Cycling book thread

[Anonymous]

Push Yourself Just A Little Bit More by Johnny Green--A one-time manager of The Clash scams a press pass and takes in the 2004 Tour from start to finish. Johnny Green is also a regular columnist in Rouleur magazine.

Wide-Eyed and Legless: Inside the Tour de France by Jeff Connor--Already mentioned in the thread, but worth mentioning again. I believe Connor's original plan was to somehow dress in ANC kit and somehow sneak into a Tour stage during the '87 Tour, but he wisely decided write a book instead. While Roche and Delgado were duking it our for Tour supremacy, ANC Halfords were just trying to survive.

A Peiper's Tale by Allan Peiper with Chris Sidwells--Pretty interesting read about one of my favorite riders from the '80s made all the more intriguing by the brief snippet Peiper mentioned about his stay in North Carolina after being stranded in the US following the 1978 Junior worlds. It didn't take much detective work to figure out who his host, Mac, was.

The Rider by Tim Krabbe--Also mentioned, but worth bringing up again. I think this slim novel best captures what it means to be a racing cyclist...a true classic.

Hearts of Lions and Pushing the Limits by Peter Nye--The definitive books about the history of competitive cycling in the US.

Unknown Hinson in the house!!! He's got 21 Chart Toppers....count 'em!

 

[sportzchick]

can this be about DVD's too?

Just finished watching 'road to roubix' and it was spinetingling

 

[The Falcon]

Need for the Bike, Paul Fournel.....timeless.

 

[rolfrae]

i could have sworn it was misty too.. thought that combined with the other atrocious weather was why there was no tv coverage of the climb.. my memory is failing me.. thats what 20 years does to you..

1992 wasnt mist.. 1992 was thicker than mist..

Thanks god I'm not the only one with the misty memory, lol.

 

[campagchris]

i could have sworn it was misty too.. thought that combined with the other atrocious weather was why there was no tv coverage of the climb.. my memory is failing me.. thats what 20 years does to you..

1992 wasnt mist.. 1992 was thicker than mist..

There is t.v. footage.I have 87 Tour on dvd and the climb of la plagne.Which wasn't misty

Kelly by David Walsh is a good read
dog in a hat as previously mentioned is good
Tales from a toolbox was enjoyable too
Fall from grace:Freddy Maertens book is also good.

 

[psychlist]

Roche's book is actually pretty good. You'll read it and see why everyone liked the guy.

Once I was able to stomach it, Willy Voet's book is pretty good read because he spills his guts and it's very real.

Though I think likely all of it is true, I didn't like reading Lance to Landis very much. Good research, well written, but too...hmmm, can't put my finger on it.

Though half of it is fiction and spin, I liked Floyd's book. The parts on growing up and getting into cycling, and his strategy on Stage 17 to Morzine are great to read.

Can't get into Bobke's books. Though he writes with more skill than he often talks, there's too much shuck and jibe for me.

The Rider is well written, but dated.

More later if I think of them.

Thanks for the list. I remember looking for Voet's book a couple of times but not finding it.

 

[Marmot]

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oui Oui Oui is an OK read for those interested in the history of Australian participation in the Tour de France and other French races.

Here is a link to one of my favourite anecdotes from the book: "A chicken sandwich, a glass of beer and a 25-sprocket gear"

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/road/2003/tour03/?id=features/aussie

 

[red_explosions]

Currently reading 'Kings of the Mountains' - Matt Rendell's take on the history of colombian cycling and the Vuelta a Colombia. Great read so far. Seems the brutal Andean climbs make the Alps look like your local hill lol.

 

[elapid]

Other than some of the books mentioned already in this thread, I enjoyed a book called "Ascent: The Mountains of the Tour de France" by Richard Yates. It is hard cover and has lots of photos, but provides a good history and stories associated with each of the major climbs included in the TdF.

 

[Ninety5rpm]

There's more to being safe in traffic than most cyclists, even most experienced cyclists, realize.

The best advice is given in these books:

* "Cyclecraft" by John Franklin
* "Effective Cycling" by John Forester
* "Streetsmarts" by John S. Allen (free pdf - google for it)
* "The Art of Urban Cycling" by Robert Hurst

The one thing these books all have in common is that the way almost all cyclists ride, even hardcore racers, is way too close to the edge of the road.

 

[Black Dog]

Greg Moody

An american author Greg Moody wrote a series of cycling murder mystery books in the late 90's early 2000's that were entertaining. Some of the titles are: Dead Air, Two Wheels, and Derailleur. Fun reads.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Thanks for the list. I remember looking for Voet's book a couple of times but not finding it.

Where do you live? There's always Amazon.

If you read French, Willy has a couple more books out.

For a different tact, if you live in the US and like the challenge of riding your bike uphill, John Summerson's book is a great reference.

 

[shawnrohrbach]

I can't resist; my novel "Feast Days of the Saints" is in the very last stages of edits and design and is slated for public release in early July. It focuses on a doping scandal in the Tour de France. Check out the first chapter posted on my website and you can pre-order through the publisher.

my site: http://www.shawnrohrbach.com

pre-order: http://www.cacoethespublishing.net

Cheers, and happy reading.

There were some problems with the printer and this novel is just now listed on Amazon for Pre-sale and books should start shipping November 1. Cheers.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Cadel evans' book "Close to flying" is coming out soon. Should be a ripper.

 

[ak-zaaf]

Still a shame so little are translated. I have about 150 mostly Dutch cycling books, but I think only 25% is available in another language.

I finished 2 books a lot of people said would be a great read and an eye-opener: Rough Ride and Bad Blood. I didn't really like them. Paul Kimmage comes across as a whiny man who is hard on everyone but expects the readers to understand he doped himself.

Bad blood was just naive. How you can become a cycling journalist with so little knowledge about the sport baffles me.


Just begun in 'Sex, Lies and Handlebar tape'. Should be a good one.

 

[quiensabe]

Do novels count? If so, 'Legs' by Liz Cochrane is a detective-type story with a lot of Tour background info. http://www.originalwriting.ie/bookshop

 

[Biciclette Bianchi]

I've been reading "Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi" by William Fotheringham. More than just a biography of Coppi, you learn a lot of Bartali (one can't really talk about either man without saying much about the other) and you learn about Cavanna and Serse and Coppi's gregari. All-in-all, pretty well done and a good read.



Dave

 

[pmcg76]

I received Paris-Roubaix: A journey through Hell by Philipe Bouvet as a Christmas gift. An excellent book with some great photos, old & new but I noticed quite a few pictures with incorrect years as captions. Just one example, one picture is listed as the 00s but contains a PDM rider??? Anybody else notice the same mistakes.

Still a good addition to my collection and one I will be able to flick through in years to come. Paris-Roubaix is such an epic event.

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I just started reading Bicycle: The History by David V. Herlihy. I was perusing the sports section at Barnes and Noble and stumbled across it. I'm vaguely familiar with the bicycle's history, but wanted a more thorough knowledge.

On a side note, because of all these comments, I now have a reading list for the next year....

 

[kelvedon wonder]

Push Yourself Just A Little Bit More by Johnny Green--A one-time manager of The Clash scams a press pass and takes in the 2004 Tour from start to finish. Johnny Green is also a regular columnist in Rouleur magazine.

Of course books are all about personal taste....and I thought that was the worst book I had ever read on any subject. Johnny Green is an old bloke who thinks that if he uses phrases like 'bad ju-ju, man' it will make him cool and down with the kids. There wasn't much of any sense about the tour itself, more about how him and his travelling companions got stuck in traffic jams and booked hotel rooms. The prose style set my teeth on edge all through. Man.

 

[Tangled Tango]

Eddy Merckx "The Greatest Cyclist of the 20th Century" by Rik Vanwalleghem

An Intimate Portraitr of the Tour De France by Philippe Brunel

LeMond "The Incredible Comeback of an American Hero" by Samuel ABT

 

[GilTeamS&M]

Just skimmed through the thread. Did I miss it, or has no one yet read
Tomorrow, We Ride by Jean Bobet? I read a review of it (at Pez I think...) and it sounds good.

On the fiction side of things, I have a book called "The Yellow Jersey" by Ralph Hurne. It's about a retired pro who, at the age of 37 and after being out of racing for a couple years, returns to ride the tour to help out a hot young rider on the team he's managing. And, ba-ding!, the old guy ends up in the yellow jersey. It's been years since I read it, but a quick look just now shows it to be well-written from a cyclists point-of-view. The author must have either raced or been quite the fan, as he's able to describe subtleties of cycling, tactics and skills, with expertise.

 

[Rosaka]

Thijs Zonneveld - Dit is onze tijd. (Dutch tho, not sure if it has English translation) Its about 5 Dutch young racers (Thomas Dekker, Sebastian Langeveld, Robert Gesink, Bauke Mollema and Lars Boom) and was written a few years ago. I found it quite funny to read knowing how they are now, i'll re-read it in 10 years to see how they are then.

 

[TheDude]

I picked up the Campagnolo 75 year book cheap on Amazon. Not really a book to read, but more of a coffee table book of pretty cycling components. I did read through it, great piece of sales literature. In reality a notebook of all of the manuals efer printed by Campagnolo would have been more interesting to me (the insides fo delta brakes are just so cool). Book was worth the $25 to me.

I also read Johan's book because it was on a clearance pile. OK, fast read. So the guy is pretty smart for a cyclist and a good tactition. He gets my respect, but not a great author.

 

[kelvedon wonder]

Got to mention French Revolutions by Tim Moore. Ok, not a serious cycling book, but it's great fun.