Another vote for How I Won The Yellow Jumper by Ned Boulting. Very funny.
I found David Millar’s book, Racing Through The Dark almost un-put-downable (is that word?).
And Alistair Humphreys books about his ride round the world are excellent. Moods of Future Joys is the first part, Thunder and Sunshine is the second instalment although you can read either of them by themselves.
The Hungry Cyclist – Tom Kevill Davies
Cycles around, eats local food. My motivation for touring as well!
Good website that doesn’t appear to be working right now.. http://www.thehungrycyclist.com/
The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook is great, I won it in last year’s WRT raffle. Has some top advice which really gets your mind going, plus some fantastic anecdotes from people who have done it and got the t-shirt.
@Ton – if you like touring reads , Cycling Back From Siberia is pretty good. I also enjoyed Kings of the Mountains, about Colombian cyclists, intresting how it ties in with the Escobar cartel and the politics of the region
The Cranes’ “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” – spectacular/inspiring/mad. Their kit list is just insane. Even better is “Running the Himalayas” – 2,500 miles over the Himalayas in 100 days. No tent! Crazy and brilliant. Those were the days…
I found The Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell to be very good, well researched and informative. Obviously it’s not exactly a feel-good story though.
David Millar’s book is very readable and unputdownable (! as already mentioned) and I dislike the bloke (not to be discussed in this thread!).
Cav’s book was fascinating. Don’t bother with “sex lies and handlebar tape” tedious, a lot of the Marco Pantani books are tedious.
Chris Hoy’s autobiography is interesting, Brad Wiggins just goes on about his near alcoholism after the Olympics (Athens IIRC). Ned Boulting’s book I really enjoyed.
That one about eating around the world I found really dull. Horses for causes.
Have read the usual suspects, Pantani, Millar, Simpson, Kimmage, Armstrong, Obree and Beaumont.
For a more gentle read, the books by Edward Enfield of his slow tours in Europe are actually very good. Find myself using google images to see where he rode.
I’d do you that swap Ton, I read Cycling Home from Siberia in nearly one sitting, most of it during a long-haul flight, it’s brilliant. Possibly the best cycle trravel book I’ve read, just very entertaining and down to earth read-able. I was just posting to say the tandem book sounds good..
Another recommendation on those lines is Alistair Humphreys’ Moods of Future Joys. I just started the second book of his round-the-world trip after enjoying Moods so much. Gives me itchy feet.. )
Problem with Cav’s book, while it’s very good and I have a huge amount of admiration for the guy, it just feels like an attempt to cash in. Stops half way through his career; doesn’t include the Green Jersey or the World Championships obviously but you know there’s just so much more to come from Cav.
That’s becuase the Cav book was written a good 2-3 years ago and he hasn’t updated it since! He even credits his the fiancee, childhood sweetheart Melissa!
Oh BAd Blood by Jeremy Whittle. i’m fascinated in all the drugs books, on which note from Lance to Landis but David Walsh. Breaking the chain – Willy Voet.
Oh and The Flying Scotsman – Graeme obree, fascinating book about his struggle with mental health.
The Escape Artist – Matt Seaton.
A few touring standards from the era preceding the current crop of two wheeled expedition books:
“Full Tilt” by Dervla Murphy is a classic touring book. She set off from Ireland to ride to India in 1963 (one of the hardest European winters in recent history) packing a pistol as part of her luggage.
As a counterpoint to Mark Beaumont et al, “Round the World on a Bicycle” by Thomas Stevens, who was the first person to pedal round the world (in 1884, on a penny-farthing) You can download this for free from Project Gutenberg
“Wind in my Wheels” by Josie Dew. Josie has been touring for over 25 years now, and has produced a string of books about various far flung places.
Freddy Maertens autobiography “Fall From Grace” is a good read if you can borrow it from someone. There are currently 2 used copies on Amazon, at an eye-popping £92! The Cavendish of his era, Maertens is remarkably candid about the cheating and skulduggery in pro cycling, talking about drugs and selling stage wins to other riders.
i have a box in the loft, with a load of cycle touring/adventure books.
i will get em down and dust em off, if anyone is interested in some book swaps?
Robert Penn’s ‘It’s all About the Bike’ is a great one for us serial bike builders – follows his journey to various parts of the globe hand-picking all the parts for the ultimate bike.