Bike Books to recommend?

[Megabeth]

Yehuda Moon

[SilverSpring]

I highly recommend David Lamb’s “Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle.” He’s a really good journalist who took some time after writing a very vivid (if chilling) look at African crises (“The Africans”) to bike across the land. He has at least three themes going: the demise of small-town America, biking, and bikes as a tool for changing American culture with their advent. It’s an inspiring read with some practical hints (put your fifth of whiskey in the front pannier) and certainly worth the time.

[KelOnWheels]

@jopamora 29809 wrote:

Just finished It’s All About the Bike by Robert Penn. A good story with a fair amount of bicycling history.

Well now that I know the horrible death that awaits me should my handlebars snap on a 50 mph descent (as I have so many of those on my commute, you know) I will be sure to sleep well tonight and I won’t be imagining that AT ALL on my ride tomorrow. Nope. Not ONE TEENSY BIT. Thanks, Robert Penn. :p

On the other hand, I now know that Tullio Campagnolo invented QR skewers in 1920-something, and that is cool.

[krazygl00]

@KelOnWheels 29864 wrote:

@jopamora 29809 wrote:

Just finished It’s All About the Bike by Robert Penn. A good story with a fair amount of bicycling history.

Well now that I know the horrible death that awaits me should my handlebars snap on a 50 mph descent (as I have so many of those on my commute, you know) I will be sure to sleep well tonight and I won’t be imagining that AT ALL on my ride tomorrow. Nope. Not ONE TEENSY BIT. Thanks, Robert Penn. :p

On the other hand, I now know that Tullio Campagnolo invented QR skewers in 1920-something, and that is cool.

Did you read the book in between the time jopamora posted and now???

[KelOnWheels]

@krazygl00 29878 wrote:

Did you read the book in between the time jopamora posted and now???

Well I’m only halfway done. I downloaded it at 2:30ish, read for a bit on my lunch break, read a little more on the Metro home. I read very quickly.

[NicDiesel]

I read “The Immortal Class” a few months ago while on a layover. Not great but readable. I picked Up “Nerves of Steel” off of Amazon the other day for $15 but haven’t had a chance to start reading it yet, though it looks great from the couple of pages I glanced at before putting it on the shelf.

Anybody here read “The Yellow Jersey”? That’s next after I finish “Confederacy of Dunces”.

[thucydides]

@4st7lbs 29905 wrote:

Anybody here read “The Yellow Jersey”? That’s next after I finish “Confederacy of Dunces”.

Yep. It’s a good read and certainly an easier and lighter read than Confederacy of Dunces. I also enjoyed Shield’s The Race as well as his sequel The Tour, though Yellow Jersey is better. Fun fact: Michael Cimino tried to film the Yellow Jersey with Dustin Hoffman as the protagonist. In the end Cimino and the studio decided that adequately capturing the TdF in a movie was way too difficult.

Some other books:
Bike Cult by David Perry. This is an “all things biking” extravaganza. Some of the technical stuff is now dated but you’ve really got to admire how much information Perry packs in.

Bicycling Science by David Gordon Wilson. I love this book. It’s full of rather technical physics, engineering, bio-mechanics, physiology, etc, so it’s definitely not for everyone.

Right now I’m reading Road To Valor by McConnon and McConnon. It’s about Gino Bartali’s efforts against the Nazis. I’ve only just started it but it looks great.

Another fine, but grim, book is The Cyclist: A Novel by Viken Berberian.

As far as triathlons go, I enjoyed Iron War by Matt Fitzgerald. It’s about the Mike Allen-Dave Scott Ironman rivalry. It’s a controversial book because both Allen and Scott criticized it.

[jopamora]

Just started reading Heft on Wheels by Mike Magnuson. About half way done and my biggest question is how did he do it with kids?

[Mark Blacknell]

Picked up the book for its cover, didn’t you?

[Rootchopper]

Three travel books by (coincidentally) women authors:

The Handsomest Man in Cuba by Lynette Chiang
Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy
Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage

[Steve]

Just about to finish “The Geography of Nowhere” by Kunstler, and absolutely loved it. While it might not techncially be a cycling book, it certainly supports it as a valuable form of transportation. On the whole, the book is more about suburban expansion and the development of cities designed completely on the scale of the automobile. It can be dry in some areas, but on the whole I found it really compelling.

Also love “Just Ride” and BSNY, as many others have commented.

[Mikey]

On my wish list are: Momentum Is Your Friend

and Mud Sweat and Gears

[Vicegrip]

I am reading “The escape artist” by Matt Seaton. About a normal guy that gets the cycling bug and races early in life. He became a husband and father leading a normal life later. So far it is good. Have not found it in digital form. Free for the next BA when I finish.

[thecyclingeconomist]

Josh Brandt’s The Bicycle Wheel

Lennard Zinn’s: Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance

[jopamora]

Picked up my cool bike from the library. Haven’t gotten too far into it, but so far it is um cool.

[Author]

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