Historical Dictionary of Cycling
Historical Dictionary of Cycling

Author: Jeroen Heijmans

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2011-10-16

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 0810871750

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The nearly 150-year-old sport of cycling had its first competition in France in 1868. Soon afterward, the need arose for purpose-built cycling tracks because of poor road conditions at the time. Racing on blocked off pieces of street or grass soon evolvedinto racing on special tracks called velodromes. This development marked the split into what are still the two main forms of cycling competition: road racing and track racing. Initially, track cycling was more popular in terms of public attention and money to be earned by racers, but this gradually changed in favor of road racing, which has been the most popular form of cycling since at least the end of World War II. The Historical Dictionary of Cycling takes a closer look at the sport, as well asdiscussing the use of bicycles as a means of fitness, touring, and commuting. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, photos, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on cycling's two main disciplines—road and track—as well as brief overviews of the other forms of cycling. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about cycling.

Knack Cycling for Everyone
Knack Cycling for Everyone

Author: Leah Garcia

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2010-06-01

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 0762763418

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Knack Cycling for Everyone is the ideal new resource for anyone looking to get introduced, or reintroduced, to today’s world of cycling. With informative, full-color photos and tips throughout, it is a step-by-step, comprehensive guide that helps you determine which bike is right for you and what accessories you do and don’t need. It provides how-to descriptions of all styles of riding—road biking, mountain biking, commuter cycling, and touring. And it covers training, long-distance riding, riding with kids, riding with groups, and rules of the road. It will get the wheels turning both under your body and in your head. 400 full-color photos covering City Bikes * Off-Road Bikes Parts * Equipment * Accessories Helmets * Shoes * Clothing Changing Flats * Maintenance

Power of the Pedal
Power of the Pedal

Author: Rupert Guinness

Publisher: National Library of Australia

Published: 2018-10-01

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0642279225

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In 'Power of the Pedal', read about cycling in Australia from the penny farthing to 21st-century commuters and Olympic stars. Bicycles changed our lives! They meant a new and faster way to get around and gave rise to ways of exploring, socialising and competing. In the nineteenth century cycling encouraged 'overlanders', adventurers who explored new routes through rugged terrain; cycling clubs that gave women a new kind of freedom to mix socially with men: and novel kinds of racing. In this book, cycling journalist Rupert Guinness reveals 200 years of the bike in Australian everyday life and the world of competition.

We Were Young and Carefree
We Were Young and Carefree

Author: Laurent Fignon

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2010-06-16

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1407075217

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'Ah, I remember you: you're the guy who lost the Tour de France by eight seconds!' 'No monsieur, I'm the guy who won the Tour twice. The international bestselling autobiography of the legendary French cyclist Laurent Fignon Two-time winner of the Tour de France in the early eighties, Laurent Fignon became the star for a new generation. In the 1989 tour, he lost out to his American arch-rival, Greg LeMond, by an agonising eight seconds. In this revealing account, the former champion spares nobody, not even himself, and pulls back the curtain on what really went on behind the scenes of this epic sport - the friendships, the rivalries, the betrayals, the parties, the girls and, of course, the performance-enhancing drugs. Fignon's story bestrides a golden age in cycling: a time when the headlines spoke of heroes, not doping, and a time when cyclists were afraid of nothing. ‘Sports book of the year: He's ruthlessly honest, about himself and about cycling, and he provides a gripping insight into an unrelenting hard world’ Independent

The Hardmen
The Hardmen

Author: The Velominati

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2017-11-07

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1681775972

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Embrace and revel in the stories of the toughest cyclists of all time, told by The Velominati, originators of The Rules. Read and get ready to ride . . . In cycling, suffering brings glory: a rider's value can be judged by their results, but also by their panache and heroism. Prepared to be awed and inspired by Chris Froome riding on at the Tour de France with a broken wrist or Geraint Thomas finishing it with a broken pelvis. In The Hardmen the writers behind cycling superblog Velominati.com and The Rules will tell the stories and illuminate the myths of not just the greatest cyclists ever, but the toughest. From Eddy Merckx to Beryl Burton, and from Marianne Vos to Edwig Van Hooydonk, the book will lay bare the secrets of their extraordinary and inspirational endurance in the face of pain, danger and disaster. After all, suffering is one of the joys of being a cyclist. Embrace climbs, relish the descents, and get ready to harden up . . .

Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal
Eddy Merckx: The Cannibal

Author: Daniel Friebe

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012-03-22

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1448146682

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'The whole point of a race is to find a winner... I chose to race, so I chose to win.' For 14 years between 1965 and 1978, cyclist Edouard Louis Joseph Merckx simply devoured his rivals, their hopes and their careers. His legacy resides as much in the careers he ruined as the 445 victories - including five Tour de France wins and all the monument races - he amassed in his own right. So dominant had Merckx become by 1973 that he was ordered to stay away from the Tour for the good of the event. Stage 17 of the 1969 Tour de France perfectly illustrates his untouchable brilliance. Already wearing the yellow jersey on the col du Tourmalet, the Tour's most famous peak, Merckx powered clear and rode the last 140 kilometres to the finish-line in jaw-dropping solitude, eight minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. Merckx's era has been called cycling's Golden Age.It was full of memorable characters who, at any other time, would all have gone on to become legends. Yet Merckx's phenomenal career overshadowed them all. How did he achieve such incredible success? And how did his rivals really feel about him? Merckx failed drug tests three times in his career - were they really stitch ups as he claimed? And what of the crash at a track meet in Blois, France that killed Merckx's pacer Fernand Wambst, which Merckx claimed deeply affected him psychologically and physically? Or the attack by a spectator in 1975? Despite his unique achievements, we know little about the Cannibal beyond his victories. This will be the first comprehensive biography of Merckx in English, and will finally expose the truth behind this legendary man.

Images of a Champion
Images of a Champion

Author: Lance Armstrong

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781405077682

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Updated with new photos and a new chapter on the record-setting 6th-straight Tour de France victory--an intimate portrait of the man who has become the most admired athlete in the world Lance Armstrong inspires millions the world over, not just as a sports champion, but as a champion at life. His heroic survival from deadly cancer and his hard-fought triumphs in the bicycle race that is thought to be the most grueling endurance test in sports are a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. Filled with never-before-seen pictures and revealing insights by the people who know him best, this treasured keepsake celebrates in words and photographs Armstrong's indomitable will and champion's heart. Some highlights include: o Intimate pictures of Armstrong in competition and off the bike, as well as stunning full-color views capturing the grandeur of the sport, by cycling's top photographer, Graham Watson o A new tribute from teammate George Hincapie to the 2002 Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" who inspires us all to face life's challenges with courage, perseverance, and hope