Best books on cycling?

KnightOfTheLongTights
KnightOfTheLongTights Posts: 1,415
edited December 2011 in Pro race
So I'm looking forward to reading the Millar book that's just come out to good reviews, and Slaying the Badger. Pedalare! Pedalare! also on the list.

It got me to thinking there might be classic cycling books out there that I've missed...

Your definitive books on the sport please, whether biogs, autobiogs, history, whatever ...
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Comments

  • dg74
    dg74 Posts: 656
    The Death of Marco Pantani is good so far.

    "Bad Blood" by Jeremy Whittle
    "We were young and carefree" by Laurent Fignon

    There are many more
  • Comfort_Break
    Comfort_Break Posts: 8
    edited June 2011
    +1 for both Bad Blood & the Pantani book.

    I'd add:

    Fallen Angel (re Fausto Coppi) - William Fotheringham

    The Escape Artist - Matt Seaton
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    In Search of Robert Millar - Richard Moore

    + all the above
  • josame
    josame Posts: 1,162
    Wide Eyed and Legless is excellent

    about a 1987 brit tour team
    'Do not compare your bike to others, for always there will be greater and lesser bikes'
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    A Significant Other - Matt Rendell
  • ms_tree
    ms_tree Posts: 1,405
    There have been other threads on this BTW.
    I've just finished Brian Robinson: Pioneer which was strange but quite interesting. An insight into times past. BriSmithy mentioned that there is one coming out on Shay Elliott so as he was mentioned in this a lot being a team-mate of Robinson I think I will put a reserve in for that.
    I've also enjoyed
    Tomorrow we ride by Jean Bobet
    Sex, lies and handlebar tape
    and have on the pile one on Indurain
    (all borrowed from the library, of course). :)
    'Google can bring back a hundred thousand answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.'
    Neil Gaiman
  • BikingBernie
    BikingBernie Posts: 2,163
    In Pursuit of Stardom: Les Nomades du Velo Anglais

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pursuit-Stardom ... 979&sr=8-1
  • Richrd2205
    Richrd2205 Posts: 1,267
    This is a sort-of annual thread which I really like since it helps me catch up on stuff that I might have missed!
    My additions:
    -One more kilometre and we're in the showers- Tim Hilton
    A simply amazing ramble through cycling history that really shouldn't work, but does, incredibly well. I've just re-read it & it's as good as it was.
    -The sweat of the gods- Benjo Masso
    A sort of sociological history of bike racing, which is a bit dated now, but the older history in there is really good.

    The other stuff I really like is mentioned above.
    & thanks for the link, Bernie, that looks really good. (& you should read the Tim Hilton book, it'll appeal to you, I think).
  • Mark Bom
    Mark Bom Posts: 184
    I found the Pantani book interesting at first, but thought there was too much about the drugs.

    Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage I thought was a great read about the life of a domestique on the pro tour. Also covers the issue of doping.
  • thanks all, a few there I've read, a few not.

    'When we were young and carefree' is such a great title for a book, so bittersweet. Plus Fignon has always been a source of fascination to me.

    What do people think of Graeme Fife's history of the Tour? It seems to get mixed reviews on Amazon ...
  • josame
    josame Posts: 1,162
    What do people think of Graeme Fife's history of the Tour? It seems to get mixed reviews on Amazon ...[/quote]

    It is good...also gives a perspective of fife climbing some of the big cols and he has good inside knowledge of some riders
    'Do not compare your bike to others, for always there will be greater and lesser bikes'
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    "A Dog in a Hat" by Joe Parkin is a good, fun read.
  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    Usually gets a mention in these threads for good reason, and an essential piece of cycling fiction.,....."The Rider" by Tim Krabbe
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour
    by Matt Rendell

    Not my #1 but very enjoyable.
  • paulcuthbert
    paulcuthbert Posts: 1,016
    It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong
    Against The Wind - Yasuyuki Ozeki
    The Flying Scotsman - Graeme Obree
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    josame wrote:
    Wide Eyed and Legless is excellent

    about a 1987 brit tour team

    Didn't realise this was out again, I can remember getting it from the library years ago. Love the cover, how I feel after alot of my bike rides at the moment. Looks like a trip to Amazon this lunchtime!

    wide-eyed-and-legless-inside-the-tour-de-france.jpg
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    The Flying Scotsman - Graeme Obree

    Definitely. And then download and listen to the VC Don Logan podcast interview with the man himself;

    http://vcdl.libsyn.com/episode-9-obree
  • KnightOfTheLongTights
    KnightOfTheLongTights Posts: 1,415
    edited June 2011
    thanks for all these fellers - as many I haven't read as have

    Maybe I should have made it 'favourite 3 cycling books' - would have been interesting to see which ones came up most in people's choices ...

    Probably if I search back in this forum that vey thing will be there as someone has mentioned.
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    josame wrote:
    What do people think of Graeme Fife's history of the Tour? It seems to get mixed reviews on Amazon ...

    It is good...also gives a perspective of fife climbing some of the big cols and he has good inside knowledge of some riders[/quote]

    It is full of really good historical content but then descends into a year by year review of each of the recent tours where he seems to say that everyone is pretty shit.

    It is worth buying but you might find yourself getting a bit irritatated with the author's attitude
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    French Revolutions by Tim Moore if you want a light-hearted laugh
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • for those who didn't read the guardian on saturday, a double review of the Millar book and Slaying the Badger:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/ju ... lar-review
  • Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour
    by Matt Rendell

    Not my #1 but very enjoyable.

    This is a great 'bedside book' - I often dip into it for 10 mins or so before going to sleep.
  • DeadCalm
    DeadCalm Posts: 4,247
    Finished the David Millar book last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Just started Slaying the Badger and it seems pretty good so far.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour
    by Matt Rendell

    Not my #1 but very enjoyable.

    This is a great 'bedside book' - I often dip into it for 10 mins or so before going to sleep.

    Exactly.
  • DeadCalm wrote:
    Finished the David Millar book last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Just started Slaying the Badger and it seems pretty good so far.

    Annual? These are more like Tri-Annual threads, nothing wrong with that.

    Purposefully, I want to read some of the more obscure books out there. Most mentioned are mainstream but this 2nd book mentioned here, I haven't heard about, it sounds interesting.

    I also have the Samuel Abt book "Racing in the era of Indurain", I mention this because someone said they had a book on him but did not mention the title, the book is okay but not fantastic.

    Some of the histories of the Tour though really capture the excitement of the Tour which is like nothing. Even if the riders disappoint, it's just a spectacle that one gets into.
  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    afx237vi wrote:
    "A Dog in a Hat" by Joe Parkin is a good, fun read.

    +1 Not sure that fun is quite the word I'd use but I found it hard to put down. Well written and honest about how crazy the sport can (used to) be.
  • cajun_cyclist
    cajun_cyclist Posts: 493
    edited June 2011
    I see browsing amazon, Joe Parkin it looks like has a new book "Come and Gone". Just a note, He's the one who authored "Dog in the hat", that book which is kind of exciting over cycling in Belgium in the professional ranks.

    "Come and Gone" looks brand new: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joe-Parkin/e/B0 ... 1874739412 Parkin did become editor of a magazine "Paved", I bought the first issue, I'd rate it better than average but not great but I have not seen any 2nd issues.

    "Full cycle" by Van Denson I've wanted to read for awhile, like I said, there are too many obscure books to always go popular. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Cycle-Vinc ... pd_sim_b_4 <---- Still this is only around 160 pages, that is why a full Tour history is usually a good book to read, whomever the author is is because there are a lot of pages, I've said it before, I like a book at least to be over 200 pages or you can finish it just like that, probably a real good story still.

    Les Nomades du Velo Anglais as BB mentioned, I've got to move that to the top of my list but so often, it depends on what is available, what is in the library, etc. But that sounds good.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    For the Dutchies, Wilfred de Jong, De man en zijn fiets was a book i really enjoyed.

    It's standard Dutch: a collection of miscellaneous stories to do with road cycling in one form or other with a 'deep' front cover.

    demanenzijnfiets.jpg


    Edit: He only really writes the first story and I believe he edits the rest (with a proper editor presumably).

    His story about his experience of climbing the Ventoux on his (*insert old age*) birthday is one of the best descriptions of climbing mountains - pretty much the only piece of text that actually made me feel those same sensations I had when I was climbing mountains.


    Edit Edit: I also have met him > had a chat with him at the Tour in Rotterdam. He's a big sports presenter on Dutch TV (Holland Sport I believe) and loves cycling.
  • tim000
    tim000 Posts: 718
    Monty Dog wrote:
    French Revolutions by Tim Moore if you want a light-hearted laugh
    +1 . read it 3or 4 times. usually just before the tour to get in the mood.
  • The last thread like this, only about 4 months ago, listed French Revolutions too of which I've read, Definitely read it all in a few days and some of it still stays with me.