Cycling books

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  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,108
    rdt wrote:
    Some second hand, some new. I was wondering what order to begin reading them in - so maybe I'll shift those two towards the end of the queue, get to them sometime next year perhaps :lol:

    Fancy a topical or uplifting read next, so maybe Fignon's Young & Carefree or the Etape Defining Stages one? Decisions!

    Yes I liked the Fignon one and the Pursuit of Stardom. Anquetil one was OK but I was big into that era when I read it so maybe coloured my judgement in its favour. Don't think I've read the other 5 though a couple of the titles ring a bell - probably through reading about them rather than reading them though. Must admit I got cycling book fatigue and haven't read one for a few years - think I've got a couple unread that I'll dig out for the holidays.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,575
    rdt wrote:
    Some second hand, some new. I was wondering what order to begin reading them in - so maybe I'll shift those two towards the end of the queue, get to them sometime next year perhaps :lol:

    Fancy a topical or uplifting read next, so maybe Fignon's Young & Carefree or the Etape Defining Stages one? Decisions!

    Read them all, make up your own mind.
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    Don't return Dog in a Hat it's excellent. One of the best I have read
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    dave milne wrote:
    Don't return Dog in a Hat it's excellent. One of the best I have read

    Agreed.

    Also agree with AndyP. Read them all.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • meursault
    meursault Posts: 1,433
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    rdt wrote:
    Excellent (useful!) thread. Read plenty of those mentioned; there's so many good ones it's tricky to pick out favourites, but I found Jean Bobet's "Tomorrow, We Ride" really a bit special.

    I always seem to buy my cycling books around this time of the year in an attempt the sustain the "high", so just ordered the following dozen!:

    The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold
    Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape
    The Death of Marco Pantani
    The Secret Race
    We Were Young and Carefree
    Etape: The Untold Stories of the Tour De France's Defining Stages
    It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels
    Higher Calling: Road Cycling's Obsession with the Mountains
    A Dog in a Hat
    In Pursuit of Stardom
    Draft Animals
    Discovery Road

    Thanks for the suggestions.

    If you've bought them new I'd return the Pantani one and Dog in a Hat for a refund. Few good ones in there though.

    I liked the Pantani one, although it did get a bit medical towards the end (art imitating life perhaps?)

    Agreed, Pantani book was excellent.
    Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them.

    Voltaire
  • curium
    curium Posts: 815
    Just watched David Millar's Time Trial: Load of wank really. Very little footage eeked out to an hour with some electro/trance musak on top.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    curium wrote:
    Just watched David Millar's Time Trial: Load of rub really. Very little footage eeked out to an hour with some electro/trance musak on top.

    "Pompous and Unenlightening"

    Dg15FxEW4AElIyG.jpg
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    Are there any recommendations for new cycling books. I haven't bought any new ones in 3 or 4 years so any suggestions from this period would be appreciated
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    takethehighroad said:

    Are there any recommendations for new cycling books. I haven't bought any new ones in 3 or 4 years so any suggestions from this period would be appreciated


    I liked Kenny Pryde's The Medal Factory', a balanced and enlightening book about British Cycling/Sky

    Tom Fordyce is a talented ghost writer and his Geraint Thomas books are decent (I've read the first two).

    I can't say that I've read any others in the last three years.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,692
    takethehighroad said:

    Are there any recommendations for new cycling books. I haven't bought any new ones in 3 or 4 years so any suggestions from this period would be appreciated

    How's your Danish? Jesper Skibby has an autobiography just come out.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,262
    No_Ta_Doctor said:

    takethehighroad said:

    Are there any recommendations for new cycling books. I haven't bought any new ones in 3 or 4 years so any suggestions from this period would be appreciated

    How's your Danish? Jesper Skibby has an autobiography just come out.

    From watching The Killing, four series of The Bridge and a series or two of Borgen, all I picked up was 'Tak'
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    The great bike race (sorry CBA to trawl back the posts)
  • bm5
    bm5 Posts: 599
    Does Jesper mention the Leeds classic?
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,823
    I enjoyed Tim Moore's Gironimo, if I can find it I might try rereading it for something lighthearted and reading about travels in italy always reminds me of my own visits there.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,692
    bm5 said:

    Does Jesper mention the Leeds classic?

    Haven't read it yet... I'm fairly sure *this* will get a mention though https://youtu.be/_5QoQpuSkEQ
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    I stand by my review of 50 Shades of Grey....
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    andyrr said:

    I enjoyed Tim Moore's Gironimo, if I can find it I might try rereading it for something lighthearted and reading about travels in italy always reminds me of my own visits there.

    I do like Tim Moore, and have read Gironimo and the one behind the Iron Curtain. Although I was thinking more about cycle racing books, as I know Tim Moore has a new one out soon, about the Vuelta
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    RichN95. said:

    takethehighroad said:

    Are there any recommendations for new cycling books. I haven't bought any new ones in 3 or 4 years so any suggestions from this period would be appreciated


    I liked Kenny Pryde's The Medal Factory', a balanced and enlightening book about British Cycling/Sky

    Tom Fordyce is a talented ghost writer and his Geraint Thomas books are decent (I've read the first two).

    I can't say that I've read any others in the last three years.
    The Medal Factory sounds good, I've heard it mentioned elsewhere
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,730
    ddraver said:

    I stand by my review of 50 Shades of Grey....

    Is that the one by about doping at British cycling by Dan Roan?
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    I'm fairly sure we discussed British Cycling Fanfics too...

    Chris walked into the room. Brad looked up from the massage table with tears in his eyes.
    "Why did you attack me Chris?" he said sadly.
    Chris beheld Brads shimmering muscles and felt awful. His eyes ran up over the smooth legs to the base of the physiotherapists towel. He'd give anything for that towel to slip a little further....

    etc 😶
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • hommelbier
    hommelbier Posts: 1,556
    takethehighroad said:

    Are there any recommendations for new cycling books. I haven't bought any new ones in 3 or 4 years so any suggestions from this period would be appreciated

    Topical for this time of the year - I enjoyed it.

    The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman by Harry Pearson, published in 2019; he moved to Gent in 2017 in order to follow the Flanders classics season and recount some of the history and characters - often irreverently.

    Describing the pre-race presentation interviews “When the Bora-Hangrohe team of Peter Sagan assembled, the MC went over to English to ask Flanders-born Irish rider Sam Bennett, whose father had been a pro footballer in the Belgian league, if living in Ireland was better than living in Belgium. ‘It’s about the same’ he replied. ‘Is the weather nicer?’ the interviewer asked. ‘It’s about the same,’ Bennett replied again, after which enlightenment the Bora-Hangrohe team rode off to the sound of a US rapper bellowing that everybody could suck his dick” p47.

  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    takethehighroad said:

    andyrr said:

    I enjoyed Tim Moore's Gironimo, if I can find it I might try rereading it for something lighthearted and reading about travels in italy always reminds me of my own visits there.

    I do like Tim Moore, and have read Gironimo and the one behind the Iron Curtain. Although I was thinking more about cycle racing books, as I know Tim Moore has a new one out soon, about the Vuelta
    I liked Gironimo but found his Iron Curtain book far too contrived as he seemed to go out of his way to be terribly prepared as that would then make for a more entertaining book. He'd then waffle for page after page about the scrapes his poor preparation would get him into, devoting far more to him and his self-inflicted travails than about the iron curtain and the countries he was riding through.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    ddraver said:

    I'm fairly sure we discussed British Cycling Fanfics too...

    Chris walked into the room. Brad looked up from the massage table with tears in his eyes.
    "Why did you attack me Chris?" he said sadly.
    Chris beheld Brads shimmering muscles and felt awful. His eyes ran up over the smooth legs to the base of the physiotherapists towel. He'd give anything for that towel to slip a little further....

    etc 😶
    Did you write this? 🤨
    _
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,593
    rick_chasey said:

    ddraver said:

    I'm fairly sure we discussed British Cycling Fanfics too...

    Chris walked into the room. Brad looked up from the massage table with tears in his eyes.
    "Why did you attack me Chris?" he said sadly.
    Chris beheld Brads shimmering muscles and felt awful. His eyes ran up over the smooth legs to the base of the physiotherapists towel. He'd give anything for that towel to slip a little further....

    etc 😶
    Did you write this? 🤨
    I have to admit I'm slightly worried by him!
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,823
    phreak said:

    takethehighroad said:

    andyrr said:

    I enjoyed Tim Moore's Gironimo, if I can find it I might try rereading it for something lighthearted and reading about travels in italy always reminds me of my own visits there.

    I do like Tim Moore, and have read Gironimo and the one behind the Iron Curtain. Although I was thinking more about cycle racing books, as I know Tim Moore has a new one out soon, about the Vuelta
    I liked Gironimo but found his Iron Curtain book far too contrived as he seemed to go out of his way to be terribly prepared as that would then make for a more entertaining book. He'd then waffle for page after page about the scrapes his poor preparation would get him into, devoting far more to him and his self-inflicted travails than about the iron curtain and the countries he was riding through.
    Moore’s Gironimo is a bit in the same vein in the he deigns to make the escapade harder than a sensible person would. Most of his cycling jaunts start with him preparing badly, doing no training etc.

    I must go back and reread Allan Peiper’s book - A Peiper’s Tale, really good (he’s also good to listen to, I’ve heard him on podcasts).



  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,717
    Pross said:

    rick_chasey said:

    ddraver said:

    I'm fairly sure we discussed British Cycling Fanfics too...

    Chris walked into the room. Brad looked up from the massage table with tears in his eyes.
    "Why did you attack me Chris?" he said sadly.
    Chris beheld Brads shimmering muscles and felt awful. His eyes ran up over the smooth legs to the base of the physiotherapists towel. He'd give anything for that towel to slip a little further....

    etc 😶
    Did you write this? 🤨
    I have to admit I'm slightly worried by him!
    Ha ha, It's made me think about it a little more...

    It was actually more Schleck/Contador IIRC (no doubt known as "Schlecktador")

    Teens on the internet man 😧
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • shatema79
    shatema79 Posts: 6
    edited August 2021
    Great list of books, thank you very much for the recommendations. I am a university student and I read a lot of different literature. I also read academic literature, which helps me to do my homework. I am very much helped with various homework by a company https://assignmentbro.com/us/homework-writing-service that I have been working with for several years now. It employs people who have a degree or a lot of experience in writing.
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    Since Grand Tour season is almost over again and the Autumn classics loom, I'd recommend The Monuments by Peter Cossins. About 400 pages in paperback, so a decent read. Stats tables at the back for rhe geeky but only up to 2014/2015 unless it has been updated since. A chance to add your own addendum.
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,823
    Tim Moores new book is out.

    It's had some good reviews, he's doing the route of the Vuelta this time
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    edited August 2021
    takethehighroad said:

    Tim Moores new book is out.

    It's had some good reviews, he's doing the route of the Vuelta this time

    Let me guess, he did no training before going, picked the worst season to ride in, his bike has square wheels, he nearly dies in 15 easily preventable ways, and he gets chased by a bull?

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