Good cycling books

neris

Im looking to pick up afew books for holidays and wonder if anyone can recomend a good book or 2 on cycling.

Captain Havoc

We were young and carefree, Laurent Fignons autobiography.

Super Freak

Lance Armstrong...."It's not about the Drugs Bike"

TheFredJ

A snapshot of my bookshelf (sorry for the blatant cross promotion)

Hermy

Just recently read We Were Young and Carefree - it's a great read.
Also just finished The Death of Marco Pantani - a tragic tale but well worth the read.
And if you haven't already read it Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage is a must.

ednwireland

put me back on my bike : in search of tom simpson

CompositeJohn

Currently in the middle of Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi by William Fotheringham. Good read so far.

Just from the shelf beside me all of which a great reads:

We were young and carefree - Laurent Fignon
Put me back on my bike : In search of Tom Simpson - William Fotheringham
In search of Robert Millar - Richard Moore
Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage
Bad Blood - Jeremy Whittle
Its not about the bike & Every second counts - Sally Jenkins
Its all about the bike - Robert Penn

I have to say I didn't enjoy reading the death of Marco Pantani, found it hard going and put it down, but must finish it one of these days!!

Another great book although no cycling related is An Unsung Hero - Tom Crean Antarctic Survivor by Michael Smith great read about an great Irishman

2 Wheels Good

The Death of Marco Pantani, but maybe not for hols, great book just hard to read, still
struggling to finish it!
Just finishing The Man who cycled the World
Just starting The Man who cycled the Americas
As above
Bad Blood - Jeremy Whittle
Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage

Would suggest Bounce: How Champions are Made by Matthew Syed
as well, interesting take on how sports stars evolve.

furiousox

Breaking The Chain by Willy Voet
From Lance To Landis by David Walsh
Boy Racer by Mark Cavendish
Lance Armstrong:Tour De Force by Daniel Coyle
On Tour by Bradley Wiggins
Slaying The Badger by Richard Moore
Sky's The Limit by Richard Moore
Racing Through The Dark by David Millar
Bad Blood by Jeremy Whittle

Hermy

CompositeJohn wrote: »

I have to say I didn't enjoy reading the death of Marco Pantani, found it hard going and put it down, but must finish it one of these days!!

It could never be described as an enjoyable read but it is a great depiction of Marco's tragic life and death.

I didn't finish Put Me Back On My Bike. A similarly tragic affair but I felt there was a bit too much of the rose tinted glasses from the author for my liking.

Lemag

'Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape' - biography of Jaques Anquetil by Paul Howard.

Cummybaby

Wanted to know if there is a cycling book out there which might appeal to someone who isn't well versed in cycling. For instance I watched the documentary "Senna" last week and was absolutely blown away by it even though I know very little about F1 racing.

Hermy

French Revolutions by Tim Moore might suit you - a slightly irreverent look at the Tour de France.:D

ColSheehan

I finished reading Boy Racer by Mark Cavendish not so long ago, thought it was a good book tbh. I would recommend The Death of Marco Pantani, loved reading it. Currently reading Put Me Back On My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson, it's a nice book as well

happytramp

I've only read one cycling book, it's called 'the rider' by Tim Krasse. Bought it earlier today and finished it this evening. Read it in one sitting (four and a half hours) the length of time it takes the amateur rider to ride the 137km race that the book describes kilometer by kilometer. A beautiful account of a mountain race in 1977.

hinault

Escape artist by Matt Seaton.

In fact any cycling book by Seaton is very good.

And I agree with poster who suggested French Revolutions.

Fignon's book is excellent too

triggermortis

The Masked Rider - not so much about cycling, more of a travelogue written by the drummer from the Canadian band Rush about a cycling tour in Africa

Bunnyhopper

Rough Ride and Put Me Back On My Bike are both very good, and I'd also second Tim Krabbé's The Rider - if you're ok with fiction.

mc2000

The flying Scotsman, graham obree's bio is excellent; the death of Marco pantani and rough ride are very good also. Obree's book is gripping, there's a real human story to it beyond just being a series of race accounts, and shows how he grappled with his depression in his life.

LCD

Lance Armstrong:Tour De Force by Daniel Coyle - Excellent book, probably the best cycling book I have ever read. Great insight to pro cycling & he is definitely not a Lance fanboy.
Escape Artist by Matt Seaton is a bit depressing. I finished it & couldn't understand why the guy cycled, he seemed to hate the sport & what it did to his lief.
French Revolutions by Tim Moore is very funny, only man to ever put on weight while cycling the Tour route.
The Hour by Micheal Hutchinson is also good.
Anything by Richard Moore will be enjoyable
The Rider by Tim Krebel, you`ll finish it on the plane. Is one of those books that only a cyclist will like & even they will be at a loss to explain why they liked it!

ednwireland

CompositeJohn wrote: »

Another great book although no cycling related is An Unsung Hero - Tom Crean Antarctic Survivor by Michael Smith great read about an great Irishman

+1 brilliant book

trying to read shackletons diaries at the moment god they are dull

jiffybag

A Piepers Tale , by Alan Pieper . Some great stories form the 80's but also a harsh insight to the life of a pro cyclist .

Cetyl Palmitate

Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy.

It's a diary of her journey from Dublin to Delhi on a bike some time in the 60's.

Some great insights into certain countries/cultures like Pakistan and Afghanistan that you wouldn't normally hear.

petethedrummer

If you're not into cycling as a sport:
Cycling Home from Siberia - Rob Lilwall .....Enjoyable read even if he does harp on about Jesus a bit.
The Man who cycled the world - Mark Beaumont ...good read so far about 1/4 of the way through.

tomasrojo

I've always meant to read "The Wheels of Chance" by H.G. Wells.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheels_of_Chance

dermiek

Haven't read it, but "Olympic Gangster" by Matt Rendell is supposed to be good.

iverjohnston

Try getting a hold of " A dog in a hat" by joe parkin.
I really enjoyed it.
Nigel in Cavan

wayne0308

I read 'The Lost Cyclist' a few months ago. Very interesting story about a young cyclist who attempts to cycle around the world on a safety bicycle, only a few years after it was introduced and a few years after Thomas Stevens did it.

You really get a sense of adventure reading it. He purposefully took a very difficult and dangerous route and later disappeared without much of a trace. The story then documents the attempts by two other cyclists to find the missing man. It's a very good story and well told I thought.

ROK ON

A Dog in a Hat. A fantastic story about a young Americans life of racing in Belgium. Best part is when he describes how in kermesse racing he met people who took drugs in order to race and people who raced in order to take drugs.

bmcgill

Read a book called 'A Race for Madmen - The extraordinary history of the Tour De France' by Chris Sidwells a while ago.. Really good book.. well worth a read even if you're not in to cycling.

dayshah

I just read Bike Snob, and I found it very funny and interesting.

Its about cycling subcultures, such as messengers, people using track bikes with no breaks and so on.

(In a odd way it reminds me of David McWilliams though with the use of stereotyping)

aquanaut

Any books that are non-pro related? Sportives, tips, training but story based? Looking for a nice read like the 'my first sportif' stories or the story in this months cycling plus about the lake district. Also training but light hearted (so not Joe Friel) holiday reading - maybe a few diferent books. A bit of history, trends, culture thrown in - hope this isnt vaigue!

trad

I can't believe no one has mentioned "The Rás" by Jim Traynor

setanta159

French Revolutions is fantastic. Had it as an audio book and listened to it on the road (low volume). Was very funny, interesting and absolutely engrossing. On the other hand I found Escape Artist to be one of the most depressing books on any subject I have read in years. The writer (Seaton) comes across as a self absorbed, self pitying turd.
David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries is quite good too but not overly heavy on the cycling angle.

Hermy

setanta159 wrote: »

French Revolutions is fantastic. Had it as an audio book...

Who was the narrator?

setanta159

Hermy wrote: »

Who was the narrator?

The narrator was Jeremy Hardy, book written by Tim Moore.

Hermy

Ah, just wondered if it was Tim himself who read it. I've read the book several times but I'd like to have heard the man himself read it.

kincsem

As mentioned above,
French Revolutions by Tim Moore *****
A Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage *****
Tomorrow We Ride by Jean Bobet ****
We Were Young and Carefree by Laurent Fignon ****
The Tour Is Won On The Alpe by Jean-Paul Vespini *****

aquanaut

Ordered 3 books for the holidays: Lance Armstrong - Tour De Force, French Revolutions and It's All About the Bike. I'm sure the wife will say on day 1 "I don't want to hear about bikes".

neris

Thanks for the recomendations have ordered a small library.

Rough Ride
Put me back on my bike
Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Copp
Bad Blood: The Secret Life of the Tour de France
Boy racer
We were young and carefree

Signal_ rabbit

ednwireland wrote: »

+1 brilliant book

+2

What a man!

Signal_ rabbit

Have to say The flying Scotsman is a great read and better than the film.

Cav's biography was surprisingly good as was Brad Wiggins' In Pursuit of Glory.

Matt Seatons' Escape Artist I thought was Superb.

Have Just ordered Ned Boultings' new book; How I Won the Yellow Jumper.

Pat Kavanagh

happytramp wrote: »

I've only read one cycling book, it's called 'the rider' by Tim Krasse. Bought it earlier today and finished it this evening. Read it in one sitting (four and a half hours) the length of time it takes the amateur rider to ride the 137km race that the book describes kilometer by kilometer. A beautiful account of a mountain race in 1977.

That should be Tim Krabbe. And, it's a work of fiction. And, it's a translation and parts aren't translated that well.
However, it's a real classic and I highly recommend it too.

AstraMonti

Does anyone have any good book to suggest for nutrition? If it has recipes and weekly "menus" even better.

paulieb2006

Just finished David Millar's book "Racing Through the Dark, The Rise and Fall of David Millar"
Best book I have ever read, which is saying something as I have read most of the good ones out there,
10/10

TheBlaaMan

...anyone have any info about this - Shay Elliott: The Life and Death of Ireland's First Yellow Jersey? I would have thought it would have been mentioned here before..........maybe I missed some reference to it but I saw a mention of in on Twitter.

Due to be published later this week it would appear

Hermy

paulieb2006 wrote: »

Just finished David Millar's book "Racing Through the Dark, The Rise and Fall of David Millar"
Best book I have ever read, which is saying something as I have read most of the good ones out there,
10/10

I can't stand Millar so I'm curious as to why you liked this book so much?

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

...anyone have any info about this - Shay Elliott: The Life and Death of Ireland's First Yellow Jersey? I would have thought it would have been mentioned here before..........maybe I missed some reference to it but I saw a mention of in on Twitter.

Due to be published later this week it would appear

Hadn't heard about it - thanks for mentioning it.

Malari

paulieb2006 wrote: »

Just finished David Millar's book "Racing Through the Dark, The Rise and Fall of David Millar"
Best book I have ever read, which is saying something as I have read most of the good ones out there,
10/10

That's good! Going to pick up this book soon and looking forward to reading it.

DirkVoodoo

paulieb2006 wrote: »

Just finished David Millar's book "Racing Through the Dark, The Rise and Fall of David Millar"
Best book I have ever read, which is saying something as I have read most of the good ones out there,
10/10

Just started reading it too, good to know. Millar is a legend!

Hermy

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Just started reading it too, good to know. Millar is a legend!

Do you not think he's an awful hypocrite Dirk?

DirkVoodoo

Hermy wrote: »

Do you not think he's an awful hypocrite Dirk?

Nope. He made a mistake, he was honest about it and he is a reformed character. Better than the guys who deny everything in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Everyone deserves a second chance, he is making the most of his. I admire him for that.