These days, I’m reminded that summer brings with it so many great things: warmer weather, endless bike rides, ice cream, and for those of us who are lucky, free time to read! It is the perfect opportunity to pick up a good book to read under the shade — or carry along wherever your summer cycling adventures may take you.
If you’re in need of some new novels, I’ve got you covered! Authors Jool’s Walker (whose most recent novel, “Back On The Frame” comes out in America later Aug 13th) and Felicity Cloake (“One More Croissant For The Road”) are at the top of my summer cycling reads amongst other wonderful cycling literary works that topped my summer.
These page turners will transport you to a different world all summer long.
Back in the Frame: How to get back on your bike, whatever life throws at you – Jools Walker
I’ve been a long time follower of Jools Walker, aka Lady Velo, and am so proud of recenlty published book. You can read my full review here. Because it is on pre-order at the moment and will be available next week, here is a snippet from Amazon…
“Jools Walker re-discovered cycling aged twenty-eight after a ten-year absence from the saddle. When she started blogging about her cycle adventures under the alias Lady Vélo, a whole world was opened up to her. But it’s hard to find space in an industry not traditionally open to women – especially women of colour.
Shortly after getting back on two wheels, Jools was diagnosed with depression and then, in her early thirties, hit by a mini-stroke. Yet, through all of these punctures, one constant remained: Jools’ love of cycling.
In Back in the Frame Jools talks to the other female trailblazers who are disrupting the cycling narrative as well as telling the story of how she overcame her health problems, learned how to cycle her own path and even found a love of Lycra shorts along the way.” – Amazon
One More Croissant For The Road by Felicity Cloak
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’s boulangeries in pursuit of France’s finest croissant. Accompanied by charming line illustrations, each chapter concludes with Felicity putting this new-found knowledge to good use in a new ‘perfect’ recipe for each dish, the conclusion of her rigorous and thorough investigative work on behalf of all our taste buds.
Seriously grab a copy, a coffee and a croissant and let Felicity take you on a deliciously mouth-watering and hilarious ride through France. At the end of each ‘stage’ of the tour she presents us with a score perfect recipe pulled together from the experiences along the way. A delightful read, thoroughly recommended. I loved it so much I made croissants a large part of my morning reading ritual!
Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp
There is nothing better than reading a good story about cycling a classics monument, companionship, and the realities of life off the bike. This novel was a bestseller in the Netherlands and is translated in English. It was also adapted for the big screen. The book goes well beyond sportive events though. In the summer of 1982, a group of friends—five boys and one girl—travel to French Provence, three of whom climb the legendary Mont Ventoux on their bicycles. A tragic accident claims the life of one of them, the promising young poet, Peter. Thirty years later, the old friends return to conquer the mountain and the demons of their past. Ventoux is tragicomedy for everyone who loves to read a well-crafted feel-good novel and especially recommended for cycling aficionados who will recognize Mont Ventoux as the scene of many classic races.
I can see why the book would be adapted for the big screen as it reminded me a bit of the film The Trip. This novel is a pleasure to read when you look at the challenge of climbing Ventoux as an exploration of friendship and grief subtly building into a convincing exploration of mid-life regret, nostalgia and hope.
Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road by Kate Harris
Kates journey was inspired as a child when she found an illustrated and abridged book, belonging to her mother, and highlighting Marco Polo’s travels on the Silk Road. Combine that with an adventurous spirit and the dream of one day, pursuing science and perhaps going to Mars, Harris talks a childhood friend, Mel, in accompanying her cycling the fabled and historic Silk Road. What follows is an exciting adventure and a testament to these women and the friendships along the way as they crossed and successfully navigated many political borders.
This book was phenomenal. Filled with imagery that transports you across continents and historical knowledge that flings you through time, Harris’ delightful – if saddle sore – journey through Asia’s ancient Silk Road will make you swear to take your own trip. And swear off it on the next page.
Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, & Resistance by Adonia E. Lugo
This is a book of borderlands and intersections, a cautionary tale about the dangers of putting infrastructure before culture, and a coming-of-age story about power and identity. The colonial history of southern California is interwoven through Adonia Lugo’s story of growing up Chicana in Orange County, becoming a bicycle anthropologist, and co-founding Los Angeles’s hallmark open streets cycling event, CicLAvia, along the way. When she takes on racism in the world of national bicycle advocacy in Washington, DC, she finds her voice and heads back to LA to organize the movement for environmental justice in active transportation.
The book is a solidly documented analysis of race and racism in the American bike movement. Adonia Lugo draws the problematic parallels between active transportation development and displacement while identifying the richly diverse context of bicycling in America, particularly those overlooked by traditional bike advocates. Lugo plainly challenges what has been the conventional thought leadership in national, as well as local, bike advocacy in a way that I hope will spur conversations and cultural change in the movement and industry.