Author Topic: Good bikey reads  (Read 8400 times)

Mr Green

  • LEL, SR, RRtY, 24TT
Good bikey reads
« on: 26 February, 2017, 07:16:39 pm »
Can the collective YACF knowledge recomend some good cycle reads?
I am thinking more adventure/touring/Audax rather than racing/techie but anything that you really enjoyed is appreciated.
I am currently thoroughly enjoying Part 1. of Alastair Humphreys' book about his round the world trip. What I find most interesting is that it is not really about the bike or the physical challenge rather the mental toils. Anything in this ilk would be good.

Thanks,

Arthur  :smug:
What a lot of effort just for a cloth badge.

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #1 on: 26 February, 2017, 07:36:13 pm »
I really enjoyed "One man and his bike" by Mike Carter (touring around the UK) and "Every Inch of the Way: My Bike Ride Around the World"
by Tom Bruce
https://creweandnantwichaudax.wordpress.com/ - See the Audax events I currently organise

www.milehousebarn.co.uk - Cycle Friendly B&B in Nantwich, Chehsire

onb

  • Between jobs at present
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #2 on: 26 February, 2017, 07:47:27 pm »
I have just finished Tim Moores latest offering "The cyclist who went out in the cold "very funny at times and also he gives an interesting perspective on the old Soviet block.
.

bhoot

  • MemSec (ex-Mrs RRtY)
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #3 on: 26 February, 2017, 08:33:39 pm »
I really enjoyed "One man and his bike" by Mike Carter (touring around the UK) and "Every Inch of the Way: My Bike Ride Around the World"
by Tom Bruce
+1 for Mike Carter's book, a really good read, packed full of interesting info but without taking anything too seriously.

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #4 on: 26 February, 2017, 08:41:03 pm »
This year I enjoyed Emily Chappel's "What goes around" about her time as a London Cycle Courier.  Some lovely writing about being a member of a special sub culture...

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #5 on: 26 February, 2017, 09:47:31 pm »
I have just finished Tim Moores latest offering "The cyclist who went out in the cold "very funny at times and also he gives an interesting perspective on the old Soviet block.

Tim Moore's 'Gironimo' is also worth a read. It's a re-tracing of the 1914 Giro D'Italia route on a (sort of) contemporary bike. He's an entertaining travel author, who also manages to thread the story of that crazy race into his travelogue. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down.

onb

  • Between jobs at present
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #6 on: 27 February, 2017, 07:36:50 am »
I have just finished Tim Moores latest offering "The cyclist who went out in the cold "very funny at times and also he gives an interesting perspective on the old Soviet block.

Tim Moore's 'Gironimo' is also worth a read. It's a re-tracing of the 1914 Giro D'Italia route on a (sort of) contemporary bike. He's an entertaining travel author, who also manages to thread the story of that crazy race into his travelogue. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down.

+1 reading the book put me off Italy a bit too
.

cgg

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #7 on: 27 February, 2017, 08:49:54 am »
This year I enjoyed Emily Chappel's "What goes around" about her time as a London Cycle Courier.  Some lovely writing about being a member of a special sub culture...

On the same topic I recently read Cyclogeography - Journeys of a London bicycle courier and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #8 on: 27 February, 2017, 08:56:16 am »
There's a thread here (and a few others threads linked to within it) that may help:
https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=97643.msg2031257#msg2031257


Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #9 on: 27 February, 2017, 09:09:04 am »
One More Kilometre and We're in the Showers, by Tim Hilton, about the British racing scene in the '50s and '60s, mixed with the experiences of growing up in the Communist Party of GB and sleeping in haystacks.

A Bike Ride, by Anne Mustoe. Retired headmistress rides around the world, or bits of it. That was a good read.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

jiberjaber

  • ... Fancy Pants \o/ ...
  • ACME S&M^2
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #10 on: 27 February, 2017, 09:35:57 am »
From my Kindle I've been through the following and not had a bad one yet...

Laid Back Around the World in 180 Days: Diary of a long bike ride
Barring Mechanicals - From London to Edinburgh and back, on a recumbent bicycle
The 10,000k Challenge: ...faffing across Europe on a bike!
A Virgin Discovers Long Distance Cycling: London Edinburgh London 2013
Hungry for Miles: Cycling across Europe on One Pound a Day
Eat, Sleep, Cycle: A Bike Ride Around the Coast of Britain
Land's End to John O'Groats - Cycling the Google Route
Point North and Pedal - Land's End to John O'Groats - Going Solo
Around the World on a Bicycle - Volume 1 From San Francisco to Teheran
Around the World on a Bicycle - Volume II From Teheran To Yokohama
Regards,

Joergen

IJL

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #11 on: 27 February, 2017, 10:03:36 am »
Road to valour is a good read, Gino Bartelli's biography, he smuggled papers for the Italian resistance while riding during the war
Dervla Murphey, any of her books are good, I like the early one's cycling through Afghanistan on the way to India ( might be full tilt or wheels within wheels)
One more KM and were in the showers is good and writes of cycling themes that I wouldn't have though about such as the origin of the Clarion Clubs 
Anne Musto has written a couple of good books, they're very much of the Dervla Murphey touring genre
David Millar has written a couple of books which are worth a look even if racing isn't your thing.
Anything by Tim Moore

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #12 on: 27 February, 2017, 10:17:08 am »
I'm a bit biased but this isn't bad, and you don't have to go far for it, or pay any money.

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=100690.0

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #13 on: 27 February, 2017, 10:27:16 am »
Yes.

And I'd pay Money for a wider selection of the Salvatore output, too.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #14 on: 27 February, 2017, 11:21:18 am »
I remain unconvinced about the accuracy of the Road to Valour Bartali biography. The Race Against the Stasi is a much better book all round.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #15 on: 27 February, 2017, 12:21:08 pm »
One More Kilometre and We're in the Showers, by Tim Hilton,

Haven't read it, but that is one of my all-time favourite book titles.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Mr Green

  • LEL, SR, RRtY, 24TT
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #16 on: 27 February, 2017, 06:35:54 pm »
Thanks for the suggestions, plenty to look in to.
Particularly those who pointed out similar threads - I did do a search, but obviously not very well, as I this subject has obviouly come up before. That said, new books have come along since so perhaps still useful to have a round-up every so often.
What a lot of effort just for a cloth badge.

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #17 on: 27 February, 2017, 11:54:00 pm »
I second the recommendations for the works of Tim Moore, Emily Chappell and Mike Carter and would also include "Free Country" by George Mahood as an hilarious antidote to the world of "serious cycling".  I've also just read "A Siberian Winter's Tale" by Helen Lloyd which I think is excellent!
Most of the stuff I say is true because I saw it in a dream and I don't have the presence of mind to make up lies when I'm asleep.   Bryan Andreas

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #18 on: 12 March, 2017, 08:09:29 pm »
More at the Audax end of the scale I enjoyed Dave Barret's _The Year_; on the racier side (albeit at the back of the pack...) I thought Max Leonard's _Lanterne Rouge_ was excellent.

I've enjoyed Tim Moore's stuff a lot, but I wouldn't read his books back-to-back​ - I found them a bit samey.

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #19 on: 12 March, 2017, 08:25:38 pm »
Anything by Arctic Jill... Helen's take on Siberia  Africa also good reads.

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #20 on: 13 March, 2017, 01:49:25 am »
+1 for Race Against the Stasi and Tim Moore's stuff
The several Books by Steven Primrose-Smith (although not all of them are bike related)
Time Krabee 'The Rider' (about a race, but one of the best bits of writing irrespective of genre)
Andrew P Sykes 'Crossing Europe' and 'Crossing the Med'
Mike Carter 'One Man and His Bike'

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Good bikey reads
« Reply #21 on: 13 March, 2017, 08:36:42 am »
Another +1 for Race Against The Stasi. Fascinating for the history as much as for the cycling.

Also Lanterne Rouge by Max Leonard - all about the men who came last in the Tour and the strange kind of honour that bestows.

I quite enjoyed Chris Boardman's autobiography that came out last year. A very lightweight read and not much in it that you don't already know, but he's a likeable character.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #22 on: 13 March, 2017, 08:40:35 am »
David Millar has written a couple of books which are worth a look even if racing isn't your thing.

Racing Through The Dark is a great insight into doping culture, as long as you can get over the whining self-justification (see also: The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton)

The Racer is terrible. Totally self-indulgent rubbish.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Karla

  • car(e) free
    • Lost Byway - around the world by bike
Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #23 on: 13 March, 2017, 09:10:08 am »
^Wot e said.  I preferred Hamilton's book tbh - though it's better if you've previously read It's not about the Bike as you can then have hours of fun spotting the euphemisms in Lance's book.

Samuel D

Re: Good bikey reads
« Reply #24 on: 13 March, 2017, 09:13:42 am »
Time Krabee 'The Rider' (about a race, but one of the best bits of writing irrespective of genre)

Agreed. That bit about his beautiful wrists! Not to mention the beautiful spectator. (For searching: the author is spelt Tim Krabbé.)

Another one I found unusually good is Paul Fournel’s Need for the Bike.