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Good Cycling Books?

Wolfman

Speeding Up
Jul 31, 2007
631
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With the recent passing of Laurent Fignon, I wanted to know more about the man so bought his autobiography, We were Young and Carefree, published in 2010 by Yellow Jersey Press: London.

I'm now three quarters of the way through and have found it a really interesting and enjoyable book. He was a man of very strong character and conviction; his life and career, while initially easy encountered various challenges that he rose to and sought to overcome, related both to injuries, and team management. The sense of discipline and dedication is very strong, yet, in a way, you get the feeling that there was a sense of destiny and many more significant events shaping his life, over which he had no real control. If it weren't for these, he could have won the tour, three, four maybe more times. Perhaps this is just his confidence, but you can feel the power coming through. The translation by William Fotheringham is very nice, and the frankness and apparent genuineness of the man really comes through in short, concise and direct sentences. It is certainly one of the better cycling related books I've read for a long time. It was a great loss.

Of course, this has now whetted my appetite to read more so does anyone else have any good cycling related books that they would like to recommend?
 
Lance Armstrong's War, by Daniel Coyle.

With the recent passing of Laurent Fignon, I wanted to know more about the man so bought his autobiography, We were Young and Carefree, published in 2010 by Yellow Jersey Press: London.

I'm now three quarters of the way through and have found it a really interesting and enjoyable book. He was a man of very strong character and conviction; his life and career, while initially easy encountered various challenges that he rose to and sought to overcome, related both to injuries, and team management. The sense of discipline and dedication is very strong, yet, in a way, you get the feeling that there was a sense of destiny and many more significant events shaping his life, over which he had no real control. If it weren't for these, he could have won the tour, three, four maybe more times. Perhaps this is just his confidence, but you can feel the power coming through. The translation by William Fotheringham is very nice, and the frankness and apparent genuineness of the man really comes through in short, concise and direct sentences. It is certainly one of the better cycling related books I've read for a long time. It was a great loss.

Of course, this has now whetted my appetite to read more so does anyone else have any good cycling related books that they would like to recommend?

A very good thread to start up Lee. Not sure if you're an Armstrong fan or not, but I found this book to be an honest account of the real Lance. There are chapters on Floyd, Tyler, Ulrich and Vino, and even Dr. Evil himself, Ferarri. It's all written leading up to the 2004 Tour and then follows the race. I've read it twice since getting it in July this year!
 
Agnostic Cycling by Edizioni Landoni. This was our 'Bible' in the 80's and it far surpassed anything at the time - and much holds true today. Unfortunately my copy is in the U.S. packed away for 20yrs - and I've never found one here in Japan or on Amazon... Maybe Simon can snag some. If you are truly serious about training in the Italian methods - this is the book for you.
 
Sure you know it already, but it has to be mentioned: The Rider by Tim Krabbe is usually near the top of most people's lists.

A Dog in a Hat is an interesting insider's look into the pro scene in Belgium, written by an American rider who spent a few years there.

Flying Scotsman by Graham Obree is pretty fascinating and brutally honest.

Tomorrow, We Ride, by Jean Bobet, about his more famous brother Louison and the road racing in the 50s. Really like this book, has a lovely tone and a bittersweet ending.
 
Sure you know it already, but it has to be mentioned: The Rider by Tim Krabbe is usually near the top of most people's lists. A Dog in a Hat is an interesting insider's look into the pro scene in Belgium, written by an American rider who spent a few years there.

I totaly concur. Just had them delivered yesterday. :)
 
- From Lance to Landis - by David Walsh. About doping in the peloton (especially the US team) and Mr. Pharmstrong comes out in a very poor light. Some of the stuff in this book is very much in the news now with the federal investigation going on.
- Rough Ride - Paul Kimmage, an ex-pro who writes about life as a rider, including the doping. The riders hate him for it but he has become an excellent writer on a variety of sports. This book is a must read.
- The Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell.
- Breaking the Chain - by Willy Voet, the soigneur whose arrest started the Festina affair. He comes clean and explains many of the ways riders have cheated the doping controls.

I never read books by the riders themselves as I do not believe a word of what they write. I made the mistake of reading Floyd Landis' book in which he protests his innocence nd yet look at what he is saying now.
 
2010 Rouleur Le Métier, by Michael Barry and Camille McMillan
Boy Racer by Mark Cavendish

Both are on way after being highly recommended by others.
 
In search of Robert Millar
http://www.amazon.com/Search-Robert...r_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285677917&sr=8-2

Great read about the Morrissey of cycling. Lots of great anecdotes about training with ankle weights, bunking off work etc

The escape artist
http://www.amazon.com/Escape-Artist...r_1_4?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285678071&sr=8-4

Most of us can probably relate to this: balancing work, relationships, family and cycling.

heroes, villains and velodromes
http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Villai...r_1_4?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285678433&sr=8-4

Another book by R Moore so well written. I didn't think it was as interesting as the Millar book but the stuff on Keirin in Japan was worth reading the book for me.



Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
I quite enjoyed French Revolutions by Tim Moore. The story of a guy (non biker) who decides to cycle the whole of the Tour de France route. Well written and amusing.
 
The Eagle of the Canavese: Franco Balmamion and the Giro d'Italia (by Herbie Sykes).
Another book I really enjoyed. Ever heard of Balmamion? I hadn't. He won the Giro 2 years running but somehow he is barely known.

Also, just to back up a previous recommendation, The Escape Artist is an excellent book.
 
Not a book, but this podcast has an interesting bit in the middle about Race Across America and other more general commentary about how cyclists and other athletes can really push themselves past limits that 'normal' people are shocked at.

http://www.radiolab.org/2010/apr/05/
 
Thanks for all the recommendations - there's lots more that can be added to the bookshelves and I'm now updating my wishlists.

I must admit that recently there's been one book I've bought but not completed. This book, which at the time it was really praised by the Fredcast, was We Might as Well Win, by Johan Bruyneel. Well, I had great expectations for this given how the Fredcast chap had jumped on it, but overall found it rather boring and uninsightful. I reckon he wanted to expand his market share by broadening its relevance to management types through adding bits of management speak or key lessons, and explaining a lot of very basic things. I found this rather irritating and the book just sat there unread for some time - it's now back on the shelf.

Kori - podcasts are also good.
 
"The Real Peloton" is the funiest and insightful podcasts out there.
 
The Hour by Michael Hutchinson (aka Cycling Weekly magazines Dr Hutch) is a very entertaining read about one man's bid to take on the hour record with no real backing.

I also liked Joe Parkins two books, "A Dog in a Hat" and "Come and Gone" both warts and all accounts of the two phases of his career.
 
Thanks to everyone offering their insights on the good reads out there.

Ended up ordering A Dog in a Hat and The Rider.

A Dog in a Hat was nice in the sense that it was written by a "domestique", a regular rider's perspective as it were( even though being an American pro in Belgium at that time was far from regular). Revelations of the drugs didn't have much shock value, nor did I expect it to. Was anyone really surprised as far as that goes?

The Rider obviously has a more distinct style of writing, the only problem being it reads too quickly!:bike:
 
Three Suggestions

1. Robert Penn wrote Its All About the Bike about getting his custom bike made and then traveling the world to buy the parts for it, going to among others Campagnolo, Cinelli, Brooks and throws in much discussion of the history of bikes and our love of the two wheeled wonders.

You tube him for 6 10 min segments he did for BBC. These were great.

2. There is another book called The Rider by Tim Krabbe. From Amazon: An utterly engrossing book, "The Rider" by Tim Krabbé is a first-person account of a competitor in a French amateur cycling race. Kilometer by kilometer.

3. On the Postal Bus was kind of an interesting insiders account of the behind the scene life on the Postal Team. Not the best written book ever, but a fun read.
 
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