Great Cycling books

The Bicycle Book by Bella Bathurst (how much alliteration!?) is great, covering just about everything to do with bikes and culture in a really well-written and accessible way. It's got a touching chapter on Obree too.

The Enlightened Cyclist by Bike Snob NYC is really good too, absolutely hilarious.

The Man Who Cycled the World by Mark Beaumont isn't exactly Dickens, but it's a compelling story nonetheless.

We were young and carefree by Laurent Fignon - typically principled and indignant Frenchman. His descriptions of what it feels like to ride a bike when you're THAT good are fascinating.

"Round the world on a wheel" by John Foster Fraser

An epic account of 3 chaps circumnavigating the globe in the last years of the Nineteenth Century - when one seemingly needs by the way of kit is a change of underwear and a trusty revolver

May be found online at:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924023252707
but the book deserves buying

The updated (2013) edition of Geoffrey Wheatcroft's excellent 'Le Tour' is currently being sold in The Works for £2.99.

The Death of Marco Pantani - nothing i can say on here can describe the emotions of reading such a book. Highs, lows and everything in between.

He was a hero of mine when i was younger and despite the drugs he always will be.

Even if you didn't like him its a must read.

Ive Been listening to On the Road Bike by Ned Boulting, I prefer Audiobooks as I can listen when im in the shed...Even better as Ned is narrating the book also

Also just started reading the Anthology Vol 1....so far its pretty good, but the first chapter about Wiggo is really just a rehash of Wiggos book, "my time" ..also a favorite of mine

I'm mid way through "Boy Racer" - Cavs first book - have to say it's actually one of the best biographical reads I've gone through to date!

Might just be because it's from a Manx perspective (reading it in an accent & knowing the people mentioned in it probably helps?) but it's highly entertaining, quite fast paced and the fact that he wrote it when he was still very young makes it quite fresh and enthusiastic.

Good read. I'd say I'm enjoying it much more than the Merckx book!

A Race for Madmen by Chris Sidwell is a brilliant history of the tour. Good for those like me who maybe dont know that much about past greats and famous stories!

+1 for 'Consumed' by Jonathan Budds.
I loved it and am now trying to find some more cycle-related fiction.

[[[ Yes---"One More Kilometre And We're In The Showers", by Tim Hilton. I couldn't stop pedalling it..oops..reading it. Next best thing to being awheel.
P.R.

Here are a couple or three stunning crackers:

Dancing Uphill: The Cycling adventures of Charles Holland, the first English rider in the Tour De France by Frances Holland and Nina Holland -

The story of the first English guy - EVER - to tackle the TdF - No backup, no mates, no manager, no support crew, no sponsorship, no drugs and not able to speak the language. What a guy! What a real hero! He shudda been knighted!

Your heart bleeds for what he did and what he did should never be forgotten. I loved this book and what it said about a gentle man who was a giant in his sport. And he was still turning the pedals and clocking fast times well into his 60s!! If you love cycling and Boy's Own adventure stories, this is the book for you. Buy it and enjoy!! 10 out 10!

One More Kilometre and We're in the Showers by Tim Hilton - just a lovely read, written by someone who treasures riding a bike as much as we all do.

Cycling's Greatest Misadventures by Erich Schweikher - "... a book of cycling stories with a difference then this is it - from the downright funny to the thought provoking, this has it all. A must read for cyclists of all abilities." (Edwyn McCann)

" ... funny, tragic and inspirational accounts of cycling ventures. Stories that will stay with you and make you appreciate your bike even more - highly recommend it." (Sprint)

Give 'em a bash - they are well worth your time!

I thought people on this thread might be interested in this offer: http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?...

3 William Fotheringham books - Merkx Half Man Half Bike, Fallen Angel & Roule Britannia for £6.99. The same site also has the Le Tour 100 book at a reduced price.

Slaying the Badger - great read
Got for my 'jollies' -
Marco Pantani (the death of)
The Secret Race
Also thinking of getting 'Inside the Peleton'

+1 Tim Krabbe - The Rider
+1 William Fotheringham - 'Fallen Angel' [Coppi] / 'Put Me Back On The Bike' [Tom Simpson]

+1 Anne Mustoe - A Bike Ride: One of the best (series of) cycle touring books I've read.

As Simon E says, she quit her job as a headmistress as a posh girls school after seeing a guy cycling whilst on holiday in Rajastan, India and thought 'I want to do that', despite not having ridden a bike for over 30 years.

She spent 18 months following various historic paths (Roman roads, the campaigns of Alexander the Great, the Silk Road route, pioneers crossing the US to the west coast) and she writes with incredible depth and passion. She continued to cycle and write until her death 18 years later in Syria.

Ones on the reading list:

Charles Wegelius - Domestique
Rob Hayles - Easy Rider
Ned Boulting - How I Won The Yellow Jumper

Bit of a leftfield one here in that it's not racing, it's touring.

Moods of Future Joys and the sequel, Thunder and Sunshine.

It's the story of Alistair Humphreys 5 year round-the-world ride. Funny, moving, fascinating and never involving doping or lies like most of the road racing books seem to!

Yeah, it's fucked isn't it? The greatest of all time, happy to promote cheating - when he vocally railed against it during his career.

You wonder how Roche's thoughts on doping square with his Dad, too?

Thing with Merckx being a potential doper - they didn't have much available to them, did they? Just a shit load of speed, and they were all taking it as we know. You can get similar(ish) effects to amphetamines by taking a load of caffeine, which a lot of riders do today.

Another vote for "Flying Scotsman" by Graeme Obree. Deeply personal and riveting!

Actually - I should postscript that recommendation with the fact that Merckx's performances are never questioned - the author accepts wholly the explanation for Merckx's failed doping tests.

....

And in Seven Deadly Sins, the author casually mentions that Merckx introduced Armstrong to Michele Ferrari. So.

Seven Deadly Sins is a great read too.

Did anyone mention Half Man Half Bike? That's a good history book.

'The Rider', by Tim Krabbe.
Oh, and +1 for 'The Hour'- I really enjoyed that.

"The Hour" - Michael Hutchinson

A very interesting book about his attempt on the hour record. Well written and humorous.

"In search of Robert Millar" - Robert Moore

Really good autobiography about Millar with lots of background on cycling in the 80s.

"The Flying Scotsman" - Graeme Obree

Deeply personal and well written account about his career and pretty unflinching about his mental health problems.

And +1 to all of the above especially Rob Penn and Dave BArter.
Don't dismiss the Cavendish autobiography "Boy Racer", it was much better than I'd thought it would be and he's a more complex man that I'd appreciated.