Bicycle Memoir

As hotel manager Tom Eastham’s retirement approaches, his best friend tries to persuade him to get back into the sport which he gave up over thirty years earlier. Initially unwilling to brave the roads after so long off the bike, he gradually comes around to the idea of having another bash at cycling and takes to the Lancashire lanes once more. This light-hearted but incisive account traces his first six months back in the saddle, during which time the life-enhancing possibilities of cycling gradually dawn on him as he samples various facets of the sport, complemented by some rather ...

Full Tilt is the inspiring true story of Dervla Murphy's 1963 journey from Ireland to India on an Armstrong Cadet bicycle, and the trials, landscapes, and cultures she encountered along the way. The route takes her through the valleys and snowy mountain passes of Europe and India to the scorching deserts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the metal of her bicycle, Rozinante (named after Don Quixote's steed), becomes too hot to touch.

Joe Boyd tells of his journey through Sixties music, from tour managing Muddy Waters and Coleman Hawkins, to plugging in Bob Dylan's electric guitar while working as production manager at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, to becoming a leading record producer. His first session was Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood's "Crossroads" followed by Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, the Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny and many more.

This is a story of the 1970s. Of a road trip in a wood-paneled station wagon, with the kids in the way-back, singing along to the Steve Miller Band. Of brothers waking up early on Saturday mornings for five consecutive hours of cartoons. Of growing up in a magical era populated by Bic pens, Mr...

Pedaling a bicycle around the world was a lifelong dream, but everyone told him it could not be done. Dismissing the skeptics, disinterested sponsors, and a woefully inadequate bank account, Scott Zamek resolved to try. Some 25,000 miles and six million pedal revolutions later, Zamek had encountered Bengal tigers, angry mobs, prison and sandstorms, fed on yak, dog meat, and gobs of cow intestines. He had been taken prisoner by the Syrian Secret Police, left for dead in the Sahara Desert, and beset by hypothermia and heatstroke, using up two bicycles, 1,000 tire patches, and countless ...

From the Nobel Prize winner and acclaimed author of My Name is Red comes a portrait of Istanbul by its foremost writer, revealing the melancholy that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire. "Delightful, profound, marvelously origina.... Pamuk tells the story of the city through the eyes...

This is the story of Barbara and Larry Savage's sometimes dangerous, often zany, but ultimately rewarding 23,000-mile global bicycle odyssey, which took them through 25 countries in two years. Miles from Nowhere is an adventure not to be missed! Along the way, these near-neophyte cyclists encountered warmhearted strangers eager to share food and shelter, bicycle-hating drivers who shoved them off the road, various wild animals, rock-throwing Egyptians, overprotective Thai policeman, motherly New Zealanders, meteorological disasters, bodily indignities, and great personal joys.

Read by the author. A laugh-out-loud funny true story of a loving relationship, a grand adventure, and a promise kept. It was only a few years after the starry-eyed young couple got married when scary news threatened to take the wind out of their sails. But Sean Dietrich's wife, Jamie, wouldn't...

Jan Ullrich: The Best There Never Was is the first biography of Jan Ullrich, arguably the most naturally talented cyclist of his generation, and also one of the most controversial champions of the Tour de France. In 1997, Jan Ullrich announced himself to the world by obliterating his rivals in...

Into the North Wind chronicles Jill Homer’s record-breaking bicycle ride across Alaska on the Iditarod Trail. Jill is one of those “accidental athletes” who stumbled into endurance racing shortly after she moved to Alaska in 2005. Ever since, she dreamed about the chiming of ice crystals at 30 below zero, black spruce shadows in the moonlight, the ethereal dance of the Northern Lights, and a journey that could take her deeper into this transcendental world - the 1,000-mile race to Nome.

A unique blend of cycle touring and Swiss history, from Roman times to the Napoleonic Wars. High Horizons in Switzerland is the second volume in a non-fiction series recounting my long-distance cycle tours across Switzerland, each route following a distinct historical theme. Each chapter combines: A detailed cycling itinerary through Switzerland’s landscapes In-depth exploration of Swiss cultural and historical contexts Personal travel narrative grounded in rigorous historical research From Roman alpine crossings to strategic Napoleonic routes, the book offers a rare perspective on ...

"My family doesn't do happy endings. We do sad endings or frustrating endings or no endings at all. We are hardwired to expect the next interruption or disappearance or broken promise." Hope Solo is the face of the modern female athlete. She is fearless, outspoken, and the best in the world at...

Tessa Simmons has just taken a job as the Assistant Director at the library in the cove, and she’s been charged with all of the adult programming. Her ideas are big, and she brings in her new friends for focus groups to truly expand the reach of literature in the cove. Robin and AJ have ideas and plenty of opinions, as do all of the other women. They don’t always line up, and some voices are louder than others. But as Eloise has taken a step back to spend more time with her family, she becomes instrumental in helping Tessa establish smaller library branches on all five islands in the cove.

The Blue Bicycle: A Christmas Birthday Memory is a warm and nostalgic true story about a young girl whose birthday falls on Christmas Day. All she wants is a blue bicycle with a tall sissy bar — a dream she holds close to her heart. On one unforgettable Christmas morning, she discovers a mysterious shape hidden beneath a sheet in the garage. When the cover is lifted, her long-hoped-for bicycle is revealed, shining in the glow of family love and childhood wonder.

The new memoir tracing story of cycling since the 1980s, through the eyes of Jonathan Vaughters, founder of team Education First and one of the sport's most towering figures. Jonathan Vaughters' story is the story of modern cycling. From his early years as a keen cyclist in his hometown in...

'It's an incredible read for anyone facing adversity in their life; how to cope with it, how to stay positive in really difficult situations.' - Sally Nugent The instant no. 1 Sunday Times bestseller WINNER of the Autobiography of the Year at the Sports Book Awards 2025 A Sunday Times best...

Lands of Lost Borders carried me up into a state of openness and excitement I haven’t felt for years. It’s a modern classic."" —Pico Iyer A brilliant, fierce writer makes her debut with this enthralling travelogue and memoir of her journey by bicycle along the Silk Road—an illuminating...

It wasn’t surprising when the first abandoned bicycles were found along the dirt roads and farmland just across the border from Tijuana, but before long they were arriving in droves. The bikes went from curiosity, to nuisance, to phenomenon. But until they caught the eye of journalist Kimball Taylor, only a small cadre of human smugglers - coyotes - and migrants could say how or why they’d gotten there. This is the story of 7,000 bikes that made an incredible journey and one young man from Oaxaca who arrived at the border with nothing, built a small empire, and then vanished.

Bloomsbury presents The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman written and read by Harry Pearson. SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 – CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 'A joy.' – Ned Boulting Every nation shapes sport to...

Like all boys growing up in Rome during the 1930s and 1940s, the author was expected to join the Balilla, Italy's fascist Youth Organization. With political divisions running deep in the families within his palazzo, he and his motley group of friends were recruited into the underground Resistance. Racing around Rome on bicycles, they smuggled messages and weapons for the partisans. Later, the author fled to the Italian countryside and narrowly avoided German mop-up operations.