Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories
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Product Description
Review
A new paperback by Les Woodland, the popular European correspondent for RBR's Premium Site, has just been published. "Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories" is Les's 24th book. Within its 160 pages he entertainingly delves into the absurd side of pro racing. For a hundred years the sport has produced a rich supply of human folly, and Les is simply the best there is at telling the tales. As often as possible he does so after meeting with the characters involved (or their descendants) to learn things no other writer knows. -- RoadBikeRider.com, March 25, 2010
These 50 episodes are often brief in their rendering for this is little need for nuance, for context, for character background. They each, on their face, are so strange as to be worthy of forehead-slapping, belly-holding guffaws of wide-eyed disbelief. These stories can make Brittney Spears seem only a tad quirky.
These 50 episodes are often brief in their rendering for this is little need for nuance, for context, for character background. They each, on their face, are so strange as to be worthy of forehead-slapping, belly-holding guffaws of wide-eyed disbelief. These stories can make Brittney Spears seem only a tad quirky.
Told instructionally, as a blueprint for strangeness, a how-to of memorable, these stories beguile comprehension. Charles Terront won a 1000km race on the velodrome. That's not even the strange part. Terront is said to have won the race by an inner tube, but not in the fashion you might guess.
The temptation is to recount bits of this book, but in doing so, I'd be doing nothing so much as spoiling the surprises and I could do nothing crueler in my recommendation of the volume than spoil the fun.
For those who climb into bed tired, this is the ideal bedside reading, not more than four of five pages to an anecdote. I defy you to drift off during the exploits too strange not to have happened. -- Redkiteprayer.com, April 1, 2010
Product Description
Professional cycling has been around for more than 100 years, more than enough time for nearly anything imaginable to have happened. Whether it's the Tour de France racer who thought the worst thing that could happen to him was being forced to wear the Yellow Jersey, or the communist team director who insisted, on a whim, that a rider have a toe amputated or the fit of jealousy that started the Giro d'Italia, the sport has an endless supply of examples of human folly. Les Woodland has the perfect knack for telling these improbable, silly, crazy and absurd stories.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Want to find out about the Tour de France winner who gambled away all his winnings the day the race ended? How about the man who thought he'd set a cycling distance record only to find out that he hadn't -- even after riding extra distance to ensure that he had! This book has those stories and much more.
Then there's the tale of Wim Van Est, the first Duthch rider to wear the Tour de France's yellow jersey, only to fall off a cliff -- and nearly to his death -- the very next day!
In the interst of full disclosure, this book is also published by McGann Publishing, the publisher of my book, Bicycle History. But I've been a big fan of Les Woodland's work since before this book came out. Just check out my Listmania list on Amazon's US site. Mr. Woodland has been writing about cycling since the '70s and really knows his stuff (check out his encyclopedic "Yellow Jersey Companion to the Tour de France," if you don't believe me).
James Witherell
Then there's the tale of Wim Van Est, the first Duthch rider to wear the Tour de France's yellow jersey, only to fall off a cliff -- and nearly to his death -- the very next day!
In the interst of full disclosure, this book is also published by McGann Publishing, the publisher of my book, Bicycle History. But I've been a big fan of Les Woodland's work since before this book came out. Just check out my Listmania list on Amazon's US site. Mr. Woodland has been writing about cycling since the '70s and really knows his stuff (check out his encyclopedic "Yellow Jersey Companion to the Tour de France," if you don't believe me).
James Witherell
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
This book is perfect for you who are interested in cycling. It is, I must say, also perfect for those of you that are not. Some of the stories made me smile and laugh. Some of the stories made me think: "Is this actually possible". The collection of stories will give you a good insight in the history of madness in cycling. A top book if you want to be amused with real history.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this for my husband and he hasn't put it down. More than this, he also keeps reading sections of it to me. It seems to be a hit!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
... starts to get a little tedious
I'm a great cycling fan and was tempted to buy this on my Kindle due to the low cost and some positive reviews. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Bookworm Bill
Get on your bike instead
Oh lordy a collection of stories that only someone who lived in a cave and never went out would find fun. Read more
Published 8 months ago by lostinfrance
Entertaining for those new to the peloton
Les Woodland is a very respected writer on cycling matters and as such a book by him is always welcome to the fan. Read more
Published 11 months ago by magdalene42
Cycling stories
This was a gift for a secret santa at work, for someone who loves cycling. He loved the book and spent the majority of the day reading it instead of writing board reports!
Published 16 months ago by A Bromwich
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