Favorite Cycling Books

[unsheath]

Thought Graeme Fife's inside the peloton was boring as hell. An odd jumble of rider anecdotes pieced together without a common theme and without much insight.

 

[*G*K*S*]

BY THE WAY; any cycling FILM; i have not a lot time to read,

"Road to Roubaix" is an absolute must. I probably watched it twenty times in the first week.

http://www.masterlinkfilms.com/

 

[Ziptie]

+1 The Rider - Tim Krabbé. Great book. Quick read. Makes you want to ride, even when you're reading in bed. Especially when you're reading in bed.

Also, "Put Me Back on My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson" by William Fotheringham. Really well written bio. The author is coming out with a book on Coppi this summer. Hopefuly it is equally good.

 

[ak-zaaf]

BY THE WAY; any cycling FILM; i have not a lot time to read,

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3814089/Cycling_movies__A_Sunday_In_Hel__Overcoming__Hell_On_Wheels

 

[Jarvis]

Death of Marco P
Bad Blood
French Revolutions
Heroes, Villains, Velodromes
The Flying Scotsman

...the list goes on, because there are a lot of good books about cycling out there now. Just need to get my hands of David Walsh's books.

 

[180mmCrank]

and some more for the enthusiast

A Significant Other - Matt Rendell
Not sure if this one has been mentioned but it's an interesting insight into the life of a domestique under Armstrong - it's the tale of how Victor Hugo Pena came to be the first Columbian in Yellow - and it's about so much more - a great read.

and one for the really obsessed...

Bikie - Charlie Woods
Not for the feint hearted - a tale of real grassroots cycling in rural England - a piece of social history. My favourite - The Col du Stokenchurch!

Enjoy

 

[TrapperJohn]

I thoroughly enjoyed " A Dog in a Hat" as well. This wasn't a superstar, just a good cyclist who made a living at it for a few years.

I just finished "A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium" and am working my way through "Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour de France". I've enjoyed them both very much. Very insightful.

http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Hat-American-Betrayal-Belgium/dp/1934030260

http://www.amazon.com/Blazing-Saddles-Unusual-History-France/dp/1934030252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237219242&sr=1-1

 

[Microchip]

One about the Tour de France

Here's an excellent reference book with scores of fine photos and good information about the history of the bicycle, races and related material.

I'm looking for a book which provides a thorough explanation of the Tour de France, one whose contents resemble the Dummies version of it. The number of topics they cover are ideal. (See the "Look Inside" feature at the detailed Table of Contents.)

Anyone know a good one?

 

[ksmith]

Bicycle-David Herlihy Freewheeling-story of bicycling in Canada-William Huumber Le Tour- Geoffrey Wheatcroft

 

[ferryman]

Tim Moore's French Revolution is very very funny.

In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore is a really good insight to the enigma that is RM.

My birthday coming up, so I have hinted Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi may be a nice pressie He He.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

"His mother and his wife wouldn't shut up and that annoyed me." -- Bernard Hinault, Memories of the Peloton.

 

[barn yard]

'a dog in a hat' is a really good read.

and 'road to roubaix' is just incredible if you want to watch a film instead.

i have just ordered the johnny green book mentioned on the 1st page. his interviews from road to roubaix are excellent. we need more guys like him.

 

[180mmCrank]

I am sure not the first time mentioned but...just read

In Search of Robert Millar

Best book I have read in ages bloody brilliant. Read it you'll learn loads about pro cycling and life and Robert Millar

 

[Granville57]

Not a racing book, but here's one that always gets overlooked. I've never seen it referenced anywhere. Good view of the realities of being a bike messenger in Chicago. But it offers much, much more than that--bicycle history, life itself. Very poignant at times.

The Immortal Class: Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power
by Travis Hugh Culley

 

[Tuarts]

Can anyone reccomend a good book for beginners? My grandad has taken up an interest now and it'd be good to get him a book that can easily explain the intracies of cycling.

 

[avanti]

..................
In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore is a really good insight to the enigma that is RM.
....................................

I enjoyed this book as well.

Not road but I enjoyed "Flying Scotsman" by Obree (The movie of the same name deviated from the facts; I assume to make a more dramtic movie for non-cyclists).

 

[luckyboy]

Got this for Christmas. Pretty nice book. Talks about all the classics, so I don't know why it's called 'The Spring Classics'.

This was really interesting - Michaels Barry's entire year in a book. Probably the best cycling book I have.

This is only first edition so it's still £50, but I'll get this when it's cheaper. Anyone who has seen Road to Roubaix will recognise the photos at the end.


Lots of good stuff here - http://www.rouleur.cc/books

Wish I could afford to get that magazine.

Have Rough Ride, Breaking the Chain, A Dog in a Hat, Bad Blood, Death of Pantani.

Also have this about the 1998 Tour..

 

[L'arriviste]

Got this for Christmas. Pretty nice book. Talks about all the classics, so I don't know why it's called 'The Spring Classics'.

I got it too. I've pored over it a thousand times and I've hungrily eaten up the texts on my favourite races. This week, after finally putting down a couple of other books, I've started on it properly.

To see old photos of my adopted country is kind of exciting too. Especially a shot of Dinant with the bridge busted from the war and cliffs pockmarked by shellfire - a few clicks downstream was the furthest the Germans came to retaking the Ardennes in the Bulge, at the so-called Devil's Finger (yet another picturesque military epithet).

Dinant still looks just like that. I was down there a couple of years ago having a hot choc out of the corner café that you can see just left of the bridge.

And the old Muur, which I've driven up all tarred over several times on my way to the Kapelmuur without realising its erstwhile significance.

As to the Spring classics, the book is a French translation so best not to take it too literally. Most of them, however, you'll note started out running in the spring and went autumn only later in their development to improve the quality of the fields and to smooth out the calendar.

 

[Moncoutie]

It's Not About The Bike

 

[JA.Tri]

more Mockridge

Graeme Fife's Inside the Peleton, and his new tour de france one are both great reads, and Russell Mockridge the man in front by Martin Curtis is good. Its about an Australian cyclist dual olympic gold medalist and had just broken into the european peleton and had ridden the tour but was killed when hit by a bus due to a missing marshall during competiton in 1958.

Apparently Russell Mockridge wrote an autobiography featuring his experiences at Le Tour...have heard it is excellent but not able to verify...out of print

 

[Michele]

Got this for Christmas. Pretty nice book. Talks about all the classics, so I don't know why it's called 'The Spring Classics'.

I saw it at my friend's place and it's very very nice.

 

[Kellys Big Sprocket]

You want a real book to read then get yoursleves "Kelly" – by David Walsh

A biography of the man who embodied all that is great about cycling . Strength , toughness, determination and sheer class , it’s all there .

A book that could do with a follow up but well worth the read as it ends up atthe 1986 season and as we all know there where plenty more epic chapters to be added for another 8 seasons.

 

[ksmith]

Can anyone reccomend a good book for beginners? My grandad has taken up an interest now and it'd be good to get him a book that can easily explain the intracies of cycling.

A significant other -Matt Rendell

 

[Bike Boy]

Nice recap of the tour de france history!