For my entry for @spaingaroo's contest I used a painting of mine, a portrait in a series based on photographs from (roughly) 1914-1918, the period of World War One.
Most of these old photo's I painted are forgotten and now nameless familymembers, but Emile Brichard's photo I received from a former journalist/cycling fanatic who told me this story about him.
Emile Brichard was born in 1899 in Belgium. When World War One started in 1914, he and his family fled to England, but a year later, at the age of 16 (!) he has to return to the front, as a stretcher-bearer. He survives the war and goes working as a miner, when he discovers a new passion: cycling.
He never wins anything though, but in 1926 he does start in the Tour De France - that year, at 5745 kilometres the longest ever. He has no team, so is forced to race as an isolé - an isolated cyclist, who has to take care of all his material, food and drinks along the way.
The first leg of the race is 373 kilometres (!) -Brichard has never even driven that distance in a single day- through the mountains of the Jura. The winner of the leg (who will also win that Tour) does so in just over 14 hours - Brichard at that moment is already 5 hours behind, but still rides on. 10 kilometres from the finish, he quits, the tires of his bicycle shredded, he himself exhausted.
Brichard never returns to the Tour, and three years later, he begins a wine- and liquorshop. Sounds more enjoyable, doesn't it?
He goes into obscurity until 2004, when, at age 105, he becomes the last Belgian World War One veteran.
And when it so happens that the Tour de France of that year passes near the town where Brichard lives, some journalists discover that Emile Brichard is at that moment the oldest living Tour-competitor as well!
Tough guy!
Brichard gets interviewed and can recount his adventure from 1926, and he gets his moment de gloire. Three days later, with the Tour passed on, he dies.
Thanks to my friend Patrick for researching this story, I've recounted it much shorter here. Patrick also dug in the archives to find Emile Brichard as a soldier, this is the photo on which the painting is based:
Thanks for watching & reading!
wow, you never linked me, and I missed this up till now. I am resteeming too, as I love that story.
those tours were truly epic, and everyone had fifteen kilo bike and heaps of spares, especially an isolé
epic post man.
Hey @spaingaroo, I missed this comment of yours somehow, sorry, man!
...starts to prepare the guest room for mr. cockup
(if you don't have a clue what's that about, just let me know, ok? If you do, you'll know it's well intended ;)
I tagged you in the very first sentence there, but steemit apparently doesn't inform one when one's tagged.
Anyway -- this being out of the way: thank you! Glad you appreciate and love the story - it really is an obscure, little known anecdote with much synchronicity. Coulnd't say it any better: those tours were epic (imagine riding 373 kilometres on a bike in 14 hours - and that's just the first guy...) - heavy equipment, no helpers...
And the mountain-roads were just dusty tracks, really... Much respect for those pioneer-cyclists.
And no doping, come to think of it..
Thank you, glad you appreciated the post after all :) And this is the chain that made it so:
my brother writes a book and does some research > a friend journalist reads it, doublechecks the facts and writes a column > I read the column and make a painting > the painting is integrated with your sketches > the integrated work gets a visual life of its own > the story of Emile Brichard is shared.
Full circle? Or do we go on from here? Can't tell (yet!) :)
Look great @marty-art Did you use oil or acrylic paint? Keep up the good work..
Thank you @mphil! It's oils on canvas, the size is 50x70cm (24x28 inch approximately)
You're right: tough guy! Nice painting and a great story. Thanks
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed & thanks for the comment :)
Nice painting, like it :)
Thanks @juicypop, much appreciated! :)