Ten of the best cycling books

Rob Penn is the author of The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees and It’s All About the Bike. One of his ten best cycling books, as shared at the Guardian:

The Rider

Tim Krabbé (1978; English translation 2002)

This fictional account of a professional bicycle race by the Dutch journalist, author and former racing cyclist, is a cult classic. Finely written and full of rhetorical flourishes, it captures the peculiar dynamic of the peloton beautifully, from the point of view of one rider. At just 150 pages, it is a book you simply have to put down, in order to savour it. It is also a meditation on pain, for armchair enthusiasts who don’t fancy it much themselves. For bike-racing fans, it’s essential reading.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Rider is among Jon Day's ten best books about cycling, Marjorie Kehe's ten great books about cycling, and Matt Seaton's top ten books about cycling.

--Marshal Zeringue