Cycling Books

Most people will know David Byrne as the charismatic and even iconic gyrating oversize-suited frontman of pop music beat combo Talking Heads, but that particular image was a long time ago and he's so much more than that; composer, film-maker, photographer, artist and most relevantly here, keen bicycle rider and activist.

My heart sank and hit the cleats on my Sidis when I saw this. Here we go, a book full of “fashionable” types trying too hard in jeans two sizes too small and doing twicks on “fixies” claiming the genre as theirs. With spoke-cards. It's safe to assume that the words 'Fixed' and 'Culture' do not sit together easy with me. Never judge a book by its cover but judge a man by his preconceptions, as they may say.

Following the end of the season in which he made his high-profile return to the peloton – and perhaps not by coincidence published in the run-up to Christmas – Lance Armstrong has launched a new book, My Comeback – Up Close and Personal.

The 208-page hardback has been published under the name Comeback 2.0 in the United States – a reference to this being the second time the Texan cancer survivor has revived his career after his earlier return from illness second – the book promises a behind-the-scenes look at the cyclist’s year.

Anne Mustoe, who took up cycling at the age of 54 and rode around the world twice – once in each direction – recounting her travels on those and other trips in a series of books, has died in Syria aged 76 after being taken ill while on another circumnavigation by bike.

The former schoolteacher, who described herself as an “Improbable Cyclist,” recounted on her website that she was inspired to take up riding a bike during the 1980s during a holiday in India.

It’s that time of year when we start compiling wish-lists of what we’d like Santa to bring us this Christmas and perhaps leave them lying around some prominent spot in the house for our nearest and dearest to accidentally ‘find’.

And if you’re reading this, chances are that some of the items on that list will be cycling related. So it’s timely that our friends at Rouleur have released details of a print sale taking place next week, as well as the launch of its 2009 Photography Annual.

Fixed book spread 2

Fixed book

Fixed book spread 1

Rather than just concentrate on the palmares of Italy's greatest cycling hero, greatest sporting hero even, William Fotheringham's new book, Fallen Angel tackles Fausto Coppi's whole life, a life seemingly dogged by tragedy and conflict, from being born into a poor farming family to his premature death from malaria 40 years later to give a broad understanding of the man, the legend, and the myth.