The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings
The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom and Wanderings is a celebration of the bicycle by people who ride. . .a tribute to one of the finest, most efficient, most useful machines ever invented. The 25 contributors are talented writers and cartoonists, each with a unique take on bicycling. Whether in critical observation, concern, memorial, fact, or in jest, each story and cartoon is definitely worth a look. You do not have to be a cycling expert to read this book; there is something here for everyone.Contributions from around the globe include an essay from Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Hylton; predictions for the future of cycling from Dirt Rag publisher Maurice Tierney and Richard Fries, publisher of Bike Culture; an exclusive interview with Chris Carmichael (long time coach of Lance Armstrong); several essays from Pulitzer Prize nominee Gianna Bellofatto. Other contributors are Portland Magazine executive editor (and former New Yorker staffer) Ted Katauskas; Mason St. Clair; author Theresa Russell; and Andy (Ask the Mechanic) Wallen. Scattered throughout the book is a collection of cartoons from cartoonists whose work has appeared in a wide array of magazines including The New Yorker, Esquire, The Progressive, Dirt Rag, Oregon Cycling, The Funny Times, Discover, Guideposts, Reader's Digest, and Forbes. Contributing cartoonists include Bob Lafay, Neal Skorpen, Jonny Hawkins, Andy Singer, Bob LaDrew, and many others. Review About the Author Review for the Westerville Bicycle Club "The Bicycle Book" by Jim Joyce A Relaxing Point To Point Read From Your Easy ChairProduct Details
Editorial Reviews
Cartoons are among my dearest friends. They make me laugh, they make me think, and they make me money. So I am glad to see the guys hard at work in The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom and Wanderings, even if none of them are working for me. Chapeau to Andy Singer, Neal Skorpen and the rest of my fellow scribblers included here, and to Jim Joyce for bringing them all together. --Patrick O'Grady, cartoonist for VeloNews and Bicycle Retailer & Industry News
No matter what kind of cyclist you are, this book offers something to make you think, laugh, or want to get on your bike and ride. --Tom Snyders, The Bicycling Comedian, bikecomedy.com
This book might remind you of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, or On the Road -- but it takes a much bigger view, from writers with perspectives you never looked at. What biking does to you, where biking takes you, what biking does for the world and what biking teaches you. The writers love bikes, they love the journeys, and the bikes and journeys become one. Even if you only manage a Sunday glide in the park, there is something here for you. --Brian Connelly, screenwriter, Expo: Magic of the White City
The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom and Wanderings is the brainchild of Jim Joyce, founder of the website, The Bicycle Exchange, a.k.a., Bikexchange.com. He also contributes several articles to the book.Customer Reviews
The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings, edited by Jim Joyce (Satya House Publications: Hardwick, MA, 2007), is a delightful compilation of short essays on cycling (some humorous, some inspirational, some amazing) and cartoons. Whether you have just a few minutes (before someone else arrives at your cycling meet point, perhaps?) or a full hour to devote to reading (how many folks won't look for an excuse to get out of detailing the bike for one more day?), this book can provide a pleasant distraction from our hum-drum everyday lives, and place us right back on the saddle.
Joyce covers a fun gambit, from how cycling is the fountain of youth (Law 6 in Gianna Bellofatto's "An Invitation to the Open Road & the Laws of Cycling"; "The Next 30 Years? How about the Next 50?" by Chip Haynes), to helpful mechanic hints ("Bits and Bolts from Ask the Mechanic," by Andy Wallen), and everything in between.
Then there are the cartoons, decorating the pages like your favorite bike accessories. You'll find yourself laughing at which sign of the cycling zodiac would represent you (Neal Skorpen's "The Cyclist's Zodiac"), or picturing bicycles for other animals than those captured (Skorpen's "Bikes of the Animal Kingdom" and "More Bikes of the Animal Kingdom")--of course the lemur's bike doesn't have any brakes; what does that say about our fixie crowd?, or even the cycling crest (Skorpen's "Human Power"). You'll laugh at how Bonkerz describes the cycling bank bandit (Bonkerz is Bob LaDrew's character who appears in the Delaware Valley Bicycle Club newsletter).
The book ends with some inspirational tales of wandering on the bike--ever think about riding across the Sahara? John Stuart Clark and his wife have done it ("Saharan Margins"). Riding Across the USA? I know some of you have done that. Check out Rhonda & Dave Fritsch's "Cross Country Tandem Trip: A Journal." Or, for the most vivid images I've had evoked by words in a long time, surrounding a storm the author could not outrace, check out Clark's "Desert Storm."
The editor, Joyce, also authors some pieces in here, in the "Wanderings" section. Who hasn't survived a ride because of a mentor's wisdom? ("Remembering Hank") Or gotten help exactly when you needed it? (brother Bill Joyce contributes "California Angel") Joyce was a TOSRV vendor this year, and I enjoyed jawing with him as I made my purchase. Hmm, I wonder where my piece on night-of-TOSRV repair jobs would fit in this book?
Please note, Joyce plans to donate 15% of his royalties to several worthwhile organizations: League of American Bicyclists; SoldierRide.com; and the United States Association of Blind Athletes.
This book is one of the best $14.95 investments I've ever made, full of wonderful essays and cartoons, such as:
--John Stuart Clark, a Scotsman who describes riding through a violent storm in Wyoming and then his adventures riding with his wife through the Sahara.
--Ella Lawrence's observations of the various multinational fans attending the Amstel Gold Bike Race in the Netherlands.
--Gianna Bellofatto's "Life is a Bike" series on life, love, and bicycling.
--Rhona & Dave Fritsch's account of their 3710-mile cross-country tandem journey from Washington State to Ocean City, NJ.
The Delaware County Bicycle Club's "Bonkers" cartoon character's two-wheeled adventures (and misadventures).
"The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings" is a must for any bicyclist's library!
Jim Joyce's "The Bike Book--Wit, Wisdom and Wanderings" is for gearheads, travel loggers, illustrator illumines, comic junkies, physics freaks, folksy fanatics, Garrison Keller cheerleaders, economics evangelicals, humor twirlers, news "nosies", philosophical philanders, "roadie" raconteurs, and commuter commodores.
The perfections and imperfections; the certainties and uncertainties; the knowns and the unknowns possess real life metaphors expressed through the eyes of these essay cyclists. No matter if you are a recreationalist or a hardcore dirt-ragster, there is something in this collection of essays written with two-wheelers in mind. As Gianna Bellofatto (a great name for a bike frame), a contributor to this book, says, "Life is a Bike". Damn right there!
It can be read in an afternoon when the wind is too strong and the rain too hard. When finished, you will feel like the sun came out, the sky opened up, and a light breeze blew in from the South.
This book is a Stocking Stuffer for yourself, and a relaxing point-to-point ride from your easy chair!
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