wife with my camera, I claim fair use :)
I attacked continuously in a couple of those, closed the gap on one of my own team, in my excitement and generally caused mayhem in the results for the first time ever.
image by director with my camera, I claim fair use :)
I have my photos and my memories.
:)
the hams are long gone

Anyhow, to cut this story short, Borja decided to form his own team and it still races to this day.
He asked me to come on board and I didn't hesitate.

team photos by Juan Andres Godoy, used by permission
My saviour.
And Borja went on to be champion of Spain in his category several times and still wins many races today.

I am not cut out to be a winner, I am a worker. (cycling has these, they are called domestiques true story)
I have my photos and my memories. and my three trophies. lol

images by @spaingaroo
(I have a friend who has a spare room in his house just for all the tophies he has won over the years, It truly bizzarre seeing them all piled in there)

images by @spaingaroo

Anyhow I raced seriously in Borja's team BoBruC Oil for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons

but in 2010 I visited my home for the first time in seven years.

images by @spaingaroo
Although I took my bike with me, and rode and trained, it was during this visit that I decided that on coming back to Spain, I was going to take cycling less seriously in order to put more energy into Art again.

Cycling takes it out of one.

image by my wife with my camera, I claim fair use :)

I felt bad for Borja, as I felt like an integral part of the team, in from the beginning, and I never missed a race. (except while I was in Aus)
And I was the unofficial team photographer - example album and blogger.

But I knew I wouldn't be able to continue to take racing as seriously the next year as I wanted to start to work towards where I am now.

No longer going out to 'work' for my money.

(And with no money too of course, that's where you guys come in.)

Wanting to do something for my friend, after all he was the main team sponsor too, through his company BoBruC Oil I decided to make him a drawing of all of us.

Complete madness.

I worked on it all across the off-season, meaning I came into the season in poor form, and had poor results, (the last year I did the quebrantahuesos as well.
I did six straight from 2006 to 2011)

images by @spaingaroo from 2010 quebrantahuesos

But at least I was able to present the drawing to Borja at the start of the 2011 season as a token of my appreciation for all he did for me, and for making and paying for the team.


Plenty of kind acts during our racing years including taking me to races and paying hotel rooms.
Super star.
Everyone in cycling was always kind to me as they knew I couldn't quite pay my way to do all the things I wanted to do in life.
Cycling is an expensive sport!

well, if you have gotten this far, thank you so much, and hope you'll tune in in the future.

If you would like to chime in with a comment, let me know if you would like to see working drawings and photo references too. I have found them all, I think.

I have a lot of digital images, and I am possibly the most disorganised person on the planet. Maybe a few people with full blown dementia are worse, but ...

Love to get some feedback

Love you to death.

details of drawing

images by @spaingaroo, artwork by @spaingaroo

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Thanks for coming by my blog, I hope you have come because I left you a kind and interesting comment and you have come on over to check me out.

Please do the same and lets talk.

big hugs.

If you would like to see other art posts try these

Plasticine is cool
one work
five works
My successful post :)
truth shady
blue dog calls himself indigo

what does an artist do, part one

Or my life story posts

Only part one so far

Or my poems, laddie thinks himself a poet all of a sudden.

first poem ever
second poem
third poem

They are all about my steemit experience and I have a post for that too, with my experience after a fortnight.

and my contest posts too, M.O.L.A.A. Make Out Like An Artist come make something, anything

day five
day four
day three
day two
day one