I found this photo from one of the dealers that I source my movie-stars-on-bikes photos from. (See Hollywood Rides a Bike, the international bestseller!) It's stamped "Sep 19 1954," and someone (a newspaper photo editor?) has written, in rich script, in pencil, "Dolores with fellow group member in Switzerland."
I love this shot. I think it's Conde Nast Traveler that has that "Where are you?" feature where the magazine posts a photo and readers have to guess the locale.... If anyone recognizes this particular spot in the Swiss Alps, I'd love to know. Dolores and her fellow group member -- let's call him Harry -- are hardy cyclists, certainly. Their panniers are full, and their bikes aren't exactly lightweight, granny-geared touring machines. Harry's bike, in fact, looks like a Raleigh rod-brake model (you can see the trademark heron on the chain wheel) - a heavy-duty two-wheeler typically used for city streets and rough country routes. Mighty steep grades in this neck of the woods, to be sure, but I think he and Dolores are up to it.
If Dolores and Harry are still around, they'd be in their 80s now, I'd guess. I hope they don't mind that I've shared this photo -- they may still have old albums tucked away, and perhaps journals that they've kept, with other snapshots and daily entries to remember the miles they logged, the beer halls and cafes they stopped in, the inns they slept in.... Or maybe they camped out by a river, ringed by trees, at the bottom of one of these snowy peaks?
Dolores and Harry may have been strangers when they embarked on this tour, and perhaps they became fast friends (especially fast going down one of those alpine roads!), or they became lovers, or they had a huge fight about politics, or literature, and didn't talk together, or ride together, for the rest of the tour.
And what are they looking at? A long valley dotted with evergreens? Another jagged mass of mountain? Or two men in the town's plaza, just down the road, passing government secrets encripted on a folded note tucked inside a matchbook? That's it -- Dolores and Harry, cycling spies!
That's it -- Dolores and Harry, cycling spies!
That's perfect! Love it. Also captivated by the Vanessa Redgrave photo you posted earlier -- thank you so much for sharing that.
Posted by: Peg Duthie | March 30, 2012 at 10:01 AM
I love this picture! Way back when I slapped a couple of panniers on my bike and cycled around France - first in Brittany and Normandy, then along the Loire Valley, and finally in Burgundy (from Beaune to Dijon). It was a revelation. My bicycle was a touring bike, nothing fancy though not as old-school as Dolores and Harry's. To give you some idea of the time frame, the exchange rate was 9.9 francs on the dollar, which made it possible for me and my traveling companion to dine in some mighty fine restaurants and stay in spectacular Relais & Châteaux. Our original plan was to visit historic sights but after our first meal, at a lovely restaurant in Dinard, we switched our itinerary and made the trip more of a culinary adventure. You could eat as much "buerre blanc" and foie gras as you like if you're cycling 100 miles a day (which we did, hard to believe). Thanks for the memories. See what a picture can do?
Posted by: Stacey | April 03, 2012 at 03:07 PM
That is in Grindelwald, switzerland. It is the mountain of my dreams. It is know as Die Weisse Spinne, the white Spider and was first climbed by A group including Heinrich Harrier who was the guy who wrote Seven Years In Tibet. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to, and the best hiking I've ever experienced.
Posted by: alex norelli | June 21, 2012 at 02:23 PM