Anyone read and/or have a review of the book "Up the Road" ?
01-02-07, 01:35 PM
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JoeWolcottCT
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Anyone read and/or have a review of the book "Up the Road" ?
From Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/Up-Road-Cyclin...159506-2919238
I've already read & enjoyed The Rider by Tim Krabbe along with a slew of Lance books.......
Up the Road deals primarily with the rise of "the Anglos" in the European peloton from the 1980's to present.
I would also like to read more about the history of the grand tours from the post WWII era too if someone has a recommendation.
Thanks !
J.
https://www.amazon.com/Up-Road-Cyclin...159506-2919238
I've already read & enjoyed The Rider by Tim Krabbe along with a slew of Lance books.......
Up the Road deals primarily with the rise of "the Anglos" in the European peloton from the 1980's to present.
I would also like to read more about the history of the grand tours from the post WWII era too if someone has a recommendation.
Thanks !
J.
01-02-07, 01:45 PM
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JoeWolcottCT
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Originally Posted by botto
Any thoughts on Up the Road Botto ?
01-02-07, 01:47 PM
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I've got Up the Road. It's just so-so, in my opinion. Send me your mailing address and I will send it to you (I'm done with it) the next time I visit the Post Office.
01-02-07, 01:50 PM
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nope, but this is what bit quirky had to say on the amazon listing:
If you know Samuel Abt's work, you'll know what to expect from this book: a collection of short but beautiful and insightful essays on European racing, all previously published in the International Herald Tribune. Abt's knowledge of Grand Tour racing is vast and his expatriate (American) perspective is unique. He is the undisputed king of the cycling essay.
This collection spans the period from the arrival of the Anglos (the "Foreign Legion") in the early 1980s to Lance Armstrong's seventh Tour de France win in 2005. Don't expect comprehensive coverage, though: the essays are about this and that and, despite Greg LeMond's name in the subtitle, not many of them are about LeMond. The book is garnished with a few Graham Watson photographs.
Much as I treasure Abt's essays-even having read most of these before-I still yearn for the longer thematic work he could set himself to: a history of the Anglos in the European peleton, maybe, or the LeMond racing biography that's never been written. He chides Richard Virenque for meticulously amassing mountain points and little else; surely he's not going to retire with only the black-and-white jersey for essays.
This collection spans the period from the arrival of the Anglos (the "Foreign Legion") in the early 1980s to Lance Armstrong's seventh Tour de France win in 2005. Don't expect comprehensive coverage, though: the essays are about this and that and, despite Greg LeMond's name in the subtitle, not many of them are about LeMond. The book is garnished with a few Graham Watson photographs.
Much as I treasure Abt's essays-even having read most of these before-I still yearn for the longer thematic work he could set himself to: a history of the Anglos in the European peleton, maybe, or the LeMond racing biography that's never been written. He chides Richard Virenque for meticulously amassing mountain points and little else; surely he's not going to retire with only the black-and-white jersey for essays.
01-02-07, 01:53 PM
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Originally Posted by JoeOxfordCT
I would also like to read more about the history of the grand tours from the post WWII era too if someone has a recommendation.
Thanks !
J.
Thanks !
J.
Oh, and if you find anything extra special let the rest of us know.
01-02-07, 02:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Keith99
Try the internet, no not for books, for information.
but here, i'll be an enabler one last time.
check this webtsite, read the articles, spend time with it.
it's probably the best cycling related blog on the interwebs
https://bobkestrut.com/
01-02-07, 02:26 PM
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JoeWolcottCT
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Originally Posted by botto
+1
but here, i'll be an enabler one last time.
check this webtsite, read the articles, spend time with it.
it's probably the best cycling related blog on the interwebs
https://bobkestrut.com/
but here, i'll be an enabler one last time.
check this webtsite, read the articles, spend time with it.
it's probably the best cycling related blog on the interwebs
https://bobkestrut.com/
Thanks for the link Botto....
Boy he has a ton of stuff on his site !
I've read his book. He definitely has a different take on things.
I have one I'll give back:
Felix's Home of the Open Road
https://www.felixwong.com/news/category/openroad/
No, he's not a racer or anything but he's done a boatload of centuries, double centuries, mostly west caost stuff. But he's written extensively and had photos to go with most of his stories too. I've read alot of his stuff. It's a good way to kill a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee..
01-02-07, 02:37 PM
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Originally Posted by JoeOxfordCT
Thanks for the link Botto....
Boy he has a ton of stuff on his site !
I've read his book. He definitely has a different take on things.
Boy he has a ton of stuff on his site !
I've read his book. He definitely has a different take on things.
01-02-07, 03:50 PM
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JoeWolcottCT
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Originally Posted by botto
you do realize that the blogger is not Bob Roll, right?
I only popped into the front page of the site......
Thanks for the heads up !
01-03-07, 10:35 AM
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Both Up the Road and Off to the Races reprint Sam Abt's cycling columns from the International Herald Tribune. They're both very enjoyable, and he manages to get a great deal of detail into each chapter. It seems like his stuff focuses on a specific race or rider, and skips the usual race-background fluff in most US media accounts of bike racing.
My favorite among the LA books is "Lance Armstrong's War", by Dan Coyle. It's not the usual "LA is the greatest thing ever..." work, and it profiles Floyd, Jan, and Vino in considerable depth.
Right now, I'm really enjoying Mark Rendell's "The Death of Marco Pantani." It's very balanced and well researched, and puts away the myth-making that Marco's handlers have engaged in.
I spent an hour flipping through Cycling's Golden Age at my local Borders. If I had a spare $50, it would have come home with me.
My favorite among the LA books is "Lance Armstrong's War", by Dan Coyle. It's not the usual "LA is the greatest thing ever..." work, and it profiles Floyd, Jan, and Vino in considerable depth.
Right now, I'm really enjoying Mark Rendell's "The Death of Marco Pantani." It's very balanced and well researched, and puts away the myth-making that Marco's handlers have engaged in.
I spent an hour flipping through Cycling's Golden Age at my local Borders. If I had a spare $50, it would have come home with me.
01-03-07, 11:39 AM
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JoeWolcottCT
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Originally Posted by VoodooRada
Both Up the Road and Off to the Races reprint Sam Abt's cycling columns from the International Herald Tribune. They're both very enjoyable, and he manages to get a great deal of detail into each chapter. It seems like his stuff focuses on a specific race or rider, and skips the usual race-background fluff in most US media accounts of bike racing.
My favorite among the LA books is "Lance Armstrong's War", by Dan Coyle. It's not the usual "LA is the greatest thing ever..." work, and it profiles Floyd, Jan, and Vino in considerable depth.
Right now, I'm really enjoying Mark Rendell's "The Death of Marco Pantani." It's very balanced and well researched, and puts away the myth-making that Marco's handlers have engaged in.
I spent an hour flipping through Cycling's Golden Age at my local Borders. If I had a spare $50, it would have come home with me.
My favorite among the LA books is "Lance Armstrong's War", by Dan Coyle. It's not the usual "LA is the greatest thing ever..." work, and it profiles Floyd, Jan, and Vino in considerable depth.
Right now, I'm really enjoying Mark Rendell's "The Death of Marco Pantani." It's very balanced and well researched, and puts away the myth-making that Marco's handlers have engaged in.
I spent an hour flipping through Cycling's Golden Age at my local Borders. If I had a spare $50, it would have come home with me.
Lance Armstrong's War is one of my favorites too. Prophetic how much time they spent on Floyd considering what came after...It's a shame that there does not seem to be a resolution in sight for Floyd.
Yes, Cycling's Golden Age looks lovely but like you, it'll have to be cheaper than that to come home with me too.
Tell me more about The Death of Marco Pantani ?
Like I wrote in an earlier post this winter I have the 2000 Tour DVD and I've spent alot of time watching it while spinning away on my rollers in my (unheated) garage. He was quite a character and I thought he could have done better for himself in the GC that year before he dropped out. He seemed to be getting better each day towards the end.
01-04-07, 09:25 AM
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Rendell's book is a combination of solid sports biography and race fan awe. He delves into Marco's personality from childhood, and makes the point that his career highlights almost always came with a severe personal loss.
I'm up to the chapter that goes into the 1999 Giro, where Marco pulled a suspension one day before the race ended. He had the Giro wrapped up, but his hematocrit went over 50%.
Both his career and his personal life went into a nosedive after that. His cocaine abuse escalated, feeding his more paranoid tendencies. Meanwhile, his form never came back to his 1998 level. I suspect that his doping progam got scaled WAY back to avoid another positive.
So far, the book is very good. It doesn't sugarcoat his performance-enhancing or recreational drug use. At the same time, Rendell gives incredibly detailed an vivid recountings of Marco's greatest race expoits.
I'm up to the chapter that goes into the 1999 Giro, where Marco pulled a suspension one day before the race ended. He had the Giro wrapped up, but his hematocrit went over 50%.
Both his career and his personal life went into a nosedive after that. His cocaine abuse escalated, feeding his more paranoid tendencies. Meanwhile, his form never came back to his 1998 level. I suspect that his doping progam got scaled WAY back to avoid another positive.
So far, the book is very good. It doesn't sugarcoat his performance-enhancing or recreational drug use. At the same time, Rendell gives incredibly detailed an vivid recountings of Marco's greatest race expoits.
