Favourite cycling books?

[roadking]

Nick Crane.

"Cycling keeps you humble" is probably the single best piece of travelling advice I've ever read.

Agree with you re the Nick Crane selection: lot of respect for the guy.

Love the quote.

Rk.

P.S NC wrote a lovely book about a long walk:"Clear Waters Rising", a stunning tale from West to East across the mountain ranges of Europe.

 

[vivelesalpes]

Re: Nick Crane.

"Cycling keeps you humble" is probably the single best piece of travelling advice I've ever read.

Agree with you re the Nick Crane selection: lot of respect for the guy.

Love the quote.

Rk.

P.S NC wrote a lovely book about a long walk:"Clear Waters Rising", a stunning tale from West to East across the mountain ranges of Europe.

Yes, NC's got a great way of telling a story. I enjoyed Clear Waters Rising, plus he did one about (I can't remember the title) about walking due south from Northumberland to Poole which I enjoyed a lot.

 

[monty dog]

The Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell isn't very uplifting but helps put 'the modern era' in pro cycling in perspective and put's the fanboy stuff in perspective
Olympic Gangster by Matt Rendell is a great yarn - Joe Beyaert was 'nails' and today's hardmen are powder-puffs in comparison!
Slaying the Badger by Richard Moore recalls the Lemond vs Hinault duels of the 80s and combined with Fignon's book brings it all back.

 

[Johnsqual]

My favourite book is one called 'De Flandriens' which I picked up for
about 20 pee at used book shop near me.
It's my favourite because it has a picture of Eddy Merckx's arse in it, but also because it has some cool stories about how nasty the competitiveness between the Flemish and Dutch was.
In one case, a Dutch rider was riding for a Flemish team, and when one of the Flemish won the winner said 'he's not getting any of the prize money because he's a Hollander'. Next race, the Dutch guy brought a knife and slashed the Flemish guy's tyres at the start of the race.

 

[omegastrada]

It's those Crane brothers again - Nick and Richard's "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

Absolutely epic journey to the point on land farthest away from the sea in all directions, in the process crossing the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas, all on Raleigh 753 road bikes with no food and next to no equipment.

I cannot recommend this tale of adventure highly enough.

 

[Johnsqual]

Just finishing John Foot's Pedalare Pedalare. It is quite good, covering
some of the more obscure figures and incidents from Italian cycling history,
as well as the main characters like Coppi, Bartali, Moser and Pantani.

 

[Rich34]

Another book I have had for years is "Bicycle Mechanics" by Steve Snowling and Ken Evans. Steve Snowling was the team mechanic in the '87 ANC Halfords team as mentioned in "Wide-Eyed and Legless". It's a nice book as it covers a lot of basic mechical stuff and has some handy tips from a respected expert. It's all relevant to bikes and kit from a few years ago. Some nice photos too, and a couple of good anecdotes.

 

[pigman]

cant for the life of me remember the name, but its about 2 guys crossing russia on recumbents. Very good read with lots of focus on the adventure, people they meet and their own personalities.
find the real life adventure stuff far more interesting than the racing stuff.

 

[roadking]

Mentioned the Snowling book previously on RetroBike, and Wide Eyed and Legless in this thread...Steve Snowling and Steve Smith (Smith was Snowling's assistant in 1987) built my SBDU Raleigh in 1986/87; finished just before the '87 TdF.

Steve Snowling could often be seen (BITD) at Dauphin Sport in Surrey.

Have just bought Fignon's book, it has been remaindered (guess you'll find it in may of those bargain bookshops), I paid just £2.99 for it.

Roadking.

 

[bm0p700f]

I have enjoyed this;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bicycling-Scien ... 0262731541

If you like Physics and bikes then this book combines the two - heaven for me.