Favourite Bike Books: Inside Stories
When I get obsessive with something, I start reading everything I can find about it.
Here are a few of my favourite bike books. (I'm always looking for recommendations.)
The Rider, by Tim Krabbé
Find it here.
Beautifully written story of a single-day race in 1977, told from inside the head of an aging amateur racer. I read it once to find out who wins, and then immediately re-read it to savour the writing.
And the cover is beautiful. Always a bonus for me.
Slaying the Badger: Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault, and the Greatest Tour de France
by Richard Moore
Find it here.
Man, that Bernard Hinault: he could ride a bike, but jeez – he was a bastard. A blow-by-blow account of the 1986 Tour de France, in which the patron Hinault and upstart Greg Lemond duked it out for the win.
While on the same team.
The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs
by Tyler Hamilton
Find it here.
If you don't like Lance now, this book sure won't help. Tyler Hamilton takes you right inside the belly of the doping beast at its height in the late 90s and early 2000s, and delves deep into the psychology of denial that made it possible. He doesn't let himself off the hook, either. Not fantastic writing, but an incredible story. And it it's guaranteed to make you think about your hemocrit levels in a whole new way.
Here are a few of my favourite bike books. (I'm always looking for recommendations.)
The Rider, by Tim Krabbé
Find it here.
Beautifully written story of a single-day race in 1977, told from inside the head of an aging amateur racer. I read it once to find out who wins, and then immediately re-read it to savour the writing.
And the cover is beautiful. Always a bonus for me.
Slaying the Badger: Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault, and the Greatest Tour de France
by Richard Moore
Find it here.
Man, that Bernard Hinault: he could ride a bike, but jeez – he was a bastard. A blow-by-blow account of the 1986 Tour de France, in which the patron Hinault and upstart Greg Lemond duked it out for the win.
While on the same team.
The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs
by Tyler Hamilton
Find it here.
If you don't like Lance now, this book sure won't help. Tyler Hamilton takes you right inside the belly of the doping beast at its height in the late 90s and early 2000s, and delves deep into the psychology of denial that made it possible. He doesn't let himself off the hook, either. Not fantastic writing, but an incredible story. And it it's guaranteed to make you think about your hemocrit levels in a whole new way.
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