Cycle Cycling

When, during the Pyrenean stages of the 1998 Tour de France, a journalist asked Marco Pantani why he rode so fast in the mountains, the elfin Italian, unmistakeable in the bandanna and hooped ear-rings that played up to his 'Pirate' nickname, replied: 'To shorten my agony.' Drawing on the fervour for these men of the mountains, Climbers looks at what sets these athletes apart within the world of bike racing, about why we love and cherish them, how they make cycling beautiful and how they see themselves and the feats they achieve.

Charlie has been beaten and left for dead. She's got hardly any life left in her. But for some reason, she just can't seem to die. A strange headache forces her to head north, towards the mysterious building known only as Facility 12 - where she quickly discovers that she is not alone. There is another Anomaly at the Facility, along with a suspiciously charismatic bot who says he'll do his best to "fix" whatever has gone wrong inside Charlie's head. But when the secrets of the Before mix with the dangers of the Nothing, it unlocks a power that could very well change the world.

Plump, grumpy, slumped on the couch, and going nowhere fast at age 16, Phil Gaimon began riding a bicycle with the grand ambition of shedding a few pounds before going off to college. He soon fell into racing and discovered he was a natural, riding his way into a pro contract after just one season despite utter ignorance of a century of cycling etiquette. Now, in his book Pro Cycling on $10 a Day, Phil brings the full powers of his wit to tell his story.

After taking the year off to save up money and establish a more portable career, Tiffani Burkett was finally ready to get back on the road and finish her "Round The World" ride that she had started on her 2015 Yamaha FZ-07. Little did she know that getting rid of everything in January of 2020 would be one of the biggest mistakes of her life. Or perhaps one of the biggest opportunities.

A true cycling nut would be hard pushed to name all 36 races in just a ‘normal’ UCI World Tour. But there are so many more: 375 on the European Tour alone and many more on the America Tour (80), the Asia Tour (65), and the Africa Tour (45). It’s a year-long schedule, most of it unfamiliar. They may be amazing, they may be odd, but all have their place in the Sticky Bottle calendar. Big races and small ones find a place in Sticky Bottle as well as the relatively unknown. Here are personal and historical tales of cycling wonder and woe, plus a healthy smattering of the bizarre.

When Eragon finds a polished stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight, his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic and power.

Deeply changed by his experiences on the fantasy world of Volar, Ty returns home to discover all-new threats and allies awaiting him. With the fate of two worlds on the line, he must do more than become the hero he’s always wanted to be. He must outmaneuver the gods themselves, even as they transform all he knows and loves into one giant theater of war.

I’ve been known by many names...Junkyard Druid. Justiciar. God-Killer. And now, Trickster. That’s because I’ve thrown my lot in with the Trickster Gods’ Local #113. This merry band of defecation-stirring deities and demigods includes the likes of Sun Wukong, Loki, Heyoka, and the immortal magician formerly known as Gwydion—who happens to be my mentor.

Rainha's life on Arbour Island is fraught with danger as she and her father live in trees above the treacherous lowlands, inhabited by deadly beasts. When a mainlander named Rico visits their tree-top home, a series of events unfolds, leading Rainha to a profound realization about her purpose. Guided by the teachings of the matriarch Victoria and the Victorian Directives, Rainha learns to listen for the whispers of her maker.

Rumination—obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice that can interfere with normal life—is a common and destructive issue that can negatively impact romantic relationships. You may feel anxious, worried, hopeless, and frustrated, but even if you know your overthinking is a problem, it can be seriously hard to stop. In Stop Overthinking Your Relationship, certified couples therapist Alicia Muñoz draws from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness to offer an effective, four-step approach to reduce rumination and change negative thinking patterns.

For time out of mind, bloodthirsty demons have stalked the night, culling the human race to scattered remnants dependent on half-forgotten magics to protect them. Then two heroes arose - men as close as brothers, yet divided by bitter betrayal. Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat - and emerge victorious.

We are living through one of the most anxious periods any of us can remember. Whether facing issues as public as a pandemic or as personal as having kids at home and fighting the urge to reach for the wine bottle every night, we are feeling overwhelmed and out of control. But in this timely book, Judson Brewer explains how to uproot anxiety at its source using brain-based techniques and small hacks accessible to anyone.

Fighting aliens was bad enough. Can he outwit his own evil twin to save billions of souls? Zeke Travers is pulling his hair out. As if the strain of leading his crew wasn’t already overwhelming, he has to blind-jump his spaceship through dimensions in search of a fix for their broken drive. And while salvaging a derelict alien vessel for repair materials, the stressed-out captain is horrified to discover the other ship’s inhabitants were murdered by… his own team?

If I’m to restore the druids to their former glory, I’ll need a safe place to train my recruits. Ideally, someplace where they won’t get curb-stomped by the gods. I can’t think of a better place to hide out than an alternate timeline where the gods and fae are too busy fighting a civil war to bother with little old me. So, it’s time to head back, settle old scores, clear the alternate timeline Earth of the undead, and plant some new druid groves.

Smart, sassy, and sanguine. Des Mildue is a traveling sellsword in Rescalin, a dry and dusty kingdom full of rogues, opportunists, and thieves. She keeps her nose clean, brazens it out with a blade when she can’t, and keeps others at arm’s length where they can’t mess up her plans. That is until a sword fight gone wrong leaves her tied by blood to the first dragon hatched in centuries. Suddenly, Des has to contend with a new voice in her head: haughty, willful Esquidamelion. Des wants to leave Squid by the roadside, but the blood bond has other ideas.

At age 20, Thomas Dekker was already earning €100,000 a year - as an amateur bike racer. The next year, he turned pro and his salary quadrupled then rose again to €900,000 as he established his position as a super-domestique among Europe's wealthiest superteams. The sport world marveled at Dekker's rise as the young racer set his ambitions on capturing cycling's biggest prizes for himself. Before long, though, Dekker found himself corrupted by money, dazzled by fame, and cracking under the relentless pressure to perform at a superhuman level.

The end of the world begins at dawn, when the sun rises later than it should. Then the holes appear. The first forms in Central Park, within sight of an apartment where Repairman Jack and a man as old as time watch with growing dread. Gaping holes, bottomless and empty…until sundown, when the first unearthly, hungry creatures appear.

Cycling Norway: From Trolltunga to Tromsø chronicles a month-long trip from the south to the north of Norway. Filled with musings, insights about the 2000-kilometre cycle tour, humorous stories, notes about tunnels, ferries, camping in the wild, and more, this entertaining travel story contains thoughts about life, exploring your limits, and, of course, crossing a country from a two-wheeled, solo rider perspective. If you’re an adventure cyclist, a novice cyclist who craves adventure, or someone who dreams of travelling the globe, this inspirational memoir is perfect for you. Follow this...

Mankind has ceded the night to the corelings, demons that rise up out of the ground each day at dusk, killing and destroying at will until dawn, when the sun banishes them back to the Core. As darkness falls, the world’s few surviving humans hide behind magical wards, praying the magic can see them through another night. As years pass, the distances between each tiny village seem longer and longer. It seems nothing can harm the corelings, or bring humanity back together.

After a dozen years of practicing medicine as a family physician, Dr. Alan Bulmer discovers one day that he can cure any illness with the mere touch of his hand. At first his scientific nature refuses to accept what is happening to him, but there is no rational explanation to be found. So Alan gives himself over to this mysterious power, reveling in the ability to cure the incurable, to give hope to the hopeless - for one hour each day. Although he tries to hide his power, word inevitably leaks out, and soon Alan's life begins to unravel.