[Closed] books about cycling

French Revolutions by Tim Moore. Humourous.Very.

+ 1 for Tim Moore - his other books are worth reading as well.
The man who cycled the world.
Inside the postal bus.
Bad blood.
Put me back on my bike.

Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage is an interesting if slightly bitter insight into the tour.

The Flying Scotsman
In search of Robert Millar.

A Dog in a Hat
Tomorrow, We Ride
Need for the Bike
One More Kiometre and We're in the Showers
The Eagle of the Canavese
The Beautiful Machine

olympic gangster by matt rendell.

great recommendations....

The Death of Marco Pantani

In Pursuit of Glory (Brad Wiggins)
Heroes, Villians and Velodromes (Chris Hoy content but charts rise of British Cycling in general)
Cav autobiography - can't remember the name

Ghost Trails by Jill Homer - about her riding the Iditarod.

#cough cough MrsFlash, can I have it back please 🙂 #

23 days in july
a dog in a hat
bad blood

Just reading the man who cycled the world, Mark Beaumont. Its a very good read.

The one I [i]wouldn't[/i] recommend is the Graeme Obree one...The Flying Scotsman...really found it a drudge to read...full of self pity and badly written.

Some people love it though.

The one I wouldn't recommend is

Bad Blood. In another age, when cycling isn't that popular, poorly written, repetitive turgidity like this wouldn't even elicit a publisher's rejection letter.

The Rider by Tim Krabbe
+ 1 for The Death of Marco Pantani

Ten Points, by Bill Strickland. Inspiring & uplifting, harrowing & disgusting in equal measures.

Oh, and if there's any runners reading this thread:

[img] [/img]

It was out of press for years and i tracked down a copy from a very kindly American, but it's recently been reprinted. I can't recommend it highly enough.

A dog in a hat
A Peiper's tale
In search of Rober Millar

I thought A Dog In a Hat was not up to much. Mildly interesting but too much first I did this, and then I did that, and then I did this, and then and then .....

In Search of Robert Millar is good

French Revolutions is good

The Marco Pantani one - I Liked it - but its a total car crash by the end so don't read it if you ever admired him

In Search of Stardom - isn't on the A-list but hasn't been mentioned yet.
A Significant Other - more Matt Rendell, rather good.

The David Walsh thing - is it called Lance to Landis - another drug thing anyway. Incredibly methodical and really pretty damning.

Cycling is My Life : Tom Simpson
Two Wheels to the Top: Reg Harris
The Agong and the Ecstacy: Stephen Roche
Champion on Two Wheels: Hugh Porter
Watching the Wheels Go Round: Barry Hoban
A Peipers Tale: Allan Peiper
The Bernard Hinault Story

Round the World on a Wheel (J Foster Fraser) you won't read anything better.

three men on a bike

and definitely not tmoab

Josie Dew - Wind in my wheels...well I enjoyed it.

Two Wheels North (Evelyn McDaniel Gibb)
Santa Rosa to Seattle by bike in 1909 [url= http://www.amazon.com/Two-Wheels-North-Bicycling-Coast/dp/0870714856 ][/url]

Paris-Roubaix: A journey through hell
Sex, lies and handlebar tape (Jacques Anquetil)

+1 to:
The Death of Marco Pantani
The Flying Scotsman In search of Robert Millar
French Revolutions

I odn't know, you borrow a book, forget to return it for 7 months, and all they do is moan 🙄 Sorry Kat, but at least I remebered it today and I didn't even see this thread!

GF is reading the Postal Bus one at the moment, he's enjoying that. Breaking the Chain (i think that's what it's called) by Willy Voets is an interesting read.

Kings of the Mountains by Matt Rendell - tells the story of (road) riders coming out of the poverty and political unrest of Columbia to compete against the best.

Heroes ,Villans and Velodromes Richard Moore
The hour Michael Hutchinson

+1 the hour, great book

Roule Britannia: A History of Britons in the Tour De France
William-Fotheringham

Rather interesting.

I can't believe no-ones suggested Thunder and Sunshine by Alistair Humphreys. Its the second half of his world tour...and quite amazing. Can't get through in the Yukon due to forest fires, so buys a canoe and heads off down the river. Crosses Siberia in winter so all the river crossings are frozen. And all on his student loans.

I was struggling to find one that hadn't already been recommended, but I succeeded - Yellow Jersey by Ralph Hurne.

Paris - Roubaix : A Journey Through Hell

Someone mentioned it above, but I thought I would too. Brilliant book with some fantastic photos.

mbr

Discovery Road

[i]The one I wouldn't recommend is the Graeme Obree one...The Flying Scotsman...really found it a drudge to read...full of self pity and badly written.[/i]

It's not brilliantly written but it does give an amazing insight into the mental health problems experienced by so many people who ride road bikes. Introverted, self-obsessed depressives, on the whole. Quite why road riding attractives mental cases is beyond me but would certainly be worth a study grant. Look at Robert Millar. What a nutjob!

You have to ask what comes first, the mental issues or road riding.

That's something that quite interests me actually samuri, not just road riders though - cyclists in general - there seem to be quite a few sufferers on here (myself included) and I do often ponder the correlation of being an introverted depressive loner and being cyclist - it does seem to go hand in hand!

The Geoff Thomas one was pretty good

The Wheels of Chance - best description of an "off" I have seen and captures the era very well.

http://www.online-literature.com/wellshg/wheelsofchance/37/

Dervla Murphy's 'Full Tilt: Ireland to India With a Bicycle' is a superb, as is her autobiography 'Wheels within wheels', though not solely about cycling.

Still read 'Richard's Bicycle Book'. I lent the first edition to a 'mate' and never got it back :cry:.
The second edition is pretty much the same, minus the tips on 'dealing with' troublesome dogs and some of the Anarchist polemic.
His 'Richard's Mountain Bike Book' by Ballantine, Charlie Kelly (yes, [b]that[/b] one, the one who posts on here) and Nic Crane is a lovely time capsule book from the early days.

Jerome K Jerome's 'Three Men On the Bummel', (stop it!) the sequel to his more successful effort is not quite as funny as it's predecessor, but still well worth a read, especially for those contemplating a first cycling holiday with their beloved.

Picked up a copy of this:
[img] [/img]
from George Kelsalls in Littleborough recently.
For the sake of all our children, we must [b]never[/b] allow flourescent lycra to happen again. 😯

I love Josie Dew's stuff, though it is a bit samey. Vey motivational IMO.

was given this for Christmas and haven't got around to it yet but it looks a goodun...

[img] [/img]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fallen-Angel-Passion-Fausto-Coppi/dp/0224074474

Kev

I find Josie Dew and Dervla Murphy's books to be the travel equivalent of Paulo Coelho. I don't mean that as a compliment but others might see it as one.

The only cycling books I've actually enjoyed are ...back in the showers and Escape Artist. The Hour was a bit of a trudge, mostly because the guy who wrote it didn't even seem that keen on what he was doing!