Cycling Memoirs

Before Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. Behind Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. One of only five Britons to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, Sean Yates burst onto the cycling scene as the rawest pure talent this country has ever seen. After turning professional at the age of 22, he soon became known as a die-hard domestique, putting his body on the line for his teammates.

Beloved German cyclist Jens Voigt isn't a superstar in the traditional sense of the word. Although he won three stages of the Tour de France - and wore the yellow jersey twice - Voigt never claimed an overall victory. He became a star because he embodies qualities that go beyond winning and losing: sacrifice, selflessness, reliability, and devotion. European and American crowds were drawn to his aggressive riding style, outgoing nature, and refreshing realness.

Originally published in 1978, The Rider is a modern-day classic that is recognised as one of the best books ever written about the sport. Brilliantly conceived and best enjoyed at a break-neck pace, it is a loving, imaginative and passionate tribute to the art of cycle racing.

Greg LeMond stunned the sporting world by becoming the first American to win the Tour de France in 1986, defeating French cycling legend Bernard Hinault. Nine months later, LeMond lay in a hospital bed, his career as a bicycle racer seemingly over. And yet, barely two years after this crisis, LeMond mounted a comeback. In 1989, he once again won the Tour - by a narrow margin of eight seconds. It remains the closest Tour de France in history. The Comeback chronicles the life of this great American athlete, from his roots in Nevada and California to the heights of global fame.

In the tradition of The Boys in the Boat and Seabiscuit, a fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking but forgotten figure - the remarkable Major Taylor, the Black man who broke racial barriers by becoming the world’s fastest and most famous bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era.

In 1935, Fred A. Birchmore left the small American town of Athens, Georgia, to continue his college studies in Europe. In his spare time, Birchmore toured the continent on a one-speed bike he called Bucephalus (after the name of Alexander the Great's horse). A born wanderer, Birchmore broadened his travels to include the British Isles and even the Mediterranean. After a lengthy, unplanned detour in Egypt, Birchmore put his studies on hold, pointed Bucephalus eastward, and just kept going.

Un muy joven Ernesto Guevara viaja por América Latina, junto a su amigo Alberto Granado, parten de Argentina y se enfrentan a aventuras y realidades que los transformarán para siempre. Vivido y entretenido diario de viaje del joven Che. Esta edición incluye fotografías inéditas tomado por Ernesto a los 23 años, durante su travesía por sudamérica y es presentada con un tierno prefacio de Aleida Guevara, quien ofrece una perspectiva distinta de su padre, el hombre y el icono de millones de personas.

For over a decade Alex Dowsett had been one of Britain’s best cyclists. He has ridden Grand Tours and Classics for elite teams including Sky and Movistar and broke the iconic World Hour Record – the ultimate time trial challenge. With humour, insight and brutal honesty, Alex tells of the challenges he has faced in his struggle to reach the top and his years as a pro-cyclist.

Raised in the extreme religious cult called the Children of God, Juliana Buhring was frequently punished for being a rebel and finally broke away. Her soul mate was an explorer seeking the source of unmapped rivers in Africa. When he was killed by a crocodile, her world went dark. To escape paralyzing grief, Buhring set herself a goal. Never having seriously ridden a bike, she set out to ride one around the world.

Noraly Schoenmaker was a thirty-something geologist living in the Netherlands when she learned that her live-in partner had been having a long-term affair. Suddenly without a place to stay, she decided to quit her job and jet off to India in search of a new beginning. Her plans were dashed when she fell quickly and helplessly in love: with a motorcycle. Behind the handlebars, she felt alive and free—nimble enough to trace the narrowest paths, powerful enough to travel the longest of roads. In spirit of The Motorcycle Diaries and Wild, this is an inspiring story of self-discovery and renewal.

They called him God. For his grace on a bicycle, for his divine talent, for his heavenly looks. Frank Vandenbroucke had it all, and in the late '90s, he raced with dazzling speed and lived even faster. The Belgian won several of cycling's most illustrious races, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Paris-Nice and Ghent-Wevelgem. He was a mix of poise and panache who enthralled a generation of cycling fans. Off the bike, he only had one enemy - himself.

Jill Homer, a newspaper editor in Alaska, has an outlandish ambition: a 2,740-mile mountain bike race along the rugged Continental Divide. But Jill's dream starts to unravel the minute she sets it in motion. An accident during a race on the Iditarod Trail results in serious frostbite. As she struggles with painful recovery and uncertainties about leaving a good job to pursue a seemingly impossible pipe dream, her employer hands down an offer she can't refuse.

Known, thanks to his racing style and attitude, for being one of road cycling's last romantics, Dan has always shied away from revealing too much about himself and his story. Now, having retired at the end of the 2021 season aged 35 and no longer bound by the constraints of the racing circuit, Dan feels the time is right to tell his story in the same forthright and honest manner that he rode his bike. This audiobook reflects Dan's generous and outspoken spirit, his resilience to pain, crashes, bad luck and, finally, his acceptance of destiny.

With a candid authority that comes from over 25 years commentating on the world's biggest cycling races, legendary Eurosport commentator Carlton Kirby isn't afraid to tell it like it really is. Witty, outrageous and often outspoken, Magic Spanner is an insider's view of life on cycling's Grand Tours, including the Tour de France, Giro D'Italia, Vuelta a España and the classics, all delivered in the inimitable style for which Carlton has become globally famous.

A prominent New Jersey doctor and members of a notorious outlaw motorcycle gang transform the doctor's office into a drug ring, pumping thousands of highly addictive opioid pain pills onto the streets in exchange for cash. Everything was going smoothly until one person discovered their plan: the doctor's wife. When she threatened to divorce him, the doctor's unholy alliance with his partners in crime turned deadly, and the doctor hired a hitman to kill her.

One More Croissant for the Road sees ‘the nation’s taster in chief’ Felicity Cloake embark on the trip of a lifetime, cycling 3,500km across France in search of the definitive versions of classic French dishes. Felicity has long established herself as an absolute authority on everything that is important about food. This lively and charming account of her search for the ultimate Quiche Lorraine, la meilleure Tarte Tatin and a Cassoulet par excellence culminates in a triumphant two-wheeled tour of Paris’ boulangeries in pursuit of France’s finest croissant.

In the second part of Tom Eastham’s cycling memoir, the approach of winter does nothing to diminish his desire to become fitter. After commencing some serious language study, he begins to explore the wonderful world of turbo training, while also lending his friend Sue a hand at her charity. Although the projected Great Norwegian Tour is often on his mind, the advent of a promising young rider makes Tom dream of becoming a top-class cycling coach. With his competitive spirit awakened, he begins to ponder on doing some racing himself in order to enhance his cycling life, while Sarah and Sue...

When Carl Coulton is finally released from prison his kindly probation officer suggests cycling as a form of therapy. Carl needs to let off steam, and how better to do it than by pounding the pedals on the leafy Lancashire lanes close to his home? Therapy it proves to be, but of a kind that no-one but Carl could have imagined. In a story which will cause motorists to give those dratted bikes a wider berth and allow harassed cyclists to live out their wildest fantasies, we follow Carl’s progress from rehabilitated ex-con to the most perilous man on two wheels in living memory. With ...

Just why exactly hadn't anyone attempted to motorcycle from India to Burma before, and how hard could it actually be? Against his better judgment, woefully unprepared, and desperately trying to impress his new aristocratic girlfriend, Andrew Benfield decides to find out.

On an 18-year-old Harley, just off the lift from a major engine repair, the author sets off on a motorcycle ride along the nation’s busiest highways on the east coast of America, from the northeast to the Florida Keys. He details what he went through in preparation for the ride and shares the history of what he encounters along the way. During the ride, he encounters an abundance of Road construction, unruly drivers, motor homes and 18-wheelers. Odd sights, sounds and smells will accompany him along the way with a colorful cast of characters to keep him entertained on this 3000-mile journey.