When a normal situation suddenly changes, Belgians call it 'een hond met een hoed op,' a dog with a hat on. Joe Parkin, an American bike racer who left the familiar comforts of home to compete at the highest professional level in Belgium, was that dog in a hat - something familiar, yet decidedly out of place.In his searing, no-holds-barred memoir, Parkin describes the true life of the professional bike racer. His plainspoken prose puts us in the whirlwind of this hardest of athletic educations, starting with the first visit to his team doctor, where, strapped to a metal table and monitored by humming electrodes, men in white lab coats coldly divine his future as a pro.Parkin pulls no punches. "A Dog in a Hat" celebrates the glory of bike racing, but Parkin tells the hard reality of the life thrillingly - the drugs, the payoffs, the betrayals by team-mates, the battles with team owners for contracts and money, the endless promises that keep you going, and the sheer physical agony of racing day after day.Despite the pain, despite the suffering, "A Dog in a Hat" is a beautiful book. It is one racer's story of his love affair with professional cycling, set in the hardest place in the world to be a bike racer. It is a story untold until now, and one that Parkin's readers will never forget.
A Dog in a Hat
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.30
Trade in A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.30, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
""A Dog in a Hat" is the most authentic book ever written on making a living as a pro cyclist in Europe." -- Bob Roll, Versus Tour de France cycling commentator
"Is "A Dog in a Hat" the best book we've ever read about bike racing? Undeniably yes. The essential truths you'll learn about Belgian bike racing are timeless. And the self-effacing (and often hilarious) way Joe narrates the absurdity of these traditions will make you laugh out loud. Of everything written about bike racing throughout the history of mankind, Chapter 3, "Kermis Don't Play Fair," is the most important 20 pages ever penned. No one should be permitted to own a USA Cycling license without being able to recite this chapter from heart. You'll be fascinated by Joe's humility, his determination, and by the warped way domestiques set their goals and weigh success." -- CompetitiveCyclist.com
""A Dog in a Hat" is a page turner. Anyone who has raced in Europe or who wonders what it's like to jump the ocean on your own should pick up this book. Joe captures the struggle and the intensity to succeed, and the fact that he did it on his own is all the more impressive. Cycling in Europe is tough; doing it Joe's way is even tougher!" -- Frankie Andreu
"Parkin's commentary is riveting, offering an insider look into the sport that few get to see, let alone experience." -- Mountain Bike magazine
"I loved "A Dog in a Hat." Joe's stories bring back many memories of racing in Belgium, where I learned how to fight for position in the echelon, to suffer in the gutter while jumping curbs and dodging potholes, and to pound out my guts when it really mattered. Belgium is a hard place to learn bicycle racing and Joe's story proves how tough he was." --Ron Kiefel
"This plain, self-deprecating memoir has the ring of authenticity at the other end of the sport where--even today--not all the riders are being paid, the hotels are still bad, and the races are just as hard." --TinDonkey.c
About the Author
Joe Parkin was an amateur bike racer in California when he met Bob Roll (Bobke II), who advised him to move to Belgium to further his cycling career. He represented the United States at the World Professional Cycling Championships and the World Cyclocross Championships. Following his road racing years in Belgium, he returned to the United States and began a successful second career as a pro mountain bike racer. He currently resides in Golden Valley, Minnesota.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Being a Flemish cycling enthousiast(after all, our love for cycling is a genetic feature of most Flemings...) I was really curious to read the story of this "Yankee at the World Centre of Cycling". I must say I was positively surprised by his no-nonsens approach, with easy to read, well written chapters and a nice set of glossy colour pictures. The odd Flemish expressions and curses thrown in, add a nice local flavour to the stories and enhance their credibility. Joe is very straightforward, outspoken and - I want to believe - honest in his analysis of the tough small inner circle of life on the racebike in Europe, especially Flanders, where he came to look for a career in professional cycling. The backroom politics, backbiting amongst riders donning the same jersey, the relation with the directeurs sportifs, the way races are "pre-arranged", all confirm the fact that the only message for naive newcomers is to accept the unwritten rules of the peleton or get destroyed... Joe doesn't dodge the tricky issue of organized doping either, which shows how doping had become generally accepted in cycling and inherited by one generation of riders to the next one. The book is a real page turner and reads like a 53 X 11 gear during a descent. Most recommended to anyone interested in sports in general and cycling in particular.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By G. Daniels
Format:Paperback
This memoir would not have been published a decade ago. Then, cycling books were idealized, all sunflowers, suntans and white teeth. If the Festina Affair was some kind of milestone, more recent events have stripped the veneer from pro cycling to expose a drug-fuelled sham. Its aspiring saviours face a huge challenge.
Joe Parkin wanted to be the best. Arriving from the USA as an innocent, he witnessed in Belgium the darker side of cycling at his first pro event with riders openly injecting themselves as part of pre-race preparation.
Parkin was a nearly man. Fate, or ability that fell short, kept him from the big win that would make his name. But he kept trying, absorbing Flemish culture and speaking the language. He was accepted.
Kermis - or kermesse - racing is the staple diet of Belgian cycling. Jim Ochowicz told Parkin that kermis riders were 'a dime a dozen' and that he should have ambition for the big races. Parkin himself found his dressing room peers generally dim. However, he was a man trying to do a superman's job. It wasn't long before dope claimed him, too.
The drudgery, race-fixing and duplicity of riders, managers and sponsors -and not merely in the second stream - comes through Parkin's words. There's not much glamour for the journeyman professional. He stayed just a few years in Belgium and then did not return. Who could blame him?
Joe Parkin wanted to be the best. Arriving from the USA as an innocent, he witnessed in Belgium the darker side of cycling at his first pro event with riders openly injecting themselves as part of pre-race preparation.
Parkin was a nearly man. Fate, or ability that fell short, kept him from the big win that would make his name. But he kept trying, absorbing Flemish culture and speaking the language. He was accepted.
Kermis - or kermesse - racing is the staple diet of Belgian cycling. Jim Ochowicz told Parkin that kermis riders were 'a dime a dozen' and that he should have ambition for the big races. Parkin himself found his dressing room peers generally dim. However, he was a man trying to do a superman's job. It wasn't long before dope claimed him, too.
The drudgery, race-fixing and duplicity of riders, managers and sponsors -and not merely in the second stream - comes through Parkin's words. There's not much glamour for the journeyman professional. He stayed just a few years in Belgium and then did not return. Who could blame him?
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By C. Baird
Format:Paperback
I bought this book after reading a review in procycling magazine.I wasn't dissapointed.Its a great read,well written and an honest and open account into pro cycling.I couldn't put it down.Its worth putting on your wish list or getting it for a xmas present.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 111 reviews
3.9 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful, entertaining
Very interesting story. Fascinating insider's view of the pro bike racing scene in Belgium. Easy to dip in and out of. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2010 by N. Bowman
5.0 out of 5 stars
The real face of professional cycling
I had read nothing but good reviews of this book and it didn't disappoint. Joe Parkin paints a very vivid and honest picture of racing within the Belgium pro scene in the early... Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by Allen Foster
4.0 out of 5 stars
A dog in a hat
I had taken the opportunity to read a chapter of this book that I had downloaded earlier from the internet and the complete book did not disappoint. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2009 by Flandrianfield
5.0 out of 5 stars
Top read
This book is a very easy read and a real 'page flicker'. The dream that all wannabe racers have as young guns should read this to appreciate the dedication and skullduggery that... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2009 by marttheharp
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cycling on the wrong side
It was a good honest read, very interesting with refectling accounts of life as a professional cyclist, the compromising living standards, the uncomfortable transport to events,... Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2009 by Juliette Mac Gabhann
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
