Written from the perspective of a participant, The Rider by Tim Krabbe takes the reader into the heart of a 150-kilometer bicycle race. Krabbe does an amazing job of containing the strategy, thrills, motivation and accumulated folk history of bicycle enthusiasts in a scant 150 pages. The reader will feel the burning of over-burdened muscles, the pain of self-doubt, the exhilaration of a high-speed chase and the camaraderie that develops and drives the peloton. This book will satisfy any reader who is interested in bicycle racing or in the psychology of competition.
The Tour de France starts on July 4. Here are some other titles to consider:
- French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France
by Tim Moore - The Race: A Novel of Grit, Tactics, and the Tour de France
by Dave Shields (Also by Shields’ second novel, The Tour.) - Tour De France/Tour De Force: A Visual history of the World’s Greatest Bicycle Race by James Startt
- The Unknown Tour de France by Les Woodland.
- Need for the Bike by Paul Fournel.
~ Erik, Fiction Department
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