BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

As I've said before here, I think Forester's book "Effective Cycling" is the best, most comprehensive modern book on cycling. (I don't agree 100% with his strong views on bike lanes but he makes some good points and there is a lot of other stuff in there.) https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B007WTNVZS&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_88W1wb1YKCFJG https://librarycatalog.einetwork.net/Record/.b31605552/Home?searchId=35158327&recordIndex=1&page=1

Highly recommend In the City of Bikes, by Pete Jordan. Tells the history of how cycling became so big in Amsterdam and how cyclists even resisted the Nazis, who tried to ban biking after the occupation, by riding slow in front of their Nazi cars. Cool book, with a mention of Pittsburgh, as he was once a dishwasher at the East End Food Coop. http://www.amazon.com/In-City-Bikes-Amsterdam-Cyclist/dp/0061995207

Don't forget "The Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale of an American Adventurer and His Mysterious Disappearance" a book about a cyclist from Pittsburgh heading out on a world tour in the 1880s and mysteriously disappeared and the search for information about his disappearance. http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-Cyclist-Adventurer-Disappearance/dp/0547521987 Check out the book / movie combo of "Janapar: Love on a Bike". A story of a brit on a bike tour through europe, middle east, and africa who falls in love along the way in Armenia. I havn't read the book yet, but the movie was interesting. https://janapar.com/ If you're really in to the history of the modern bike industry, check out "No Hands: The Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, an American Institution". It's focused on Schwinn, but shows how they lost their dominance among other competitors like Giant, Trek, Etc... http://www.amazon.com/No-Hands-Schwinn-American-Institution/dp/0805035532

"Blazing Saddles: The cruel and unusual history of the Tour De France" , not to be confused with the movie. http://www.amazon.com/Blazing-Saddles-Unusual-History-France/dp/1934030252

I remember that thread too. Sorry to hear that it is gone. I enjoyed " Into Thick Air; Biking to the bellybutton of Six Continents." I could not get more than about 20 pages into "The Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale of an American Adventurer and His Mysterious Disappearance" I HATED the David Byrne bicycling book.

Really loved Paul Fournel's "Need for the Bike" and enjoyed Tim Krabbe's "The Rider". Both are small and easily digestible. Agree that David Byrne's book isn't about cycling at all. Not much of a fan of Forester. While I also share many of his principles, his militancy and strident tone have always turned me off. And now the content seems dated, unless it's been revised since my edition. After getting multiple recommendations in the introductions thread, I did borrow and read Oscar Swan's "Bike Rides Out of Pittsburgh". This is probably as good a place as any to post a pointer to my impressions, which were mixed.

Mayard Hershon, Kimmage's A Rough Ride, Joe Parker's Dog in a Hat.

Also wasn't so into david byrne's book. Never finished "The lost Cyclist" either, just wasn't really that in to it.

The Lost Cyclist was interesting, but tedious. Bicycle Times had a review of : Basic Illustrated Bike Touring and Bikepacking http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Illustrated-Touring-Bikepacking-Series/dp/1493009680 Carnegie Library of Pgh d/n have a copy, though I've requested it through their suggest a purchase link on their site. This book. Mastering Mountain Bike Skills - 2nd Edition http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Mountain-Bike-Skills-2nd/dp/0736083715/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457034772&sr=1-1&keywords=brian+lopes

Previous book threads: http://localhost/mb/topic/book-list-thread/ http://localhost/mb/topic/bike-pittsburgh-book-club/ http://localhost/mb/topic/history-of-tour-de-france-books/ Edited to add: Whoa, I just pasted in the raw URLs and the message board made them all fancy. Cool! (Now if we could just get images working again.)

I finished the new book (in the library 4/21/16- published 2016) "The Mechanical Horse" by Margaret Guroff. A slim 287 pages of the history of cycling mostly in America, but an even slimmer 166 entertaining pages of actual reading- the rest is footnotes, references, and index. I particularly like the quote from the late a 1800's Connecticut enthusiast: "From the saddle we perceive things which are hidden from them who only walk upon the earth. Our senses are more acute, sunshine seems brighter to us, and nature is more lovely. We dash across the plain with a wild sense of freedom and power which no one ever knows until he rides the magic steed."

Travels With Lucy http://www.amazon.com/Travels-With-Lucy-Chris-Buerki/dp/B0012QFEO8

Changing Cadence: https://www.amazon.com/Changing-Cadence-Meditations-Country-Leather-ebook/dp/B00JKL4EDY?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect

+++ for Dog in a Hat!

On the pro cycling side of things, Richard Moore's "Slaying the Badger", about the rivalry between Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond during the 1986 Tour de France, is great. I'm also partial to stuff from Matt Rendell, but I guess that's partly due to him writing a lot about cycling in relation to my native Colombia. His "The Death of Marco Pantani" is his most famous book, though, and is quite good.

^^^^^^ The movies of both of those books are very good to. Both are on Netflix.

https://librarycatalog.einetwork.net/Record/.b30371788# Cycling: Philosophy for Everyone- interesting collection of tales and philosophical discussion.  I found the contributors bios at the end interesting also.  Only one copy in the system though, being turned in today.