My Time
Summary
Winner of 2012 BBC Sports Personality Of the Year On 22 July 2012 Bradley Wiggins became the first British man ever to win the Tour de France. In an instant, 'Wiggo' became a national hero. Ten days later, having swapped his yellow jersey for the colours of Team GB, he won Olympic gold in the time trial, adding to his previous six medals to become the nation's most decorated Olympian of all time. Outspoken, honest, intelligent and fearless, Wiggins has been hailed as the peoples champion. In My Time he tells the story of the remarkable journey that led to him winning the worlds toughest race. He opens up about his life on and off the bike, about the personal anguish that has driven him on and what its like behind the scenes at Team Sky: the brutal training regimes, the sacrifices and his views on his teammates and rivals. He talks too about his anger at the spectre of doping that pursues his sport, how he dealt with the rush of taking Olympic gold, and above all what it takes to be the greatest.
©2012 Bradley Wiggins (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks
Through Sand & Snow
Summary
At age 22, Charlie Walker left home in search of adventure. Fleeing the boredom that comes with comfort, he set off on a secondhand bicycle. The aim was simple: to pedal to the furthest point in each of Europe, Asia, and Africa. He didnt train or plan. He just started. The journey was an escape from an unremarkable existence, a pursuit of hardship, and a chance to shed the complacency of middle England. From the brutality of winter on the Tibetan plateau, to the claustrophobia of the Southeast Asian jungle, the quest provided Charlie with ample opportunity to test his mettle. Ultimately, though, the toughest challenge was entirely unforeseen.
©2017 Charlie Walker (P)2019 Charlie Walker
Ask a Pro
Summary
Despite the howling protests from his peers, no one's ever been more willing to spill the beans on what it's really like inside the pro cycling peloton than the sarcastic scribe Phil Gaimon. Building on the outrageous success of his hilarious 2014 debut, Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro, Gaimon gathers the absolute gems from his monthly Q & A feature column in VeloNews magazine into his new book, Ask a Pro, adding a dose of fresh commentary and even more acerbic and sharp-eyed insights. With six years of material to work with - including his incredible rise into the pro ranks, the devastating loss of his contract for 2015, and his bold return to the Big League - Gaimon covers every possible topic, from the team dinner table to the toilet, with plenty of stops along the way. Gaimon wields his outsider's wit to cast a cockeyed gaze at the peculiar manners, mores, and traditions that make the medieval sport of cycling so irresistible to watch. Ask a Pro includes new resources from Gaimon, too, including dubious advice on winning the race buffet, a cautionary guide for host housing, and Phil's prerace warm-up routine.
©2017 Phil Gaimon (P)2017 Tantor
The Comeback
Summary
In July of 1986, Greg LeMond stunned the sporting world by becoming the first American to win the Tour de France, the world's pre-eminent bicycle race, defeating French cycling legend Bernard Hinault. Nine months later, LeMond lay in a hospital bed, his life in peril after a hunting accident, his career as a bicycle racer seemingly over. And yet, barely two years after this crisis, LeMond mounted a comeback. In 1989, he once again won the Tour - by the almost impossibly narrow margin of eight seconds over another French legend, Laurent Fignon. It remains the closest Tour de France in history. The Comeback chronicles the life of this great American athlete, from his roots in Nevada and California to the heights of global fame. With the kind of narrative drive that propels books like Moneyball and a fierce attention to detail, Daniel de Vise reveals the dramatic, ultra-competitive inner world of a sport rarely glimpsed up close, building a compelling case for LeMond as its great American hero.
©2018 Daniel de Vise (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC
Bike Shorts
Summary
Perfect for any cyclist from novice to expert, including cycle instructors. This book covers nutrition, hydration, bike fit, form, gear, etiquette, stretches, and more. It even has sample drills, sample class formats, and guides for heart rate training and calculating sweat rate. This book has all the information you need to meet your fitness goals through indoor cycling.
©2016 Marisa Michael (P)2017 Marisa Michael
Shut Up, Legs!
Summary
Beloved German cyclist Jens Voigt isn't a superstar in the traditional sense of the word. Although he won three stages of the Tour de France - and wore the yellow jersey twice - Voigt never claimed an overall victory. He became a star because he embodies qualities that go beyond winning and losing: sacrifice, selflessness, reliability, and devotion. European and American crowds were drawn to his aggressive riding style, outgoing nature, and refreshing realness. Voigt adopted a tireless work ethic that he carried throughout his career. In Shut Up, Legs! (a legendary Jensism), Voigt reflects upon his childhood in East Germany, juggling life as a professional cyclist and a father of six, and how he remained competitive without doping. Shut Up, Legs! offers a rare glimpse inside his heart and mind.
©2016 Jens Voigt and James Startt (P)2016 Tantor
The Art of Cycling
Summary
The autobiography of a cycling legend that will become a much-loved classic. The much-anticipated autobiography of the greatest Australian cyclist of all time. Famous in the sport for his meticulous preparation and an athlete who prided himself on his ability to leave it all on the road, Evans writes about the triumphs, the frustrations, the training, the preparation, the psychology of the sport, his contemporaries, the legends and his enduring love of cycling. A riveting and forensic account of his life on the bike - from his beginnings as the youngest winner of a World Cup in mountain biking to the oldest post-War winner of the Tour de France. One of only four cyclists in the world to have finished on the podium of all three Grand Tours (the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana) as well as winning the UCI Road World Championship, Cadel's autobiography is a tribute to a once-in-a-lifetime sporting talent. This book will put you on the bike alongside Cadel as he recounts the races and the moments that mattered - as he places in the top 10 in six Tours de France and becomes Australia's first, and only, Tour de France champion and first, and only, Road World Champion. Be there on the road as he claims the points jersey at the Giro d'Italia and as he wins some of the world's greatest races - the Tour of Austria (twice), the Tour de Romandie (twice), the Settimana Coppi e Bartali, Tirreno-Adriatico, Flèche Wallone, the Criterium International and the Giro del Trentino.
©2016 Cadel Evans (P)2016 Bolinda Publishing
Free Country
Summary
The plan is simple. George and Ben have three weeks to cycle 1,000 miles from the bottom of England to the top of Scotland. There's just one small problem - they have no bikes, no clothes, no food, and no money. Setting off in just a pair of Union Jack boxer shorts, they attempt to rely on the generosity of the British public for everything from food to accommodation, clothes to shoes, and bikes to beer. During the most extraordinary of challenges, George and Ben scavenge through rubbish bins, search for the Loch Ness monster, wash dishes, clean hotels, sing Christmas carols for food, swim in lakes, descend Cornish hills on children's bikes, and cook a barbecue for 30 old people in a field. They spend the night in a greenhouse, a canal boat, a posh hotel, an empty house, a pub, a tent in a car park, and a barn with a bull. Through the course of their hysterical journey, they are clothed, fed, and sheltered by the generous people of Britain.
©2010 George Mahood (P)2014 David Darlington
It's Not About the Tapas
Summary
When Polly Evans set off on a journey round Spain by bicycle, she found more adventures than she had bargained for: She survived a nail biting encounter with a sprightly pig, escaped over-zealous suitors, had her morality questioned by locals and indulged in her love of regional cooking. While she pedalled, Polly pondered some of the more lurid details of Spanish history - king who collected pickled heads and the unfortunate duchess who lost her feet. And wherever she cycled,she ate and ate-and yet still shrank out of her trousers.
©2008 Polly Evans (P)2008 Oakhill Publishing Ltd.
Bradley Wiggins: My Hour
Summary
For 60 minutes this summer, the British public stopped what they were doing, switched on their radios and their TVs, refreshed their Twitter feeds, and followed Bradley Wiggins' attempt to break one of sport's most gruelling records: The Hour. The premise is simple enough: how far can you cycle in one hour? But it is thought to be one of the toughest events an athlete can endure, both physically and psychologically. Eddy Merckx, cycling's über-champ, called it the hardest thing he ever did. Wiggins, like many before him, discovered the unique pain of pushing yourself as hard as you can for 60 minutes. In this revealing book, Bradley Wiggins takes you behind the scenes of his record attempt. From planning to preparation to training to execution, Bradley shares his thoughts on his sacrifices, his heroes, and the people who have supported him along the way as well as what's to come as he heads towards the twilight of his stellar career. My Hour is a fitting celebration of one of Britain's best-loved sportsmen in his finest hour.
©2015 Bradley Wiggins (P)2015 Random House AudioBooks
Faster
Summary
For professional cyclists, going faster and winning are, of course, closely related. Yet surprisingly, for many, a desire to go faster is much more important than a desire to win. Someone who wants to go faster will work at the details and take small steps rather than focusing on winning. Winning just happens when you do everything right - it's the doing everything right that's hard. And that's what fascinates and obsesses Michael Hutchinson. With his usual deadpan delivery and an awareness that it's all mildly preposterous, Hutchinson looks at the things that make you faster - training, nutrition, the right psychology - and explains how they work and how what we know about them changes all the time. He looks at the things that make you slower and why they do so and how attempts to avoid them can result in serious athletes gradually painting themselves into the most peculiar lifestyle corners. Faster is a book about why cyclists do what they do; about what the riders, their coaches, and the boffins get up to behind the scenes; and about why the whole idea of going faster is such an appealing, universal instinct for all of us.
©2014 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (P)2016 Leafblower Audio LLC DBA Sportybooks
My World
Summary
Peter Sagan, at just 28 years of age, is already one of cycling's greatest riders of all time. With four Tour de France points jersey victories, three road-race world championships, the 2018 Paris-Roubaix, and multiple spring classics among Sagan's palmares, the world of cycling agrees that this intense, yet fun-loving rider is among the most dominant and fun-to-watch riders of his generation. In My World, for the very first time, bike racing fans will have the opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes of Sagan's cycling life, revealing the full extent of his dedication to competition and determination to win. They will learn about his relationship with fellow riders, his heroes, and how he copes with the expectation of success. He will share technical details about his preparation, dissect the art of the sprint, and analyze the tactics that play out during a fiercely competitive stage or race. If the rainbow jersey comes with a curse, what happens when you win three? Meet the real Peter Sagan in My World and find out why cycling's most interesting personality never takes winning too seriously.
©2018 Peter Sagan (P)2019 Tantor
The Haywire Heart
Summary
Too much exercise can kill you. The Haywire Heart is the first book to examine heart conditions in athletes. Intended for anyone who competes in endurance sports like cycling, triathlon, running races of all distances, and cross-country skiing, The Haywire Heart presents the evidence that going too hard or too long can damage your heart forever. You'll find what to watch out for, what to do about it, and how to protect your heart so you can enjoy the sports you love for years to come. The Haywire Heart shares the developing research into a group of conditions known as "athlete's heart", starting with a wide-ranging look at the warning signs, symptoms, and how to recognize your potential risk. Leading cardiac electrophysiologist and masters athlete Dr. John Mandrola explores the prevention and treatment of heart conditions in athletes like arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation and flutter, tachycardia, hypertrophy, and coronary artery disease. He reviews new research about exercise intensity and duration, recovery, inflammation and calcification, and the ways athletes inflict lasting harm. These heart problems are appearing with alarming frequency among masters athletes who are pushing their bodies harder than ever in the hope that exercise will keep them healthy and strong into their senior years. The book is complete with gripping case studies of elite and age-group athletes from journalist Chris Case - like the scary condition that nearly killed cyclist and coauthor Lennard Zinn - and includes a frank discussion of exercise addiction and the mental habits that prevent athletes from seeking medical help when they need it. Dr. Mandrola explains why many doctors misdiagnose heart conditions in athletes and offers an invaluable guide on how to talk with your doctor about your condition and its proven treatments. He covers known heart irritants, training and rest modifications, effective medicines, and safe supplements that can reduce the likelihood of heart damage from exercise. Heart conditions affect hardcore athletes as well as those who take up sports seeking better health and weight loss. The Haywire Heart is a groundbreaking and critically important guide to heart care for athletes. By protecting your heart now and watching for the warning signs, you can avoid crippling heart conditions and continue to exercise and compete for years to come.
©2018 Chris Case, John Mandrola, and Lennard Zinn (P)2018 Tantor
Draft Animals
Summary
Like countless other kids, Phil Gaimon grew up dreaming of being a professional athlete. But unlike countless other kids, he actually pulled it off. After years of amateur races, hard training, living out of a suitcase, and never taking "no" for an answer, he finally achieved his goal and signed a contract to race professionally on one of the best teams in the world. Now, Gaimon pulls back the curtain on the WorldTour, cycling's highest level. He takes listeners along for his seasons in Europe, covering everything from rabid, water-bottle-stealing Belgian fans, to contract renewals, to riding in poisonous smog, to making friends in a sport plagued by doping. Draft Animals reveals a story as much about bike racing as it is about the never-ending ladder of achieving goals, failure, and finding happiness if you land somewhere in-between.
©2017 Phil Gaimon (P)2017 Tantor
Racing Through the Dark
Summary
The Sunday Times best-selling memoir from the Tour de France cyclist who lifts the lid on his drug use and return to sport. By his 18th birthday David Millar was living and racing in France, sleeping in rented rooms, tipped to be the next English-speaking Tour winner. A year later he'd realised the dream and signed a professional contract. He perhaps lived the high life a little too enthusiastically - he broke his heel in a fall from a roof after too much drink and before long the pressure to succeed had tipped over into doping. Here, in a full and frank autobiography, David Millar recounts the story from the inside: he doped because 'cycling's drug culture was like white noise', and because of peer pressure. 'I doped for money and glory in order to guarantee the continuation of my status.' Five years on from his arrest, Millar is clean and reflective and holds nothing back in this account of his dark years. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.
©2020 David Millar (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group
This Road I Ride
Summary
Raised in the extreme religious cult called the Children of God, Juliana Buhring was frequently punished for being a rebel and finally broke away. Her soul mate was an explorer seeking the source of unmapped rivers in Africa. When he was killed by a crocodile, her world went dark. To escape paralyzing grief, Buhring set herself a goal. Never having seriously ridden a bike, she set out to ride one around the world. Her timing required going the wrong way, against the Earth's rotation and most winds. Supported by a devoted Italian friend, random "road angels", and other ex-cult kids around the world, she traversed small-town and big-mountain America, Australian desert expanses, South Asian rainforests and villages, and Turkish plains, ultimately beating the previous men's record and becoming the fastest woman to cycle the world. Empowering, inspiring, and often humorous, This Road I Ride is testimony to the power of sheer will to overcome any obstacle.
©2016 Original Material by Juliana Buhring. Recorded by arrangement with W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Slaying the Badger
Summary
Bernard Hinault is "Le Blaireau", the Badger. Tough as old boots, he is the old warrior of the French peloton, as revered as he is feared for his ferocious attacks. He has won five Tours de France, marking his name into the history books as a member of cycling's most exclusive club. Yet as the 1986 Tour de France ascends into the mountains, a boyish and friendly young American named Greg LeMond threatens the Badger - and France's entire cycling heritage. The stakes are high. Winning for Hinault means capping his long cycling career by becoming the first man to win the Tour six times. For LeMond, a win will bring America its first Tour de France victory. So why does their rivalry shock the world? LeMond and Hinault ride for the same team. Asked by a reporter why he attacked his own teammate, the Badger replies, "Because I felt like it." and "If he doesn't buckle, that means he's a champion and deserves to win the race. I did it for his own good." LeMond becomes paranoid, taking other riders' feed bags in the feed zone and blaming crashes on sabotage. Through it all, with the help of his American teammate Andy Hampsten, LeMond becomes the first American to win the Tour de France.
©2012 Richard Moore (P)2017 Tantor
To Shake the Sleeping Self
Summary
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER With winning candor, Jedidiah Jenkins takes us with him as he bicycles across two continents and delves deeply into his own beautiful heart." (Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things) On the eve of turning 30, terrified of being funneled into a life he didnt choose, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his dream job and spent 16 months cycling from Oregon to Patagonia. He chronicled the trip on Instagram, where his photos and reflections drew hundreds of thousands of followers, all gathered around the question: What makes a life worth living? In this unflinchingly honest memoir, Jed narrates his adventure - the people and places he encountered on his way to the bottom of the world - as well as the internal journey that started it all. As he traverses cities, mountains, and inner boundaries, Jenkins grapples with the question of what it means to be an adult, his struggle to reconcile his sexual identity with his conservative Christian upbringing, and his belief in travel as a way to wake us upto life back home. A soul-stirring read for the wanderer in each of us, To Shake the Sleeping Self is an unforgettable reflection on adventure, identity, and a life lived without regret. Praise for To Shake the Sleeping Self [Jenkins is] a guy deeply connected to his personal truth and just so refreshingly present. (Rich Roll, author of Finding Ultra) This is much more than a book about a bike ride. This is a deep soul deepening us. Jedidiah Jenkins is a mystic disguised as a millennial. (Tom Shadyac, author of Lifes Operating Manual) Thought-provoking and inspirational... This uplifting memoir and travelogue will remind readers of the power of movement for the body and the soul. (Publishers Weekly)
©2018 Jedidiah Jenkins (P)2018 Random House Audio
Just Ride
Summary
The Tour Divide, a 2,725-mile mountain bike race along the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta, Canada, to the Mexican border crossing at Antelope Wells, New Mexico, demanded will-breaking efforts day after day, but the race also returned brief moments of euphoria. Most of the time the race felt impossible, and I loved it! Just Ride is an adventure story of the 2018 Tour Divide. The book details the resilience and amazing adaptability of the human body and mind, and it gives a realistic and often raw account of the physical and mental toll required to finish the race in less than 17 days. The route, the conditions, the gear, the strategy, the training, the mental struggles, the embarrassing moments, and the physical battle are all described throughout a story that offers a genuine look into what was experienced and felt throughout the ultimate test of mountain bike endurance. In addition, Just Ride summarizes data that was collected before, during, and following the race. The huge amount of collected data tell a story of how the body broke down and how it remarkably adapted to the 2,725-mile ordeal. The book also details how the mind was central to creating and breaking down the barriers that impeded progress each day.
©2019 J. Ty Hopkins (P)2019 Tantor
The Climb
Summary
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of the revealing, inspirational memoir from the British winner of the Tour de France. The Climb tells the extraordinary story of Chris Froome's journey from a young boy in Kenya, riding through townships and past wild animals, and with few opportunities for an aspiring cyclist, to his unforgettable yellow jersey victory in the 2013 Tour de France. A journey unlike any other in the history of cycling, Froome has crossed continents, overcome the death of his mother and conquered debilitating illness to follow his dreams and represent Team GB and Team Sky. He has experienced soaring triumphs, humbling defeats, a public rivalry with Bradley Wiggins and, most recently, the pressures of Lance Armstrong's legacy. Extraordinary and life-affirming, The Climb is a story of determination, hardship and unimaginable success.
©2014 Chris Froome (P)2014 Penguin Books Limited
Cycling's World Championships
Summary
Champion of the world! For a year the World Cycling Champion gets to wear a special white jersey with rainbow stripes. And then, for the rest of his career, he can wear a jersey with rainbow cuffs and collar. Unlike the Tour de France's Yellow Jersey, which can only be worn while leading the race, the rainbow is earned for life. For more than a century, organized cycling has been conferring that extraordinary and wonderful title, starting with the first championships held in Chicago in 1893. But it wasn't until 1927 that there was a professional world road championship race, won on the famous Nürburgring car circuit in Germany by the great Alfredo Binda. The story of the world championships is a fascinating one, and besides the well-known road and track competitions, there are many events that even the most dedicated racing fans might not know about, such as Cycle Speedway, Bicycle Polo, and of course the World Unicycle Championships. Join Les Woodland as he tells the whole, fun, and engrossing story of the bravery as well as the treachery and trickery in the World Championships, and the athletes who have been able wear the coveted colors of the rainbow. Author Les Woodland has been cycling for 50 years and has been writing about cycling since 1965, when he wrote his first reports for the British publication Cycling. Since then he has been a prolific contributor to newspapers, magazines and radio stations in the UK and Belgium. Mr. Woodland, who currently lives in France, speaks several of the languages of cycling: English, Dutch, and French.
©2017 Les Woodland (P)2017 Les Woodland
Icons: My Inspiration. My Motivation. My Obsession.
Summary
With a foreword by Eddy Merckx. The world of professional cycling is fraught with fierce competition, fervent dedication and unerring ambition, and only a handful of competitors reach iconic status. Among them is Sir Bradley Wiggins - a man uniquely placed to reflect on the history of this remarkable sport and its unforgettable titans. In Icons, Wiggins takes the listener on an extraordinarily intimate journey through the sport, presenting key pieces from his never-before-seen collection of memorabilia. Over the course of his illustrious career, he amassed hundreds of items - often gifts from its greatest and most controversial figures. Each reflects an icon, a race or a moment that fundamentally influenced Wiggins on both a personal and a professional level. By exploring the lives and achievements of 21 of the sports key figures - among them Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Induráin and Tom Simpson - Wiggins sheds new light on what professional cycling demands of its best competitors. Icons lauds their triumphs, elucidates their demons and sheds light on the philosophy and psychology that comprise the unique mind-set of a cycling champion.
©2018 Bradley Wiggins (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
One-Way Ticket
Summary
The new memoir tracing story of cycling since the 1980s, through the eyes of Jonathan Vaughters, founder of team Education First and one of the sport's most towering figures. Jonathan Vaughters' story is the story of modern cycling. From his early years as a keen cyclist in his hometown in Colorado to his unflinching rite of passage as a professional rider with US Postal to his elevation as one of cycling's most resilient, ethical, and intelligent team bosses, the highs and lows of his career have mirrored those of the sport itself. Vaughters has had a front-row seat for most of the major events in cycling over the past three decades. He was both a former teammate of Lance and a leading witness against him. And he went on to renounce doping and start the first pro cycling team to dedicate itself to clean riding, which has grown into one of the most successful teams competing today and started a movement that has swept across the sport. This is also not simply a story of races won and lost: Vaughters shows listeners how he navigated the complex, international business of building Slipstream into a world-class cycling team. Over the past decade, he has led the sport out of the scandal-plagued Armstrong era. By presenting the world with a team made of talented racers built around a rigorous approach to clean racing, he set a new standard within cycling that has since spread across the peloton. Written from the unique perspective of both a racer and a team manager, One-Way Ticket gives the complete story of what it takes to build a winning team and repair the reputation of a sport.
©2019 Jonathan Vaughters (P)2019 Penguin Audio
The Secret Cyclist
Summary
Penguin Presents the audio edition of The Secret Cyclist, by The Secret Cyclist, read by Ben Eagle. Who is The Secret Cyclist and why all the secrecy? 'Every public aspect of our lives is so tightly controlled that being truly honest is all but impossible in a newspaper interview, never mind a whole book. You try to write a warts-and-all blog about your office. Question how the business is run, make sure you remember to call your boss a moron, and then tell me how it goes.' He's ridden for World Tour teams for 10 years. He's achieved top 10 finishes in Grand Tours. He likes coffee. These are just a few details about the professional rider who wants you to know what the view looks like from the centre of the peloton. What do the riders really make of Team Sky? How does the pay structure work? Why should you never trust a kit endorsement from a professional? Is doping still an issue? The Secret Cyclist tackles the big questions head-on, revealing a side to cycling that fans have never seen before.
©2019 The Secret Cyclist (P)2019 Penguin Audio
50 Shades of the USA
Summary
"Just then, a train of thought rumbled into motion and a soft voice asked me a question. It was almost a whisper. What are you doing here? it said. You are building a career, Anna, came the reply from another more sinister voice. But are you building a life? said the soft voice again. And for that I had no answer." Disillusioned with corporate London life and with no previous experience as a long-distance cyclist, Anna decides to clamber atop a beautiful pink bicycle (named Boudica) and set out on an 11,000-mile journey on her own, through each and every state of the USA. Dodging floods, blizzards and electrical storms, she pedals side by side with mustangs of the Wild West, through towering redwood forests, past the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains and on to the volcanos of Hawaii. Along the way, she meets record-breaking grandmas, sings with Al Green at a gospel service, and does her best to avoid becoming a grizzly bear's dinner. 50 Shades of the USA is a down-to-earth, heartfelt, and hilarious account of an adventure through a country well-known, but far less well-understood. It is a stunning tale of self-discovery told through the eyes of a woman who couldn't help but wonder if there was more to life, and more to America, too.
©2018 Anna McNuff (P)2020 Anna McNuff
Pro Cycling on $10 a Day
Summary
Plump, grumpy, slumped on the couch, and going nowhere fast at age 16, Phil Gaimon began riding a bicycle with the grand ambition of shedding a few pounds before going off to college. He soon fell into racing and discovered he was a natural, riding his way into a pro contract after just one season despite utter ignorance of a century of cycling etiquette. Now, in his book Pro Cycling on $10 a Day, Phil brings the full powers of his wit to tell his story. Presented here as a guide - and a warning - to aspiring racers who dream of joining the professional racing circus, Phil's adventures in road rash serve as a hilarious and cautionary tale of frustrating team directors and broken promises. Phil's education in the ways of the peloton, his discouraging negotiations for a better contract, his endless miles crisscrossing America in pursuit of race wins, and his conviction that somewhere just around the corner lies the ticket to the big time fuel this tale of hope and ambition from one of cycling's best story-tellers. Pro Cycling on $10 a Day chronicles the racer's daily lot of blood-soaked bandages, sleazy motels, cheap food, and overflowing toilets. But it also celebrates the true beauty of the sport and the worth of the journey, proving in the end that even among the narrow ranks of world-class professional cycling, there will always be room for a hard-working outsider.
©2014 Velopress (P)2017 Sportybooks
The Story of the Tour de France
Summary
This telling of the 2020 Tour de France is a supplement to our two-volume The Story of the Tour de France: How a Newspaper Promotion Became the Greatest Sporting Event in the World, and the first supplement, 2019: A Year of New Faces. Volume one told the story of the Tours origins and of each edition of the race from 1903 through 1975 - the year Bernard Thévenet was able to conquer the Belgian Lion, Eddy Merckx, and hold the great racer to five Tour wins. Volume two picked up the race in 1976 with super-climber Lucien van Impes victory and took it through 2018 and Welshman Geraint Thomas 111-second win over Tom Dumoulin. The 2019 race had a stunning surprise winner in 22-year-old Egan Bernal, the youngest rider to wear the race-leaders Yellow Jersey in Paris since that jersey was first awarded in 1919, and the third-youngest rider ever to have won the Tour de France. Except for the two world wars, the Tour has been run annually since that 1903 race, and yearly addendums seem the best way to keep telling the story. So please join us as we go on the 107th trip around La Belle France. Lets see how those new faces of the 2019 Tour did in 2020.
©2020 Bill McGann (P)2020 Bill McGann
Ride Inside
Summary
From bad weather to business travel, to traffic safety, there are dozens of reasons why cyclists and triathletes take their rides inside. Although indoor cycling workouts offer the ultimate control over workout conditions, most inside riders dont get the most out of their trainers or spin bikes. Ride Inside offers cyclists and triathletes a smart guide to getting more fitness from every indoor cycling workout. From the worlds most experienced personal cycling coach, Joe Friel, Ride Inside reveals all the unique aspects of indoor riding: Mental aspects like motivation, focus, and enjoyment Changes in upper body stability, posture, and pedaling technique on a stationary bike Respiration, hydration, and cooling Inherent changes in power output Lower leg tension and eccentric loading from flywheel momentum Lower effort from lack of terrain changes, headwinds, and crosswinds Road-like feel Different shifting patterns All these differences of indoor riding add up to a big impact when the rubber hits the road. Drawing from the foundations of Friels classic training guides, The Cyclists Training Bible and The Triathletes Training Bible, Ride Inside shows how to apply smart and proven training concepts to indoor cycling. Riders will get expert guidance on the best ways to set up a trainer or smart trainer, how to modify outdoor workouts for indoor cycling, how to better monitor power and RPE, and how to use social online training platforms like Zwift to make training better and not worse. Most critically, Ride Inside shows cyclists and triathletes how to do indoor cycling workouts that actually meet their training goals instead of compromising. This audio edition is narrated by Brian Arens, an Audible listener favorite. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Joe Friel and Jim Rutberg (P)2020 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC
The Story of the Tour de France - Volume 1: 1903-1975
Summary
At the dawn of the 20th century, French newspapers used bicycle races as promotions to build readership. Until 1903 these were one-day events. Looking to deliver a coup de grâce in a vicious circulation war, Henri Desgrange - editor of the Parisian sports magazine LAuto - took the suggestion of one of his writers to organize a race that would last several days longer than anything else, like the six-day races on the track, but on the road. Thats exactly what happened. For almost three weeks, the riders in the first Tour de France rode over dirt roads and cobblestones in a grand circumnavigation of France. The race was an electrifying success. Held annually (suspended only during the two World Wars), the Tour grew longer and more complex. Desgrange kept tinkering with an ever-changing set of rules for the Tour, looking for the perfect formula for his race. Each year a new cast of riders assembles to contest what has now become the greatest sporting event in the world.
©2019 Bill McGann (P)2020 Bill McGann
The Racer
Summary
What is it really like to be a racer? What is it like to be swept along at 60kmh in the middle of the pack? How does it feel to be reeled in from a solo breakaway metres from the line? What happens to the body during a high-speed chute? What tactics must teams employ to win the day, the jersey, the grand tour? How does a domestique keep going to the end of a stage once his job is done and his body exhausted? How does a time trialist maintain his form when every muscle and sinew is screaming at him to stop? What sacrifices must a cyclist make to reach the highest levels? What is it like on the bus? In the hotels? What camaraderie is built in the confines of a team? What rivalries? How does it feel to be constantly on the road, away from loved ones, tasting one more calorie-counted hotel breakfast? David Millar offers us a unique insight into the mind of a professional cyclist during his last year before retirement. Over the course of a season on the World Tour, Millar puts us in touch with the sights, smells and sounds of the sport - the barked instructions of a road captain in a sprint chain, the silence of a solo training ride. This is a book about youth and age, fresh-faced excitement and hard-earned experience. It is a love letter to cycling.
©2015 David Millar (P)2015 Random House AudioBooks
Tour of Flanders
Summary
The Tour of Flanders is Belgium's most brutal day in the saddle. The bike-crazed Flemish don't just send riders over cobblestone roads. Nor are they content to break the racers' legs with nearly 20 steep hills. No, the worst of all cycling worlds meet in Flanders with narrow, vertical roads paved with slippery, dangerous cobbles. The hills are so steep they are called "muurs", or walls, and they come one after another, for hours, until the riders are shattered with exhaustion. The Tour of Flanders is so fiendishly difficult that the man who wins it earns everlasting fame. Les Woodland tells the inside story of how the Flandrians became the world's most formidable racers, and of the dream of one writer to create a signature race, one that would showcase the Flemish virtues of toughness, endurance and determination. That dream became the Tour of Flanders, one of cycling's monuments. Come join Les for a fascinating ride in the cobbled hills of Flanders.
©2014 Les Woodland (P)2014 Les Woodland
Life in Tandem
Summary
Despite never having learned to ride a bike, Jackie Winter has pedalled over 100,000 miles - on the back of a tandem. For almost 40 years, Jackie and her husband Allan have enjoyed cycling in Dorset and Jackie describes many favorite bike rides. Life in Tandem recounts travellers' tales gleaned from a lifetime of cycle touring holidays in the UK. The couple love cycling in the Yorkshire Dales, which is where they headed in 1976, the year of the drought. A few years later, a cycling holiday in the Lake District presented a whole new set of challenges and somewhat different weather. In Top Tandem Tips and Trivia, Jackie shares essential insider advice to help couples remain on speaking terms, plus practical help about buying and riding a tandem. Throughout all the good years and a few inevitably difficult ones, the tandem remains a constant thread. "There are definitely three of us in this marriage," Jackie says. "I love the tandem and I love my husband a little bit more. Or should that be the other way around?"
©2014, 2019 Jacqueline Mary Winter (P)2020 Jacqueline Mary Winter
Mastermind: How Dave Brailsford Reinvented the Wheel
Summary
Dave Brailsford has spearheaded the track cycling revolution in Britain, helping turn the nation into a superpower. He is also head of Team Sky and oversaw Bradley Wiggins' victory at the 2012 Tour de France. But who is the man behind the mask? This is a portrait of one of the most enigmatic presences in world sport; an exploration of his background, a unique insight into the formation of his methodology and an analysis of how he has forged a new path in a sport riven with controversy.
©2013 Richard Moore (P)2013 Audible Ltd
Magic Spanner
Summary
Bloomsbury presents Magic Spanner by Carlton Kirby, read by Carlton Kirby. Prepare to be entertained as legendary Eurosport cycling commentator Carlton Kirby shares his tales from the road, taking you behind the scenes of the world's greatest cycle races. With a candid authority that comes from over 25 years commentating on the world's biggest cycling races, legendary Eurosport commentator Carlton Kirby isn't afraid to tell it like it really is. Witty, outrageous and often outspoken, Magic Spanner is an insider's view of life on cycling's Grand Tours, including the Tour de France, Giro D'Italia, Vuelta a España and the classics, all delivered in the inimitable style for which Carlton has become globally famous. Peppered with hilarious anecdotes of life on the road with Tour legend Sean Kelly, Carlton gives us an expert, behind-the-scenes view - one that the average fan rarely gets to see or hear about. As well as sharing his various bugbears (including crazy spectators in mankinis to the more serious issues of rider safety), Carlton also lifts the lid on team strategies and delves into some of cycling's more questionable ethics. Delivering a mix of expert opinion and trademark wit, Carlton covers the funny, the serious and the more bizarre moments on the professional cycling caravan.
©2019 Carlton Kirby (P)2019 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
A Journey Through the Cycling Year
Summary
Random House presents the audiobook edition of A Journey Through the Cycling Year by The Cycling Podcast, read by Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe. Embark on a journey through the cycling year with The Cycling Podcast, which has been entertaining and informing fans since 2013. Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe share their diaries from three incident-filled Grand Tours, the Giro dItalia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España. These take listeners behind the scenes and explore the culture and landscape as well as the racing while the Lionel of Flanders, complete with beer recommendations, does the same for the Classics in Belgium. There are appearances, too, by leading journalists and podcast favourites François Thomazeau, who takes responsiblity for the French Tour de France jinx; Ciro Scognamiglio, with a heartfelt love letter to cult favourite Filippo Pozzato; Fran Reyes, who pens a farewell to El Pistolero, Alberto Contador; and Orla Chennaoui, who hits the road to cover La Course in a one-woman karaoke-booth-on-wheels. Further contributions from professional riders Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Joe Dombrowski and the voice of the Tour de France, Sebastien Piquet, make this the perfect celebration of a year in cycling.
©2018 The Cycling Podcast (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks
The World's Fastest Man
Summary
In the tradition of The Boys in the Boat and Seabiscuit, a fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking but forgotten figure - the remarkable Major Taylor, the black man who broke racial barriers by becoming the worlds fastest and most famous bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era. In the 1890s, the nations promise of equality had failed spectacularly. While slavery had ended with the Civil War, the Jim Crow laws still separated blacks from whites, and the excesses of the Gilded Age created an elite upper class. Amid this world arrived Major Taylor, a young black man who wanted to compete in the nations most popular and mostly white mans sport, cycling. Birdie Munger, a white cyclist who once was the worlds fastest man, declared he could help turn the young black athlete into a champion. Twelve years before boxer Jack Johnson and 50 years before baseball player Jackie Robinson, Taylor faced racism at nearly every turn - especially by whites who feared he would disprove their stereotypes of blacks. In The Worlds Fastest Man, years in the writing, investigative journalist Michael Kranish reveals new information about Major Taylor based on a rare interview with his daughter and other never-before-uncovered details from Taylors life. Kranish shows how Taylor indeed became a world champion, traveled the world, was the toast of Paris, and was one of the most chronicled black men of his day. From a moment in time just before the arrival of the automobile when bicycles were king, the populace was booming with immigrants, and enormous societal changes were about to take place, The Worlds Fastest Man shines a light on a dramatic moment in American history - the gateway to the 20th century. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Michael Kranish (P)2019 Simon & Schuster
The Tour According to G
Summary
For years Geraint Thomas appeared blessed with extraordinary talent but jinxed at the greatest bike race in the world: twice an Olympic gold medallist on the track, Commonwealth champion, yet at the Tour de France a victim of crashes, bad luck and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his teammates. In the summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion - from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees and, finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris. As a boy, G had run home from school on summer afternoons to watch the Tour on television. This July, across 21 stages and three weeks, and under constant attack from his rivals, he made the race his own. With insight from the key characters around Geraint, this is the inside story of one of the most thrilling and heartwarming tales in sport. Not only can nice guys come first - they can win the biggest prize of all.
©2018 Geraint Thomas (P)2018 Quercus Editions Limited
A Midlife Cyclist
Summary
Includes an exclusive interview with the author. Rachel is a cyclist. But she was never meant to be. After gaining mental strength and healing through running, she thought she was free. Her depression alleviated, she came off antidepressants, winning races and collecting medals at marathons. But when an injury stopped the only thing helping to quiet the voices in her brain, Rachel found out what she is truly made of. As body dysmorphia began to grip her in earnest, she knew she had to find a different way to kick her mental health demons for the sake of her sanity. So, she went down to her cellar, heaved out her old bike, and started pedalling. Like her life depended on it. A Midlife Cyclist is a tale of two wheels, across the Yorkshire Dales, Vietnam, Costa Rica and beyond, and a rider in search of peace.
©2020 Rachel Ann Cullen (P)2020 Bonnier Books UK
The Story of the Tour de France. 2019: A Year of New Faces
Summary
This telling of the 2019 Tour de France is a supplement to our two-volume The Story of the Tour de France: How a Newspaper Promotion Became the Greatest Sporting Event in the World. Volume one told the story of the Tour's origins and each edition of the race from 1903 through 1975. Volume two picked up the race in 1976 with super-climber Lucien van Impe's victory and took it through 2018 and Welshman Geraint Thomas' 111-second win over Tom Dumoulin. The 2019 edition was filled with surprises with young riders taking control of the race. Every day had something happen that confounded the experts. The winner did not emerge until Mother Nature surprised everyone in late July with snow and ice. With just three stages to go, mud, hail, and ice on an Alpine road changed everything. Join us for one of the most interesting and unpredictable editions of the Tour.
©2019 Bill McGann (P)2019 Bill McGann
Be Brave, Be Strong
Summary
Jill Homer, a newspaper editor in Alaska, has an outlandish ambition: a 2,740-mile mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico along the rugged Continental Divide. But in the tradition of best-laid plans, Jill's dream starts to unravel the minute she sets it in motion. An accident during a race on the Iditarod Trail results in serious frostbite. As she struggles with painful recovery and uncertainties about leaving a good job to pursue a seemingly impossible pipe dream, her employer hands down an offer she can't refuse. Just two days before their departure date, her boyfriend ends their eight-year relationship. This final blow dismantles everything Jill thought she knew about life, love and her own identity. Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide is the story of an adventure driven relentlessly forward as foundations crumble. During her record-breaking ride in the 2009 Tour Divide, Jill battles a torrent of self-doubt, anger, fatigue, loneliness, pain, grief, bicycle failures, crashes, violent storms, and hopelessness. Each night, she collapses under the crushing effort of this savage new way of life. And every morning, she picks up the pieces and strikes out anew in an ongoing journey to discover what lies on the other side of the Great Divide: astonishing beauty, unconditional kindness, and boundless strength.
©2011 Jill Homer (P)2016 Jill Homer
Sticky Buns Across America: Back-Roads Biking from Sea to Shining Sea
Summary
Sticky Buns Across America is the story of one of the four continents and one of the countries Woodland has crossed by bike, this time with patient wife Steph: a tale of riding across small-town America (and occasional bits of Canada, although to Americans that doesn't count). It's not a tale of heroic battling with storms, riots, poison ivy, Americans, and other problems. Instead, sit back and enjoy an eccentric account of encounters made and experiences lived. Plus, it has to be admitted, a lot of sticky buns eaten. About the author: Leo Woodland is a tall and balding man who has long annoyed many by not sitting still. Or, indeed, pleased even more by not staying in one place for too long. So far the tally by bike is 28 countries on four continents. Mr. Woodland has been writing about cycling since 1965, when he wrote his first reports for the British publication Cycling. Since then he has been a prolific contributor to newspapers, magazines, and radio stations in the U.K, the U.S., and Belgium. Many of his fans know him better as Les Woodland. Sticky Buns Across America is Mr. Woodland's 26th book.
©2012 Les Woodland (P)2014 Les Woodland