Jamie's review
Lance Armstrong's War: One Man's Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France by Daniel Coyle
Jamie's review
rating:
bookshelves: non-fic
recommended for: those of you interested in the science, strategy and politics of cycling
status: Read in October, 2007
rating:
bookshelves: non-fic
recommended for: those of you interested in the science, strategy and politics of cycling
status: Read in October, 2007
I don't normally read books like this: one off topical books by journalists looking to cash in on some sort of phenomenon. 300 page articles with a hard cover, a 25 dollar price tag, fated to end up in yard sales in 10 years, picked up for a dollar and an ounce of curiosity. (I bought it because it was on sale at the Strand for four dollars.) I don't even really like Lance Armstrong, he just seems like a highly motivated, highly aggressive, umm, dickhead. (And hypocrite. How could he NOT have doped?)
But still, all that aside, this is a pretty enjoyable and readable book, and a good introduction to the world of competitive cycling. Nothing revelatory or mind blowing, but packed with great details and facts.
For example, I learned that a) "no other animal or machine... can move through space as energy-efficiently as a human being on a bicycle" b) almost every major rider on the Tour de France lost a parent at an early age or went through some major early childhood traum...more
But still, all that aside, this is a pretty enjoyable and readable book, and a good introduction to the world of competitive cycling. Nothing revelatory or mind blowing, but packed with great details and facts.
For example, I learned that a) "no other animal or machine... can move through space as energy-efficiently as a human being on a bicycle" b) almost every major rider on the Tour de France lost a parent at an early age or went through some major early childhood traum...more
