Which cycling book....

milese

I need a new cycling book, and am looking for reccomendations.

I've read, and enjoyed Cavendish's Boy Racer, and the Wiggins one, and also really enjoyed the Mark Beaumont around the world book.

What's good?

fungus_the_muffin_man

I have Chris Hoy's book as my toilet reading material at the moment. It's not to bad actually

da goose

Paul Kimmage Rough Ride or breaking the chain.....if you want a heavy but informative read on sports nutrition I have Anita Beans Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition up for grabs as now read.... :roll:

mercsport

This is a recurring thread on this forum, but a good one.

My favourite of recent years was Matt Rendell's 'The Death of Marco Pantani'.



And not too long ago someone was raving about how good another of Rendell's books was on this fellow :

ratsbeyfus

+1 for the Marco Pantani Book

Also 'From lance to Landis' is a great read if you're interested in getting a clearer idea of how LA is 'allegedly' the jammiest dodger in the biscuit barrel.

SteveR_100Milers

+1 for Pantani book, Graham Obree bio, and possibly one of the best is The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton.

Personally I don't like Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage appears to be a whining old git in it to be honest, and yiou are left wondering if the whole drugs thing was partly a smokescreen for his lack of talent.

ynyswen24

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

simon johnson

If you like, PM me your details and I'll post you the Matt Seaton book Tuesday (FOC)

Perhaps you could then pass it on to any other forummers likewise.

Good (quick) read but I don't think I'd read it again and I need book shelve space!

dreamlx10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pursuit-Stardom ... =8-1-fkmr0

Best cycling book I have read, great sfory well written.

milese

Thanks for all the replies, and especially the offer from Simon. PM sent!

I'll be sure to pass it on afterwards, in true bikeradar book club style!

I'll check out the recommendations and see what grabs me the most.

gert_lush

I quite like books about touring so can recommend Alastair Humphreys two books about cycling around the world - Moods of future joys pt1 and Thunder and sunshine pt2
Also like Rob lilwall's cycling home from siberia. Both cycle around the world for a few years through loads of interesting countries on hardly any money and free camping every night. Not everyone's cuppa tea, but I liked them. (Completely different ethos from Mark Beaumonts book)

John Stevenson

Will Fotheringham's biog of Tom Simpson, Put me back on my bike, is excellent.

SteveR_100Milers

John Stevenson wrote:

Will Fotheringham's biog of Tom Simpson, Put me back on my bike, is excellent.

yes forgot about that one!

I also like Bernard Hinault's Memories of the Peleton. It's mostly autobiographical, and his writing is much like his riding. Fascinating insight.

whyamihere

John Stevenson wrote:

Will Fotheringham's biog of Tom Simpson, Put me back on my bike, is excellent.

I would agree with this.

I also really enjoyed In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore

The Chingford Skinhead

I am currently reading Graeme Obree - The Flying Scotsman and enjoying it thoroughly.

ScaldedCat

I've just started the Pantani book and just finished 'Heroes, Villains and Velodromes' which was excellent. For more leisurely paced reading I like Josie Dew's touring books, especially the NZ one, 'Long Cloud Ride'.

CrackFox

Alistair Humphrey's books as recommended already.

Also, 'Major Taylor : The Fastest Bicycle Racer In The World' - I havent read it myself yet but it looks like an interesting read.

http://www.amazon.com/Major-Taylor-Fast ... pd_sim_b_4

newpot

The Rider, one race one book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rider-Tim-Krabbe/dp/0747559414

milese

simon johnson wrote:

If you like, PM me your details and I'll post you the Matt Seaton book Tuesday (FOC)

Perhaps you could then pass it on to any other forummers likewise.

Good (quick) read but I don't think I'd read it again and I need book shelve space!

Again, big thanks to Simon. I got the book, read it, enjoyed it and will now pass it onto another forum member FOC if anyone is interested?

simon johnson

No probs Milese. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the book!

Simon.

Chip \'oyler

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

+1 for Pantani book, Graham Obree bio, and possibly one of the best is The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton.

Personally I don't like Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage appears to be a whining old git in it to be honest, and yiou are left wondering if the whole drugs thing was partly a smokescreen for his lack of talent.

Lack of talent? Second overall in the Milk Race and winning enough big French amateur races doesn't sound like someone with no talent.

Kimmage admits himself that he thought he'd made it when he turned pro and perhaps turned lazy. Contrast his attitude to that of Robert Millar's (in Richard Moore's excellent book) who realised that turning pro was just another rung on the ladder to success.

Cleat Eastwood

I found the rendell book unreadable, too much focus on the medical data but this...


Man on the Run: The Life and Death of Marco Pantani by manuela ronchi is BOSS. ronchi was pantani's manager and you get a real insight into the stresses of being a top bikler

ratsbeyfus

Th Fignon book is great! Highly recommended.

jc4lab

Great bike Ride Around the world in 80 days by Nick Sanders is my fav..Only on Ebay or amazon though as its a golden oldie..

Stone Glider

I am currently reading It's Not About The Bike which is as unflinching as the "author". Notably, the name of the ghost writer Sally Jenkins, is on the front cover of the book. Another book to consider is The Hour by Michael Hutchinson, a witty and talented writer as well as a gifted cyclist. I have just bought a copy of the Robert Millar book and look forward to reading it.

There seems to be a depth and literacy to many books about cycling that other sports often lack. Cricket and rugby used to do well, but less well of late? Football, motor racing, horse riding, et al are, largely a sorry bunch in my experience

brakelever

the other pantani book called man on the run by manuela ronchi is a good read , also the fausto coppi book is worth a look at .

milese

I accidenty deleted the message from the guy who wanted the Matt Seaton book.

Can you send me your address please and I'll get it sent.

753forme

I agree that Graeme Obree bio and Matt Seaton's 'The Escape Artist' are great cycling books. I think Tim Krabbe's 'The Rider' is awesome and I also like 'Bikie' by Charlie Woods which is more of a social history but if you are of a certain generation ie 50+ you will relate to it.

shouldbeinbed

John Stevenson wrote:

Will Fotheringham's biog of Tom Simpson, Put me back on my bike, is excellent.

+ another 1

also wasn't overly impressed with Paul Kimmage's rough ride , maybe its because we're all used to the idea of serial doping now, it was probably more shocking when it came out in 1990.

CTL

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

I found the rendell book unreadable, too much focus on the medical data but this...

Man on the Run: The Life and Death of Marco Pantani by manuela ronchi is BOSS. ronchi was pantani's manager and you get a real insight into the stresses of being a top bikler

Bit of a rant, excuse me.

I'm glad the Pantani books are so cherished by readers here. I have to say a quick story, I ordered one of them used off of Amazon and there are like 3 books on Pantani including the Velo News one which I think is largely a lot of the articles they ran on him and the like.

Anyway, the Seller sent me the wrong Pantani book of which he immediately notified me I could send it back but I said, well, I think I will just get it, so in the end, I got the Ronchi book and the other main Pantani book and in fact, went ahead and got the Velonews book too which is a rather general book on Pantani. The VN book really is a take it or leave it book but the other two excel.

I don't know if Ronchi's "Man on the Run" is the "best" book on the Pirate but I do think it is basically essential reading. Some people are/were really into Marco. I admired him enough, I got the cycling magazines that came out after his untimely death. Man, he was so so so addicted to cocaine, that was his problem and a love sick heart, I came to feel sorry for him.

I really want to read the Fallen Angel book on Coppi and maybe even the Anquetil book though those sound rather "gossipy", there was a thread like this in the other pro racing section too. I have read "Tomorrow we ride" by the brother of Jean Louis Bobet, multiple tour winner of the 1950s, rather straight forward.

--

For a change of pace, I've read "Bike Boom" classics, meaning maintenance, touring, everything manuals from the '70s/ early '80s, those kinds of books are entertaining. There are a few of those, John Marino and Tom Doughty wrote such books. Lemond's cycling book is actually in this style but not as good as the previous two imho.

Though "The Dog in the Hat" (scuse me I am ranting) by Joe Parkins is decent and around that, 200 pages or so, an American who rode the Kelmises, those races in Belgium in the 1990s, it's actually a pretty good read. It's probably closest to Rough Ride except the author in this case probably has a better outlook on things though both he and Kimmage are probably close to each other talent wise, Joe Parkins rode the Kelmises (spelling) and that Tour of Flanders though not exactly one of those kinds of races is recognisable all the same. A little bit on doping but not much and Joe P. made it to the USA Olympic team.



Joe's blog http://www.6yearsinaraincape.com/ But not sure the blog is important now that he is editing Road bike magazine I believe. Joe Parkins got his start from Bob Roll who told Joe where to go in Belgium to get set up in racing. Joe Parkins blog is also where I first found out Bob Roll had a very serious skiiing accident this year, breaking his femur. I'm not into Bob Roll too much but would like to read the Bobke book some day.

---

Trashed in reviews on amazon.co.uk though the reviews looked like a vendetta, my favourite tour de france book is Ascent: The Mountains of the Tour De France
by Richard Yates , that really tells you all important details of the tour de france during it's "classic era" meaning from 1903 to 1978-80 according to the author. I mean it really does, how they first started to ride the mountains, why many thought they were nuts to do so and the snow usually had not cleared by tour time to even ride it, all kinds of details, it is a bit of a "coffee table" oversized book and a bit expensive but many libraries have it.

I've also read one of two of the books on Major Taylor, again, they are good in that they are expansive reads, the one I read I believe over 300 pages at least. And you find out about the Madison from back then and he had to encounter some racism definitely but was welcomed in places like Massachussets. Very good story, whenever greatest cyclists are discussed, it means "modern cyclists" cause Taylor and some others were excellent. Major Taylor also went to race in France not the tour but other ones early on, more like velodrome races.

My major beef with cycling books is really, I don't want to read one that's 190-200 pages, that's not much of a book to read at all.

CTL

shouldbeinbed wrote:

John Stevenson wrote:

Will Fotheringham's biog of Tom Simpson, Put me back on my bike, is excellent.

+ another 1

also wasn't overly impressed with Paul Kimmage's rough ride , maybe its because we're all used to the idea of serial doping now, it was probably more shocking when it came out in 1990.

What I really like about Kimmage's book is his real life hassles with the bike, chain falling off, flat tyres, derailleurs/mechs getting all messed up, alot of that. I mean, I'd love to have an ideal bike but if even the pros have problems then I know I'm probably not doing all that bad.

Also, I don't believe the book is largely about doping, I'd say 20% is about doping if that much.