my gran wants to buy me one for christmas, whats worth a read? i read a lance armstrong one and enjoyed it, any others i should try?
Dog in a hat?
I enjoyed reading Cavs book.
Cavs book was quite good but interestingly rumour has it he didn't marry his childhood sweet heart but is now seeing some Italian model!!??
This is probably the finest cycling book I've ever read. It's funny, harrowing and a wonderful read. It's not just about biking, it's about biking within real life. It makes most sense to a real cyclist, whilst being very moving.
This is a bit good too-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hour-Michael-Hutchinson/dp/0224075195
Agree with SUperstar about "The Escape Artist", superb book, very moving in its content. Read it once, it is one I've never picked up again for all the right reasons, if that makes sense.
Other book is Chris Hoys, I read that last Xmas. Good read about everything up to Beijing.
One more kilometre and we'll be in the showers.
+1 for Escape Artist (Matt Seaton). Inspiring, and actually got me into road-racing.
Lent my copy to a mate and never got it back 🙁
Bradley Wiggins' book "In Pursuit of Glory" isn't too bad, either, but not very well written. All a bit colloquial.
Can also recommend "Flying Scotsman", Graeme Obree's autobiography. Great book. A brilliant and sad life story.
The escape artist is very good.
The story of Robert Millar takes the best IMO though. Loved it.
Chris Hoy's book was alright, not brilliant though.
Edit: Jesus! how daft am I? Yes, the flying scotsman! Great read!
cheers all, think it will be graeme obree or robert millar having googled them both
Got about half way through the Robert Millar one, he seemed like just too much of a c0ck for me to be bothered with the rest of it. ooh, look at me, I'm a bit wacky and a lot of a nob.
Shame as I loved his riding.
+1 for Obree and Matt Seaton. I just love those first couple of pages of The Escape Artist.
graeme obree is a brilliant read.If a little harrowing in places.
A lot of the very old ones (Tom Simpson, King of the Road) are worth finding. I didn't like Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride. It just seems to be full of spite.
Kimmage's Rough Ride is a bit of an oddity...perhaps a bit ahead of it's time in how honest he was about what was going on and so I can understand why he was, perhaps, a bit spiteful.
One of the 'best' ... if not most heart breaking books I've read recently is Jeremy Whittle's Bad Blood. Certainly worth reading.
But ultimately...if I were to reccomend a cycling book to anyone then Matt Seaton's Excape Artist is head and shoulders above any other sports book I've ever read. The first few pages make my hair stand on end even now.
I thought Paul Kimmages book was an interesting read becuase of the spite really...
The hour is quite good - Michael Hutchinson
but for an autobiography I think it is between Matt Seaton and Greame Obree.
I thought Cav's book was rubbish TBH
obrees is an inspiration.
hoys autobiog is much better than moores book.
I started reading [i]Heroes, Villains and Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain's Track Cycling Revolution by Richard Moore (Author) [/i], but found the style of writing odd, repetitive and, if I'm honest, the subject matter in the chapters I read was made to seem a bit dull (&I do like Hoy).
I may skip to a later section and give that a whirl, but I wouldn't rush out to buy it or any other cycling biography.
On a similar note, but a different sport, Jackie Stewart's Autobiography is surprisingly good.
I started reading Heroes, Villains and Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain's Track Cycling Revolution by Richard Moore (Author) , but found the style of writing odd, repetitive and, if I'm honest, the subject matter in the chapters I read was made to seem a bit dull (&I do like Hoy).
i thought that was just me ! given all the mags opinions of him
It wasn't necessarily a criticism of Hoy, just Richard Moore's book and it's peculiar style.
The problem with a very professional approach as opposed to a destructive, cavalier approach is that there is little in the way of flair or tension to produce amusing anecdotes. Think Tiger Woods (golfing rather than his newly-discovered lady hobby) as opposed to James Hunt.
These two are really good. Autobiographical, but "just" of a 4 year cycle round the world.
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moods-Future-Joys-Around-World/dp/1903070562/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b ]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moods-Future-Joys-Around-World/dp/1903070562/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b[/url]
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thunder-Sunshine-Alastair-Humphreys/dp/1903070546 ]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thunder-Sunshine-Alastair-Humphreys/dp/1903070546[/url]
"A Peiper's Tale", Alan Peiper's biographer is another extraordinarily revealing autobiography. Road cycling seem to attract more than its fair share of tortured souls.
One of the 'best' ... if not most heart breaking books I've read recently is Jeremy Whittle's Bad Blood. Certainly worth reading.
Really? I thought it was a thin idea re-hashed to make it into book length. Very poor, in my view. I enjoyed Rough Ride much more.
So, my recommendations:
+1 for Dog in a Hat*, Escape Artist, Flying Scotsman, One more Kilometre....
And I add to that: Need for the Bike by Paul Fournel. Not a conventional autobiog, but a beatifully written and exquisitely observed series of vignettes on cycling.
(And if you want more than just [i]auto[/i]biographies, try Fallen Angel by William Fotheringham (Fausto Coppi), Put Me Back on My Bike (Fortheringham again) (Tom Simpson), The Eagle of the Canavese by Herbie Sykes (Franco Balmamion), The Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell (er, Pantani) and Man on the Run by Ronchi and Josti (also Pantani).)
*Possibly my favourite cycling book, but I love the whole Belgian thing.
Not strictly an autobiography, but Dervla Murphy's travelogue is an amazing and humbling read - totally engrossing.
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Tilt-Dublin-Delhi-Bicycle/dp/0719565146/ref=cm_lmf_tit_2 ]Here it is here[/url]
Highly, highly recommended reading...
[i]Really? I thought it was a thin idea re-hashed to make it into book length. [/i]
He's very angry about something isn't he? still, some interesting points in there.
[i]Road cycling seem to attract more than its fair share of tortured souls. [/i]
For sure, maybe road riding makes them that way....
Fallen Angel - the story of Fausto Coppi by William Fotheringham is a great read. Tells the story of Coppi (who apparently was never caught by the peleton once he made a break) and also gives a very interesting insight into Italian culture through the 40s and 50s. I was reading it whilst my daughter was in an incubator and used to bore her rigid about coppi each day
"Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" is also a good read, can't remember the author but tells the extremely interesting story of Jacque Anquitel, and you thought George Best pushed the boat out.....
other than that dog in a hat is great
on a seperate topic would also recommend "Feet in the Clouds" - a very entertaining book all about fell running
Mat Hoffman's autobiography is pretty good. I think it's called "Ride of my Life" or something like that.
+1 for the escape artist, only cycling book I've ever read actually, got through it in one night, still on loan to my Dad...
It benefits from not being entirly about cycling too...
Another one for the Escape Artist.
Also I enjoyed Matt Rendall's Kings of the Mountains - about Colombian pro cyclists in the TDF.
Escape Artist is good. Hoys book is interesting but not that easy to ride
Riding through the Storm - Geoff Thomas' book about his battle with cancer and his ride round the TdF route is excellent, though it obviously has a fair bit of his football career as well.