If you hear a little voice in your head saying, “He's dancing on the pedals!”, when you're tackling one of the hills around Seattle, then maybe you'd like to meet the guy who coined that phrase in person.
Versus cycling commentator Phil Liggett will be visiting Seattle next month to give a talk for the Cascade Bicycle Club. A bike ride for 45 cyclists who want to dance on the pedals with Liggett the following morning is already booked.
Liggett has been commentating the Tour de France and other cycling races since the early 1970s. His voice and “Liggettisms” are a major part of the sport for fans not only in the US, but in English speaking countries around the world.
LiggettFan.com lists dozens of the announcer's popular sayings. Some of these are repeated so often, such as “He's wearing a mask of pain,” “He's dancing on the pedals,” and “The heads of state have come to the fore,” that they could be cues in drinking games while watching the Tour.
The former amateur British cyclist chose sports journalism instead of pro cycling as a career back in the late 1960s. He freelanced cycling articles and began his broadcast career in 1978. Not just another pretty face on TV, Liggett also is a bicycling advocate and is former president of the Cyclists' Touring Club of Great Britain.
Tickets
presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 23 at the Intiman Theater, 201 Mercer St. Seattle. A VIP reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. Ticket are available from Brown Paper Tickets and prices run from $35 to $80.
He's written and collaborated on a number of books, including, “Dancing on the Pedals: The Found Poetry of Phil Liggett.” Copies of that book will be available at his talk.
Liggett also is taking a non-hilly morning ride around Seattle the morning of May 24. Admission to that ride is already booked, however, and the bike route is a closely held secret.
Photo above by Jay O'Neill, taken in Australia in 2010 at Jayco Bay Cycling Classic.
Recent Comments