My dear friend Karen made sure I got this book for an October gift, and since pro cycling is currently trying to do a nine month season in two months, including three grand tours, why not pile on some more and make this my cycling read of the (Covid-shortened) season?
This book suits the truncated season: a Dutch rider in France for a half-day race invoking a wealth of cycling lore and knowledge from all over Europe to get him over five cols with body and mind intact. In cycling, especially any competitive cycling, that’s relative: the health and the sanity part. I’m always looking for a book that can capture the brilliance and madness of the sport, especially for the uninitiated. Krabbé does just that.
I love my bike, but this 150-page book is the closest I’ll get to ever racing for a finish line with nothing but pain for company, and understanding what it’s like to want to do that… and then do it again.
“Racing downhill is a matter of nerves, and from the very start my nerves have thought: to hell with you and your bicycle racing.”