Jaune - By Nickalas Blades

When Greg LeMond first got into bike racing, it was on a beautiful yellow 1974 Cinelli, bought for him by his father. He started racing with the bike in 1976, and went on to win 40 amateur races in those early years of an illustrious career.

LeMond kept that yellow Cinelli - a bike that held a special place in his collection that must include a lot of special bikes. Then, in 2014, he commissioned a painting of the bike from Reno-area painter Nickalas Blades, who specializes in photorealistic oil paintings, is a bicycle aficionado, and also happens to be Greg LeMond's nephew.

The painting, titled simply "Jaune" (which means yellow, of course, as in "maillot jaune"), has several elements that symbolize LeMond's 3 Tour de France victories. Besides the bike's fitting yellow color, the painting is a triptych, in 3 panels - each of which can stand alone, or be put together with the other panels.

Prints of Jaune can be purchased from Blades' website - in either canvas, or on paper. and one can also purchase prints signed by Greg LeMond himself.

Check out the website (HERE) to see other bicycle-themed paintings, including a couple of classic Colnagos, and also to read the full story of the yellow Cinelli. Blades includes some "in-progress" photos of the Jaune painting as well.

Blades' paintings are gorgeous, and really blur the line between painting and photography -- check out the site if you get a chance.

Just a brief post today -- trying to get ready for holidays.