Book recommendations

LDB

Looking for some recommendations on good cycling books
The ones I have currently (that I can remember at the mo)...

The death of Marco Pantani
Lance Armstrong – It’s not about the bike and some other one of his
Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage
Bad blood

Not a lot as you can see, I’m in need of more!

Signal_ rabbit

The flying Scotsman by Graham Obree, Soooo much better than the film!

Ghost Rider

"The Rider" by Tim Krabbé. It's a novel, basically detailing one man's thoughts as he competes in a single-day bike race.

It's pretty short, and best read in one sitting, I reckon.

DirkVoodoo

French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France by Tim Moore.

Very funny book. Kind of like Bryson but on two wheels.

rottenhat

The Rider - Eric Krabbe. Absolutely brilliant novel - a one day race from the perspective of one of the riders, really captures the deeply inward-looking consciousness that overtakes you when you're working hard on the bike.

Tour de France and Inside The Peloton by Graeme Fife are both very enjoyable and full of good anecdotes about the professional riders of the past.

The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton is good memoir of a life spent increasingly devoted to amateur racing until children and his wife's cancer force a reevaluation of priorities.

I have a friend who is mad for Dearbhla Murphy's travel books, some (all?) of which involve long journeys across some pretty hairy countries by bike but I haven't read any of them myself.

LDB

cool, this will keep me in books for a while!

stuf

In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore is a good read - gives a bit of insight into the old drugs/new drugs thing as well as a good bit of peleton politics - tails off a bit at the end but I suppose when you write a biography of a mystery man then....

zzzzzzzz

Ghost Rider wrote: »

"The Rider" by Tim Krabbé. It's a novel, basically detailing one man's thoughts as he competes in a single-day bike race.

It's pretty short, and best read in one sitting, I reckon.

+1 - great book

decrrrrrr

Some of the above plus

(1) Riding Through the Storm: My Fight Back to Fitness on the Tour de France
Former footballer, leukemia survivor, who rides every stage in the Tour. Contains chapters on soccer and illness as well

(2) Lance Armstrong's War

(3) We might as well win

You need to be a Lance fan for books (2) + (3).

SomeFool

Lance Armstrong: tour de force by Dan Coyle
+1 for the Robert Miller book too

TinyExplosions

LDB wrote: »

cool, this will keep me in books for a while!

I have a few of the listed ones, don't buy 'em, come round and borrow them from me!

dubmess

Breaking the Chain: Willy Voet's(soigneur for Festina I believe) expose on the scale of doping in modern cycling

French Revolutions is sooooooo good, a great read

Dog in a hat.: Incredibly entertaining read about one American's journey to ply his trade among th e Belgians in the 80's.

ROK ON

stuf wrote: »

In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore is a good read - gives a bit of insight into the old drugs/new drugs thing as well as a good bit of peleton politics - tails off a bit at the end but I suppose when you write a biography of a mystery man then....

A great read, but strange. Like the Kimmage book, shows just how damn hard the life of a pro cyclist is.

john77

David Walsh's biography of Sean Kelly, if you can get your hands on it, is a great read.

Recently finished Daniel Coyle's Tour De Force about Armstrong which i thought was a very good read even though i wouldn't be a fan of Armstrong.

+1 for Krabbe's The Rider as well

Chips Lovell

Yes, Krabbe's "The Rider" is probably the best cycling book around.

David Walsh's "From Lance to Landis" is excellent as well. I enjoyed Wily Voet's book more than I thought I would.

trek climber

el tonto wrote: »

Yes, Krabbe's "The Rider" is probably the best cycling book around.

+1 - brilliant read

LDB

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I have a few of the listed ones, don't buy 'em, come round and borrow them from me!

Great, thanks.
I can do a swap with you if you haven't read any of the ones I have.

TinyExplosions

LDB wrote: »

Great, thanks.
I can do a swap with you if you haven't read any of the ones I have.

Grand job, hit me up with a PM, or give me a call (Raam has my number if you don't), and we can sort something out

boomdocker

+1

a dog in a hat - just finished it, excellent read

Raam

boomdocker wrote: »

+1

a dog in a hat - just finished it, excellent read

I've been wanting to read that one for a while now.

Chips Lovell

Raam

Good ol' Floyd

rottenhat

Did any of you read William Fotheringham's book about Tom Simpson - Put Me Back On My Bike?

Caroline_ie

... 'If I did - Confessions of a doper' by Lance Armstrong ...

Oh no sorry ... that was the OJ simpson book .. got the books covers confused again ...

TinyExplosions

rottenhat wrote: »

Did any of you read William Fotheringham's book about Tom Simpson - Put Me Back On My Bike?

Yes, and very good it is too

dcRoadie

hello,

here's one: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour de France. Matt Rendall (he of Marco Pantani Book) wrote it and it is excellent. One of those books you can dip in and out of without having to read end to end. Highly recommended!

LDB

dcRoadie wrote: »

hello,

here's one: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour de France. Matt Rendall (he of Marco Pantani Book) wrote it and it is excellent. One of those books you can dip in and out of without having to read end to end. Highly recommended!

I found Mark Rendall's writing interesting but incredibly over detailed. Maybe it was just the style of the Pantani book though.

dcRoadie

yeah, I found that with the Pantani book also...however the TDF book is different, witty, intelligently written, avoids huge detail yet gives a great insight into the racers who undertook it from year dot.

Funkyzeit

I'm just finished In search of Robert Millar so can loan it to boardies if needed. Pm me if you want it....

E@gle.

just started significant other, by matt rendal. its about the a domsitique on the postal squad during the 2003 tour, seems a good read so far.

Pinarello

A Peiper's Tale. The life and times of Alan Peiper as a pro cyclist.You'll love it...;)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peipers-Tale-Sean-Yates/dp/1874739390

LDB

dcRoadie wrote: »

yeah, I found that with the Pantani book also...however the TDF book is different, witty, intelligently written, avoids huge detail yet gives a great insight into the racers who undertook it from year dot.

Good to know. thanks.

RobFowl

LDB wrote: »

I found Mark Rendall's writing interesting but incredibly over detailed. Maybe it was just the style of the Pantani book though.

Found that as well, got a bit overloaded with technical details and blood results.

Put me back on my bike , William Fotheringham is a good read
The Ras book is interesting as well , one to dip in and out of though
(thats not the new Jim Traynor one haven't read that yet)
Team on the Run: The Inside Story of the Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team by John Deering is a good one as well

E@gle.

RobFowl wrote: »

Found that as well, got a bit overloaded with technical details and blood results.

Thought the first few chapters very good about his early racing life. found the blood doping bit too technical.

Hermy

rottenhat wrote: »

Did any of you read William Fotheringham's book about Tom Simpson - Put Me Back On My Bike?

I didn't like this book and didn't finish it.
Simpson was a cheat like any other and yet Fotheringham treats him as some kind of hero. Maybe I'm missing something...

As already mentioned, French Revolutions is a fantastic hilarious read.

I haven't read Bad Blood yet - what do ye think of it?

RobFowl

Hermy wrote: »

I didn't like this book and didn't finish it.
Simpson was a cheat like any other and yet Fotheringham treats him as some kind of hero. Maybe I'm missing something...

Simpson was in a different position as doping was only made illegal in 1965. All though his career there was a doping culture which was at the time legal. There was a degree of naivety then in terms of side effects and risks to health.
Watching the pictures of him dying on the slopes on the Ventoux in 1967 were and are harrowing.
Maybe I'm to sentimental but to see some one pay such a high price I find it hard to dismiss him simply as another cheat.

Hermy

Certainly times were different back then Rob and I don't want to appear totally heartless.
The images of Simpsons collapse on Ventoux are truly horrific.
But rather than celebrate a man who has become so infamous because of his cruel demise, maybe his death should have been the turning point for the sport.
Instead cycling continues to flounder from one scandal to another.:(

RobFowl

Ironically the 1967 tour was heralded as the rebirth of the tour after amphetamine scandals. It was the first one with properly organized anti doping tests.

zzzzzzzz

I'm reading this at the moment and would definitely reccommend it:

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=93285

rottenhat

Dragging this one up from the dead - does anyone have an opinion on Sex, Lies & Handlebar Tape: the Remarkable Life of Jacques Anquetil?

And on the subject of great pros of the past, William Fotheringham has a book coming out in June or so about Fausto Coppi.

jimshady101

Read a book called "Breaking the Chain". It's written by Willy Voet who was the team soigneur for the Festina team in 1998. It's all about substance abuse in cycling. It's an excellent book!

Raam

I just finished the Willy Voet book. Very interesting, if very short. I'm about to start "From Lance to Landis".

El Tarangu

If anyone is still reading this thread...

Not road racing books per se but "Richard's Bicycle Book" and "City Cycling" by Richard Ballatine. "Richard's Bicycle Book" in particular is great for anyone who is just getting into cycling: you can tell that the author lives and breathes bicycles

ckeego

Sex, Lies and Handlebar tape about Jacques Anquetil a 5 time TdF winner is very good.

For those LA fans out there, read "Bad Blood" and from "Lance to Landis"...Very eye opening.

Just ordered "Tomorrow we ride" and also "Fallen Angel" about Fausto Coppi..Anyone else already read these?

The Tom Simpson book "Put me back on my bike" is just such a sad book, but gives a insight of the pure savagery of the Tour de France in a different era to what it is now.

Next to read in the pile beside the bed (be careful on Amazon, you can really run away with yourself!!) are the Chris Hoy book, Heroes and velodromes and a book called Olympic gangster about Jose Beyaert.

Don't just stick to bike books though..Reading a fascinating book about long distance ultra running called Born to Run by Christopher Mc Dougall at the moment..a really great story.

I was very disappointed in Cav's book, "Boy Racer" although I hear he gave a fascinating interview to Paul Kimmage in the Sunday times recently...Anyone got a link to it?

Most of the LA books are very similiar variances on a theme, but like him or loathe him, his own 2 books as well as his recent photo book are great reads.

Too much reading there...time to get back on the asphalt!!:D

Ant

rottenhat wrote: »

The Escape Artist by Matt Seaton is good memoir of a life spent increasingly devoted to amateur racing until children and his wife's cancer force a reevaluation of priorities.

I just finished reading this book myself and would recommend it. It's easy to read, not very long and gives a great insight into how the author became addicted to the thrills, suffering, joy and freedom of cycling and how he rose to the top level amateur racer category. His language is very down to earth and he writes with passion and honesty in describing the difficulties in balancing his personal and family life with the demands of competitive racing. It's also quite a moving book as the ending is not a happy one.

Interestingly, the author reckons that cycling was a much more respected sport in the land of Kelly, Roche (and Kimmage) than it was in England.

calerbass

Hi, I have all the books previously mentioned here, but one book you should get is -- Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi, a brilliant read of how Coppi reached the top and how he lost it all again, william fotheringham wrote it.

Ri na hEireann

Sorry for the bump... I've just gotten into cycling in the past year or so (more so as a spectator) and I was just wondering has there been any books published this year or last worth buying? Just finished "A Race For Madmen" by Chris Sidwells. Thought it was a bit light on doping and given he only gets on to talking about Armstrong in any detail 270 odd pages in I was wondering is there any better (and more recent) overview of the Tour and the doping endemic in the sport?

padjo5

Ri na hEireann wrote: »

Sorry for the bump... I've just gotten into cycling in the past year or so (more so as a spectator) and I was just wondering has there been any books published this year or last worth buying? Just finished "A Race For Madmen" by Chris Sidwells. Thought it was a bit light on doping and given he only gets on to talking about Armstrong in any detail 270 odd pages in I was wondering is there any better (and more recent) overview of the Tour and the doping endemic in the sport?

Not sure when published but Paul Kimmage's 'Rough Ride' talks plenty about the latter! Good read too.

Qualitymark

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy http://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Tilt-Ireland-India-Bicycle/dp/1906011419/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345702437&sr=1-1

From the back cover
Shortly after her tenth birthday, Dervla Murphy decided to cycle to India. Almost twenty years later she set out to achieve her ambition, pedalling her trusty bicycle, Roz.

Her epic journey began during the coldest winter in living memory, and took her through Europe, Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, over the Himalayas to Pakistan and into India. A woman travelling alone in these countries was an unusual focus of interest and, even when the weather improved, there were enough difficulties and dangers to satisfy the most dedicated traveller. But although, in a world of vanishing tracks and political chaos, the solitary cyclist was grateful for the revolver in her saddle bag, her journey was enriched by acts of unexpected kindness.

furiousox

Ri na hEireann wrote: »

...I was wondering is there any better (and more recent) overview of the Tour and the doping endemic in the sport?

'From Lance to Landis' & 'Bad Blood'

Seaswimmer

http://www.cyclesportmag.com/features/the-greatest-50-cycling-books-of-all-time/

all you need here...


I have number 3 on the list. Kings of the Road. Published about 1987. There is a section on every race and then a section on every rider of the day. Its interesting to see what what written about Roche and others before they went on to win grand tours and big races..And there are some fantastic pictures...