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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    orygun
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    reading suggestions?

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    I just finished Heft on Wheels and Its Not About the Bike and I need more bicycle books!!!

    Especially interested in narrative books with the bike at the center of the narrative.

    Also...what are your favorite "how to" books about biking? I keep eyeing Biking for Life...and I devoured the controversiall Urban Cyclist book someone recommended.
    Last edited by elk; 11-26-2007 at 08:36 PM. Reason: bad bad typist
    Discipline is remembering what you want.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    where the wind comes sweeping down the plain
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    5,251
    I just ordered 5 books from Amazon.com about cycling. The one I really can't wait to get my hands on is: Miles from Nowhere: A Round the World Bicycle Adventure. It's about a young couple who decides to ride their bikes all around the world- some 23,000 miles and all the adventures they had along the way. Happened back in the 70's or early 80's. Upon their return home, she was killed by a truck while training for a triathlon. She wrote the book, and I think her husband had is published after her death. I'm really excited to read about their adventures. Another one I ordered was: Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America?: Five Kids Meet Their
    Country
    about two teachers who take 5 students on a cross country cycling adventure. Hopefully that one will inspire me to ride my bike cross country one day (if a 12 year old can do it- surely I can).

    I just finished reading Riding with the Blue Moth by Bill Hancock (summary here: http://www.ridingwiththebluemoth.com/pages/7/index.htm and http://www.ridingwiththebluemoth.com/pages/5/index.htm . It was an excellent read! I could hardly put it down. He writes in a sort of journal style. Each day is a chapter with his mileage, food he ate, time it took- then he tells all about each day's adventure. I couldn't wait to read about the next day.

    Anyway- sorry that was so long. I love reading non-fiction FAR more than fiction (I can make up my own stories- I love to read real things ), and adventure stories are by far my favorite.

    I checked out Heft on Wheels: How to do a 180 from the library, and I really didn't like it. His writing style bothered me. Too many run on sentences and fragments and such (being an English teacher doesn't help- I wanted to reach for my purple pen too much). I may give him another try, tho. I found his stories interesting, and wanted to read more.
    Last edited by Tri Girl; 11-27-2007 at 04:16 AM.
    Check out my running blog: www.turtlepacing.blogspot.com

    Cervelo P2C (tri bike)
    Bianchi Eros (commuter/touring road bike)

    1983 Motobecane mixte (commuter/errand bike)
    Cannondale F5 mountain bike

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    3,867
    I read most of Riding with the Blue Moth while sitting at bookstore (yes, I skipped around, but I read at least half of it--I had a lot of time to kill) and found it depressing.

    I have Bike for Life It's more like a reference book, but there are lots of good stories like that of John Howard, and the authors' accounts of their epic rides.

    I watched The Flying Scotsman on pay-per-view the other day, and I'd like to read that book.

    Karen

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Columbia, MO
    Posts
    2,041
    I'm a big fan of the Metal Cowboy. Momentum is Your Friend is about his trip across America pulling his two boys (5 and 7 yrs). The Metal Cowboy is about some of his adventures when he was single and childless. They are both great reads. He's very funny and I love his attitude.

    One thing I learned recently (from his reply to my fan-mail) is that writers need amazon reviews, particularly when a book is new. So if you read a book you like, post an amazon review. It really helps their ratings.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    1,057
    Probably not what you're looking for, but what about Greg Moody's novels?

    And, since I tend to read for comic relief more than anything...French Revolutions by Tim Moore.
    Last edited by Thorn; 11-27-2007 at 06:02 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Seattle
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    8,548
    hey, get your hands on Llamas and Empanadas! it's a great book. A fellow TE gal wrote it about her personal adventures in South America! I thought it would be kind of boring, but it's not!!!
    It's full of all sorts of pain, humor, surprises, and, well, bike riding. and why she did it.
    Mimi Team TE BIANCHISTA
    for six tanks of gas you could have bought a bike.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    In Cognito
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    It's not a book, but I've been keeping up with the journals and pictures of Dominic Gill, a young Brit who began his cycling adventure in June of last year in northern Alaska and is still on his way to Cape Horn. Last time I checked, he was in Ecuador. He's on a tandem, picking up stokers when he can. If I remember correctly, velogirl rode with him for awhile when he was in CA. Interesting reading, beautiful photos.

    http://www.blue-ant.tv/takeaseat/home.php
    Health is the thing that makes you feel like now is the best time of the year--Franklin Pierce Adams

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    orygun
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    Yay! Lots of books....!! Thanks!

    Tri Girl...I am just finishing Heft....I'm not crazy about HIM, but he has such a strong and natural, and often honest, voice that I followed him all across his adventures.
    I teach English too; like Magnuson, I teach creative writing in a college..and I was interested in how his cycling and his teaching dove-tailed and obscured each other....I know the feeling!

    Fragments and such don't bother me when they serve voice...

    ALl these sound great. I might start with the ..Moth book. It sounds interesting, as does the book by Bill Strickland, the title of which escapes me at the moment...
    Last edited by elk; 11-27-2007 at 04:33 PM.
    Discipline is remembering what you want.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Tigard, OR
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    439
    Anything by Josie Dew is worth reading. You have to dig a little to find her books, but Amazon usually has a couple.
    re-cur-sion ri'-ker-shen n: see recursion

  10. #10
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    Sep 2007
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    orygun
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thorn View Post
    Probably not what you're looking for, but what about Greg Moody's novels?

    And, since I tend to read for comic relief more than anything...French Revolutions by Tim Moore.
    I LOVE Mystery novels ....
    Discipline is remembering what you want.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Welsh but living in Munich, Germany
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    324
    Quote Originally Posted by Thorn View Post
    And, since I tend to read for comic relief more than anything...French Revolutions by Tim Moore.
    I bought that one for a friend and ended up reading it myself before I sent it to him. Very funny.

    Has anyone else read "Rough Ride" by Paul Kimmage? It's not always that cheerful but gave a picture of what life is like for a domestique.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Bay Area, CA
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    1,351
    I really enjoyed The Rider by Tim Krabbé - an account of a long race in the French mountains in the cold rain. Parts of it are very funny. Krabbé was a amateur cyclist for a few years in the 70s, and is also a champion chess player.
    Last edited by bikerz; 11-28-2007 at 08:27 AM.
    Keep calm and carry on...

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    around Seattle, WA
    Posts
    3,238
    My SS sent me [U]Miles from Nowhere[U], an enjoyable read! It is cycling related. Part of me wanted to get on a bike and go heavy duty touring, and part of me wanted that tour with a SAG truck in tow with hotel reservations every night.
    Beth

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    2,059
    I can't recall the author, but there is a great nonfiction book called Twenty-One Days In July.

    It is a very interesting and engaging book about the TdF. Well written and lots of fun...not dry, but also very informative.
    "The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew, and live through it." ~ Doug Bradbury

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    532
    I agree with all the recommendations for Miles From Nowhere -- it's my all-time favorite bicycle book. I still re-read it every so often. I also enjoyed the Hey Mom book.

    A few other suggestions:

    It's Not About The Tapas: A Spanish Adventure on Two Wheels. I very much enjoyed it, although some people didn't like all the history trivia she included in her narrative. I liked it, she describes the historical events in a very humorous way.

    Bicycle Love: Stories of Passion, Joy, and Sweat. A wonderful collection of bicycling-themed short stories, personal essays really. There are a lot of people out there just as crazy about cycling as we are!

    The Long Season: One Year of Bicycle Racing in California. An interesting inside look at bicycle racing (non-fiction), and what a tough road it is to move up in the ranks.

    Tour de Life: From Coma to Competition. I know there's a recent thread about Saul, this book describes his amazing recovery from a life-threatening head injury he suffered while racing.

    Happy reading!

 

 

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