A Co-writing Domestique
A sport as complex and intricate as professional road cycling is sometimes described as a soap opera. With its own unwritten rules and class system interwoven with inter-team deals, feuds as well as a plethora of unique personalities, the sport can often be difficult for those outside the inner sanctum of riders and support staff to fully understand.
There have a been a few books published during recent times that have given the fan a unique insider's look into the harsh realities of professional cycling. “Domestique” by Charly Wegelius and Tom Southam is one such book which tells it like it is, but from the more unique view of a journeyman-like rider whose job is to help the stars.
Keeping up with my writing about books that I have yet to read (my sister is bringing a copy of "Domestique" out from the UK in December), I managed to go a step further and actually speak to one of the authors. A former professional rider himself, Tom Southam is now a press officer with the UK-based Rapha Condor-JLT team, which is quite a unique career for a retired cyclist.
Tom kindly agreed to the following Q&A covering the evolution of “Domestique” as well as that of his own career path.
Tom kindly agreed to the following Q&A covering the evolution of “Domestique” as well as that of his own career path.
Nature Gym: Tom, could you tell us how the
idea for “Domestique” originally came about? Had Charly wanted
to write a book for some time and what was his motivation for doing
so? Was there any particular catalyst for the decision to begin work
on a book?
NG: How long did the entire project take to complete? Was it challenging finding a publisher?
TS: Our first conversation was in late August 2011, and we had a deal signed in November that same year. I handed the first manuscript in in December 2012, and then did a few revisions, before it went off to the printers finally in March 2013. So let’s say 20 months. In all I spent about four months time wasting, six months doing interviews and preparing, five months writing, and another five editing and going over legal details etc. It is a process I knew nothing about really, and at times they were long and frustrating days. I certainly think that I could be a lot more efficient next time.
As far as finding a publisher goes, that was quite easy. We had a number of offers for the book on the table, so we were very lucky indeed.
NG: What was your involvement in the book? Could you be described as the ghost writer or did Charly write all of the manuscripts himself?
TS: No, both Charly and I wanted me down as a co-writer. I see a ghost as someone who doesn’t really add much to the book. In the case of this book there was quite a lot of it that was collaborative between the two of us. The way we worked it was that we’d meet up, either in Finland or the UK and we’d talk for a couple of days and I’d bring the tapes home and have them transcribed and then piece the story together. The thing is, Charly is an excellent writer himself, so I was actually a little nervous at times thinking, ‘shit, what if he thinks he could just do a better job without me!'
NG: What sort of reaction within the pro cycling ranks have you had after the publishing of “Domestique"?
TS: Its been really well received all over as far as I can tell. A lot of guys have complimented me on it, which is always a really nice feeling.
NG: Given that both you and Charly rode professionally long before the advent of Team Sky and the corresponding support structures that we see today, could you describe the mindset of a young Anglo-Saxon fellow trying to make it on the Continent in the late 1990s/early 2000s? What motivates somebody to pursue such a gritty profession, which in many cases can turn out to be rather Spartan at best?
TS: Determination. We were so determined, and it was almost like we liked the fact that it was that hard because it meant you were really achieving something by being there. People sometimes ask if you begrudge people who have a relatively clearer path into the professional side of the sport with Sky and so forth, but I don’t at all. I think that all the energy that we put just into surviving these guys can now put into racing, and that is a really big difference in why the British guys are performing so well now.
It was hard, and perhaps unnecessarily so, but we were determined about what we wanted to do.
NG: Talking about your own cycling career, you rode for an eclectic group of teams including Amore & Vita, which is certainly one of the more interesting setups in world cycling as well as one of the longest lasting. Could you give us an insight into the inner workings of this team and your experiences there?
TS: The happiest days of my racing career were spent at Amore E Vita: I absolutely loved it. It’s funny and people roll their eyes at that team, but they are a team from another era, when cycling teams were run completely differently, by men who were more often than not just bandits, but they were small time crooks out to make a buck, who loved cycling. At Amore E Vita, they gave you exactly what they promised they would (even if that was virtually sweet FA) and they gave you the opportunity to perform. At that stage in my life that was all I wanted. I’m not a guy who works well being told what to do, so the fact that the team pretty much just left me to do what I wanted was great; I motivated myself, did my training, did the races, and it worked.
NG: Given that the fans only see the glamourous side of the sport be it on TV or in magazines, could you describe any specific aspects that you disliked whilst riding professionally? Was there a particular nadir point in your career?
TS: There were a few in my second year at Barloworld. There was a very strange time when the team went from being managed by John Robertson to being run by Claudio Corti. The whole atmosphere changed, and guys like SeanSullivan who thought he had a job were unceremoniously dumped in mid-December, or something. From then on the atmosphere changed completely and it was tough there. I remember one day at a two-day race in Spain, our DS saw me and Jock Green in the lobby using the internet before the first day, and half an hour later when he came back we were still there. He went bezerk, saying we should be up in our rooms studying the race manual. Sure enough, the next day when there was two riders down the road with 11 minutes and ALL of the Pro Tour teams had missed it, who gets told to ride on the front for 100km to the bottom of a 200m summit finish… Green and Southam. It was pretty shit there that year.
NG: In "Rough Ride", Paul Kimmage provides a great analogy where he recounts his transformation from “cycling journalist” to “journalist cyclist” towards the end of his professional career. Discuss your transition from professional rider to writer; did writing give you a sort of balance between the physicality of cycling and the more creative/studious nature of journalism? Was it a conscious decision to pursue a more academic career post-cycling?
TS: I always wanted to do something creative I think. To be honest I didn’t give it much though, but writing was always just there for me. I wrote a lot through my career, and so when I came back to race domestically in the UK, and I knew that I was going to use the time to decide what to do next, writing was the obvious choice. I ended up studying through the last two years of my career, and gradually I was just doing less and less of one and more of the other. I was very lucky though, in that I had a manager, in John Herety, and a team in Rapha Condor Sharp, who actively encouraged me doing so (and tolerated my terrible form for a couple of years).
NG: With you having “been around the block” in cycling terms and experienced the multitude of personalities that make up the sport, talk about some of the more unique characters that you came into contact with during your cycling career. Are there more “clever cyclists” out there that we may be led to believe?
TS: Yes, absolutely. There are some amazingly talented individuals in the peloton, and in my experience the most interesting guys are the ones who have done something before cycling, or who have come to it a little later.
I suppose you kind of can’t blame those typical European guys who’ve been looked after like a prince since they won their first under sixteen races, for not being able to talk about anything than themselves, because they have been defined by their talent and what they do all their lives. Mind you, they can be a frightfully boring lot to room with.
NG: Your current position with Rapha Condor-JLT is that of a Press Officer, which is unusual for a former rider. Given that people like Jonathan Vaughters, Douglas Ryder and Brian Smith have excelled in other spheres of the sport after their elite cycling careers, would you say that you have found your true vocation?
TS: Again, I’ve been very lucky with this team. I love working with John and Kristian House. They are guys I’ve known since I was 18. But also we have a whole bunch of really nice kids here now. They are fun to work with because they are keen and you can pass on a bit of knowledge to them. I do the Press officer thing, but I’ve also done a few races as a directeur sportif, and other bits and pieces. I think I just thought being Press Officer would be cooler sounding than being assistant manager or something.
NG: What are some of the more interesting lines of work that ex-riders that you know of have pursued in retirement? Has there ever been a former rider who has become a soigneur?
You know I cannot think of a former rider turned soigneur, mind you most riders have seen how hard a job being a soigneur is and steer well clear of it! That is one tough job…
A lot of guys stay in cycling because it is what and who they know. I used to think of that as a bad thing, but I suppose if that is where your expertise is makes sense to stay and make the most of it.
*Header photograph courtesy of http://www.raphacondor.cc
