General Cycling Discussion - Books on Cycling.

How many of you read books on cycling? What subject are the books, non-fiction, fiction, or both?

So far I have read a total of 20 cycling related books. Some are advice wuch as weight training, touring, etc, one is a fictional story one is a book of qoutes but most are true stories of people's touring adventures.

Here are the subjects and titles:

Quotes:

1. The Quotable Cyclist by Bill STrickland

Advice, tips, and training:

2. Bicycling Books Basic Riding Techniques - by the editors of Bicycling Magazine

3. Bicycling Books The Most Frequently Asked Questions About Bicycling - by the editors of Bicycling Magazine

4. The Bicycling Users Manual from the editors of Bicycling Magazine

5. Bicycling Magazine's 900 All-Time Best Tips - by the eidtors of Bicycling Magazine

6. Weight Training For Cyclists - by Eric Schmitz and Ken Doyle

7. The Lance Armstrong Performance Program - by Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael

8. The Long Distance Cyclists' Handbook - by Simon Doughty

Non-Fiction Touring stories:

9. Metal Cowboy - by Joe Kurmaskie

10. Spokesongs - by Willie Weir

11. Hey Mom, Can I ride My Across America Five Kids Meet Their Country - by John Seigel Boettner

12. Wide Hips, Narrow Shoulders A Bike Touring Adventure Story - by Monte M. Lowrance

13. Westward Ha! Bicycling Cross Country with My Two Sons - by Calvin H. Allen

14. Just Keep Pedaling A Corner-toCorner Bike Ride aCross America - by T.E. Trimbath

15. Miles From Nowhere A Round The-World Bicycle Adventure - by Barbara Savage

16. A Crossing A Cyclists Journey Home - by Brain Newhouse

17. Roll Around Heaven All Day A Piecemeal Journey across America by Bicycle - by Stan Purdum

Story about bike messangers:

18. The Immortal Class Bike Messanger and the Cult of Human Power - by Travis Hugh Cullet

Autobiography/biography's

19. Its Not About The Bike My Journey Back To Life - by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins

Fiction:

20. 16,000 Suspects A RAGBRAI Murder Mystery - by 17 Iowa writers

I am currently reading a non-fiction touring adventure story called:
We Passed This Way A Coast-to-Coast Bicycle Trip with Historical Reflections - by Dick Swinnerton

I also have a non-fiction touring story to read yet called: Changing Gears - by Jane Schnell

If anyone wants to know anything about any of the books I read please ask. I recommend all of the books I have read for anyone here to read.

I'll give a "book report" on the 2 last books I mentioned above when I finish reading them as well as others I read in the future.

Does anyone have any recommendations on books for me to read?

Please share your questions, opinions, suggestions, etc.

Good list, I've read a few of them.

Here are a few more:

Catfish and Mandala - Andrew X. Pham
- cycling in Viet Nam

On the trail of Marco Polo - Brady Fotheringham
- cycling the "silk road".

The Road of Dreams - Bruce Junek
- cycling around the world

Tour De France - Graeme Fife

Aerobat, On The Trail Of Marco Polo is one of the next books I'm going to order. Reading the excerpts and reviews on it, it sounds like a good book.

There is one small issue with reading all these touring adventure stories though. That is the more I read about it the harder the "bug" bits me and the more I want to do it myself. I plan on doing some self contained tours next year.

If anyone's interested, I was at Hasting's bookstore the other day and was looking on the sale table. Found a couple of copies of a book of bicycle stamps. There must be a thousand of 'em. Anyway, the book list price was 25 bucks. On sale for 3.99.

Dirtgrinder I'm interested. Was the book on clearance? Or just on sale? Can you get me the info on the book, full title, author, publishing company, and if possible the ISBN #, you'll have to ask a store employee for the #. I'd like to try to order it through Barnes and Noble if I can. If it was on clearance it may be difficult to order it, but worth a try.

Thanks.

I highly recommend Burrows' book Bicycle Design - towards the perfect machine on bicycle design in general.

And if you are seriously interested in the technical history of the bicycle (the derailleur, anyway), The Dancing Chain is a must.

Cheers...Gary

Here's a newly available book that I really like.

Fred Matheny's Complete Book of Road Bike
Training

So far as I know it is only available here:

http://www.roadbikerider.com/rbt_excerpt.htm

This is the book.
http://www.addall.com/Browse/Detail/0933201788.html
http://www.ixxibalba.com/WildWest/1035/misc.htm
I went and picked up the last two copies. If anyone is interested I'll send them to you.

Metal Cowboy is a good read about one cyclist's touring experiences.

methany's book rocks

Dirtgrinder,

If the price is right I am interested in buying one of those stamp books.

Bike books I've read:

It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins
A Season in Turmoil by Samuel Abt
The Yellow Jersey by Ralph Hurne
World of Cycling by John Wilcockson
Tales from the Toolbox by Rupert Guiness
The complete series of Greg Moody books
Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair from Bicycling Magazine
Volume 1-4 of the Barnett Manual
Bicycle Road Racing by Eddie Borysewicz
Training for Cycling by Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter
The Lance Armstrong Performance Program by Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael
Serious Cycling by Ed Burke
High-Tech Cycling also by Ed Burke
Bicycling Science by Frank Rowland Whitt and David Gordon Wilson
The Cyclists Training Bible by Joe Friel (This is the one I'm currently reading...

I'm sure there are more plus I've got a few more inbound from Amazon.com (soon I'll have them ALL!) :D

Touring Bikes by Tony Oliver, a guide to designing and building them.
The Third Policeman, Flann O'Brian. Indescribable surrealist crime comedy which explains why you feel so attatched to your bike. You just have to read it for yourself, even better, see the play.

Sports Nutrtition Guidebook by Nancy Clark, MS, RD
While not cycling specific an excellent book if you want a clue to eating properly. The author IS a bike commuter.....

I thought it was time to put a list of many of books on cycling adventures from my collection. Let me know if you want specifics on any of them.

Wells

Two Wheels North; Bicycling the West Coast in 1909; Gibb, Evelyn McDaniel; 2000

2 Wheels 2 Years & 3 Continents; A Bicyclist’s Dream Fulfilled; Galen, Ralph W.;1977

Cold Beer and Crocodiles; A Bicycle Journey into Australia; Smith, Roff; 2000

A Bike Ride;12,000 miles around the world; Mustoe, Anne;1992

The Adventure of Two Lifetimes; Goetz, Pegy Newland and Brian Goetz;2001

Computing Across America; The Bicycle Odyssey of a High-Tech Nomad;Roberts, Steven K.;1988

Metal Cowboy; Tales from the road less pedaled;Kurmaskie, Joe;1999

Where the Pavement Ends; One Woman’s Bicycle Trip Through Mongolia, China & Vietnam;Warmbrunn, Erika;2001

Spokesongs; Bicycle Adventures on Three Continents;Weir, Willie;1997

The Trail to Titicaca; A journey through South America;Attlee, Rupert;1999

Following the Sun; A Bicycle Pilgrimage from Andalusia to the Hebrides;Mitchell, John Hanson;2002

A Crossing;A Cyclist’s Journey Home; Newhouse, Brian;1998

Riding the Desert Trail; By bicycle to the source of the Nile;Selby, Bettina;1988

Cycling Adventures of Coconut Head; A North American Odyssey;Schredd, Ted;1996

Against the Wind; A Maine to Alaska Bicycling Adventure;Basch, Marty;1995

Free-Wheelin’; A Solo Journey Across Ameerica;Lovett, Richard A.;1992

Africa Trek; A Journey by Bicycle through Africa;Buettner, Dan;1997

The Impossible Ride; The Story of the First Bicycle Ride across the Amazon Jungle;Sutherland, Louise;1982

Over the Hills; Lamb, David;1996

Stealing from a Deep Place; Travels in Southeastern Europe;Hall, Brian;1988

Pedaling the Ends of the Earth; Four young me come of age in a great bicycling adventure stretching from Spain to Japan;Duncan, David;1985

Himalayan Passage; Seven months in the high courtry of Tibet, Nepal, China, India, and Pakistan;Schmidt, Jeremy;1991

Short Summer in South America; Sanders, Nick;1989
Hurt City;;Voiland, Bob;1994

Cycling to XIAN and other excursions; Travels by bicycle through China & Tibet;Buckley, Michael;1988

Seeing Myself Seeing the World; A Woman’s Journey Around the World on a Bicycle;Vantress, Sally;1990

Changing Gears; Bicycling America’s Perimeter;Schnell, Jane;1990

Round Ireland in Low Gear; Newby, Eric;1987

Lone Traveller; One Woman, Two Wheels and the World;Mustoe, Anne;1998

The Masked Rider; Cycling in West Africa;Peart, Neil;1996

Travels in a Strange State; Cycling across the USA;Dew, Josie;1994

We’re Outta Here!; How to plan an dtake the trip of your dreams;Wooten, David;1997

Three Men on a Bike; A Journey through Africa;Spowers, Rory;1995

The World up Close; A cyclist’s Adventures on Five Continents;Nasr, Kameel B.;1990

Six Years After D-DAY; Cycling through Europe;Alsmeyer, Marie Bennett;1995

Ride with the Wind; The Adventures of a Grandmother who Bicycled around the World;Hamlin, Charlotte;1997

Roll Around Heaven All Day; A Piecemeal Journey Across America by Bicycle;Purdum, Stan;1997

The Long Ride; Sumner, Lloyd; 1978

Two Wheels around New Zealand; A bicycle journey on Friendly Roads;Bischke, Scott;1989

The Road of Dreams; A Two-Year Bicycling and Hiking Adventure around the World;Junek, Bruce B.;1991

Ironhourse Rider; A Coast to Coast Bicycle Odyssey;Turner, Bo;1996

wow wellshorten that is quite a list..
i have read only a few of them, getting methenys' sp? book tomorrow if its available..
nancy clark is sooooo good. for nutrition.. its helped me prepare for some very long endurance rides.
currently reading Lances book(got it for quite a bargain)and have Friels training book right now.
Quotable cyclist was given to me while in recovery.. nice little book.

Wellshorton, it seems we have read some of the same books. But the books you have read that I have not yet, are going to be added to my list of "Books to be Read", thanks for that.

Where did you purchase all of your books? I have had to order one from Amazon.com, unfortunatly it was a used copy, I prefere new when possible. All of the rest were either purchsed from or ordered through B.Dalton/Barnes and Noble. If a sotre has it in stock I purchase it from the store, if not I have them order it in for me. I have a readers discount card that comes in handy, saves 10% per purchase. I have yet to use BN.com to order a book. If I have to do that I only get a 5% discount with my card. So you see the reason I'd rather order from or purchase at one of the stores.

The only reason I had to order from Amazon is B.Dalton/Barnes and Noble could not order the book. But I prefere to deal with them rather then Amazon.

The only one I have that has not been mentioned is Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maitenence by Lennard Zinn.

I have a few more, but just didn't include them in the list. Whenever I can I look for different ones in bike shops, used book stores, and some of the larger independant book stores. It's taken a while to collect them plus find time to read them but I try to keep with them.

Right now I am reading Thomas Stevens' book Around the World by Bicycle written in the 1880's. It was just recently republished and available from bookstores. It's a long read with amazing detail. This guy rode around the world first and had pretty bad equipment, not to mention almost nonexistant roads!

Wells

Another great book, if you are interested in how they got this way recently, is

Kolin, Michael J., and denise M. de la Rosa.
THE CUSTOM BICYCLE: BUYING, SETTING UP, AND RIDING THE QUALITY BICYCLE.
1979, third printing.

Interviews with several leaders of the day about the hows and whys of their bicycles.

Cheers...Gary

Just ordered On The Trail Of Marco Polo. While I await its arrival I am still reading Changing Gears. When I am finished with Changing Gears and start reading On the Trail Of Marco Polo I will order another book, don't know which one yet though.

I just finished The Heart Rate Monitor Book for Cyclists by
Sally Edwards and Sally Reed.
A real good book to help you get on the right track using
heart rate monitor training.

Just finished 'Journey to the Centre of The Earth' by the Crane cousins, fascinating read.

Richard

I strongly recommend Road to Montevideo , a single woman's one-year bicycle adventure in South America 1941-42, by Helen Richardson Coyle. It is privately published by her son, Bill Coyle (wtcoyle@hotmail.com), $11.50 including S&H. I learned about it from a review in the Adventure Cycling mag. Basically, her plan to cycle through all of South America was interrupted in Montevideo, Uraguay; because a single woman cycling was so strange that it was assumed she had to be a spy. In fact, it sounds like she was very lucky to get out with just having her trip ended.

Some favorites of mine I didn't see mentioned:

Bicycling Medicine, Arnie Baker, M.D. Lots of good medical and health advice from a Doctor and note-worthy racer.

Efffective Cycling, John Forester. If you get this book, the very first thing to read is at the end of chapter 37 (in the revision I have), where he quotes John Scott's description of the Sonora Pass. Forester's breadth and depth of knowledge on cycling is amazing. Some info is dated, some you might disagree with, but everything is worth a read.

Greg LeMond's complete boot of Bicycling, Greg LeMond and Kent Gordis. This one may be out of print, and much of the information seems pretty dated, now. But what I like is that it has a lot of good common sense advice, and seems a lot less "clinical" and fanatical than a lot of books. It's also interesting to read Greg's account of his early (pre-European) career. To hear him tell it, racing and winning came as easily to him as breathing.

Greg Moody authored a series of three murder mystery books with the stage of the Tour de France. All three are great reads in the fiction end of cycling.

Two Wheels, Velopress, 1995

Derailleur, Velopress, 1996

Perfect Circles, Velopress, 1998



Wells

Hey guys and gals, I need a bit of help. It's my buddy's birthday and I know he hasn't read, "The Dancing Chain". He's the manager of my LBS, so, there is no point in getting him anything else Bike related.

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of this book? Maybe two! If I can find two available, I'd buy one for myself.

Thanks
L8R

BTW,

I searched Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-million, and all three stated, "NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE"

So, any help would be appreciated!

L8R

Psyklenut, for the Dancing Chain, try two bike stores, American Cyclery in San Francisco, CA (Don't know their #) and Kingston Classic Cycle in Kingston, Washington, phone # 360-297-7144. My own favorites:
The Man Who Loved Bicycles, by Daniel Behrman, a 1975 philosophical tract,
The Dancing Chain, Berto/Raymond, 1999,
Breakaway, Samuel Abt, 1980's
"Best of Bicycling" which has just wonderful touring articles by Dr. Clifford Graves written mostly in the 1960's. This is a collection of articles from Bicycling in the years before hype, lycra, and component fraud.
Also, mystery readers check out the Thomas Black series by road and mountain bike racing Seattle firefighter and writer Earl Emerson. Black is a Merckx and Miyata riding PI who uses his bikes for trailing, stakeouts, and surveillance in these entertaining light mysteries. "Light" means less blood, guts, psychosis, and sex than, say, James Ellroy.

Feldman,
Question for you. In Best of Bicycling was there an article on storing excess energy in the form of pressure within the frame. I have vague memories of reading that so many years ago. The story was of course humor.
Wells

Amazon is offering "Lance Armstrong's War" together with "The Race" for a huge discount. You can also select free shipping at checkout. I don't know how long this promo will run, but you can see more here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0974849200/ref=ase_penduluspath-20/102-1044265-7286536?v=glance&s=books

Dave:

I happened to just finished reading your book. Interestingly enough recovering from a bad bike crash last Monday that I really, really broke my arm (needed surgery plate screws). I read it in I think two days, must say when Ben gets into the race its hard to put down. I would say I would have liked to have seen more. I would have liked to see more about the characters and their relationship with Ben, eg Thelma.

Also, this question for some reason has been on my mind. Do cycling teams really have team helecopters or did you just make that up to get Ben's girlfriend where she needed to be?

Bill

I have a few more, but just didn't include them in the list. Whenever I can I look for different ones in bike shops, used book stores, and some of the larger independant book stores. It's taken a while to collect them plus find time to read them but I try to keep with them.

Right now I am reading Thomas Stevens' book Around the World by Bicycle written in the 1880's. It was just recently republished and available from bookstores. It's a long read with amazing detail. This guy rode around the world first and had pretty bad equipment, not to mention almost nonexistant roads!

Wells


I am just finishing Thomas Stevens. One of the best adventure books I have ever read.

20. 16,000 Suspects A RAGBRAI Murder Mystery - by 17 Iowa writers


Is this book out of print? Do you have the ISBN #? I've been looking around for it online, without any luck. Please let me know. I'm a former Iowegian, and I'd love to read it.

Thanks!

Inside The Postal Bus by Michael Barry - Describes life as a member of Lance's US Postal Team.

Uphill Battle Cycling's Great Climbers by Owen Mulholland - There are some good early TDF stories in this one. I just made it to the Eddy Merckx chapter.

Both are published by Velopress

--- What an impressive list of books. And then there's
"Iron Riders: Story of the 1890s Fort Missoula Buffalo Soldiers Bicycle Corps" by George Niels Sorenson

/

Hey guys and gals, I need a bit of help. It's my buddy's birthday and I know he hasn't read, "The Dancing Chain". He's the manager of my LBS, so, there is no point in getting him anything else Bike related.

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of this book? Maybe two! If I can find two available, I'd buy one for myself.

Thanks
L8R

Have a look at entry #30 at http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?y=15&tn=The+Dancing+Chain&x=65
Regards
Andrew

"A significant other", the story of the life of a domestique that got a day in the "sunlight", hugo pena and the TDF...

I might have missed these but I will add a couple that I've read.

The Wheels of Chance - H.G. Wells

Around the World on a Bicycle - Fred A. Birchmore

Mr Birchmore was kind enough to sign my copy. "May good health & happiness go with you for the rest of your journey thru life on God's beautiful Spaceship Earth."

He also told me to see this passage in the book:
"The best things in life are free- a bed in God's great out-of-doors, fresh air, sunshine, moonlight raining down from a cloudless sky, wind rustling in the palms, waters lapping the river banks, frogs croaking, birds singing, the laughter and gaiety of children, the joyous companionship of Bucephalus! Loneliness loves company. Nothing is finer in a foreign land than a friend to share your joys and make them double: and your sorrows and make them half. This is true, even though your "friend" be only a bicycle."

Feldman,
Question for you. In Best of Bicycling was there an article on storing excess energy in the form of pressure within the frame. I have vague memories of reading that so many years ago. The story was of course humor.
Wells

I have that book and it is great. My paperback copy is totally falling apart. The article in the book is called "The Checkered Flag Special" by Charles R. Siple and was published in April 1965.

This book is a jewel for readers interested in '60s nostalgia. The copyright is 1970.

-Dennis

Here's my list:
1. "16,000 Suspects: A RAGBRAI Mystery" -17 Iowan Writers (fiction)

2. "Bicycling the Lewis and Clark Trail" -Michael McCoy (Adventure Cycling Assoc)

3. "The Katy Trail Guide Book" -Brett Defur

4. "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey back to Life" -Lance Armstrong

5. "Every Second Counts" -Lance Armstrong

6. "The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling" -Edmund R Burke and Ed Pavelka

7. "Sloane's New Bicycle Maintenance Manual" -Eugene A Sloane

8. "The Lance Armstrong Performance Program" -Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael

It's not very long, but hey, it's a start! Let me know if anyone has questions.