When Otto Ecroyd embarked on a voyage to sail a broken boat from Norway to France - and failed - he decided to do what any other hapless adventurer would do: cycle from Alaska to Mexico. But, as Otto says, he 'had never ridden further than across town.' So, with no experience, the wrong type of bike and with panniers overflowing with lentils, Otto pedals across vast American landscapes, cowers from juggernaut RVs, and all the while wonders when he will next meet a grizzly bear. En route, Otto's wit and self-deprecating charm ensure he wins many friends, from an array of regional characters, to a cosmopolitan mix of fellow long-distance cyclists, each with their own motivation for riding the hard miles. With some, he cycles leisurely in tandem; with others, in lungbusting sprints; and with others still, in bedraggled pelotons. But then, this is no grand depart from the daily grind to the upper echelons of sport, for Otto is not in it for the competition - just the adventure of a lifetime. Northbound and Down isn't Ranulph Fiennes crossing Antarctica, or 'The Man Who Cycled the World'. It's more entertaining than that. Three months in North America, 100km a day on a bike. The places, the people, the misadventures of the journey. Like a Bill Bryson book if Bill stayed out of the pub once in a while. The local wildlife in the northern frontier. The moose, the bears, the refugees from 'The Lower 48' states. The characters in cowboy country. People who defy any stereotype of heartland America, and those who definitely don't. Down the Pacific Coast, redwood forests, hippie surf towns, mansions and homeless camps. Californian plastic perfection and the weirdness of the American dream. The preparation for cycling 5,000 miles was questionable at best. The furthest Otto had ridden before landing in Anchorage was from London to Brighton. He rode through a golf course and along a motorway, did laps of Gatwick airport and rolled into Brighton two hours late, ready for bed. He learned how to fix a puncture from YouTube and discovered that not all Porsche drivers are dickheads. Otto's touring skills start from a low base. The steep learning curve and daily struggles with reality on the road bring humour to the book. The challenge and the shared experience with people along the way leads to a lasting sense of the rewards of adventure. Otto's motivations for embarking on this adventure were relatable ones. He was bored at work, too old to get wasted in every hostel in Latin America and too poor for a proper mid-life crisis. This is the story of a normal guy breaking out of the daily grind. Cheryl Strayed's 'Wild', but inspired by a struggle against a life on autopilot rather than a life collapsing. A whole middle class, middle career and middle fulfilled generation is in a similar position. They are searching for inspiration. Northbound and Down gives them a taste of this, without having to miss a mortgage payment. Northbound and Down is the everyman's take on breaking the everyday.

The inspiring story of one young man's record-breaking solo cycle journey around the world On 15 February 2008, Mark Beaumont pedalled through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 194 days and 17 hours previously, he had begun his attempt to circumnavigate the world in record time. Mark smashed the Guinness World Record by an astonishing 81 days. He had travelled more than 18,000 miles on his own through some of the harshest conditions one man and his bicycle can endure, camping wild at night and suffering from constant ailments. The Man Who Cycled the World is the story not just of that amazing achievement, but of the events that turned Mark Beaumont into the man he is today. From the early years of his free-spirited childhood in the Scottish countryside to present day, he has been equally determined not to settle for an average existence, but to break free and follow his dreams. Mark Beaumont grew up in the foothills of the Scottish Highlands. When he was twelve, he cycled across Scotland, then a few years later, completed the 1,000 mile solo ride across Britain from John O'Groats to Land's End. His next long-distance ride took him the length of Italy, a journey of 1,336 miles, helping to raise GBP50,000 for charity. After graduating from Glasgow University, and having also qualified as a professional ski instructor, he decided against a conventional career and devoted himself full-time to raising money for his endurance adventures. Visit his website at www.markbeaumontonline.com

Join Ned Boulting as he reports on his dozen-th Tour de France, an event in which blokes do amazing things on bikes, and, we're oft told, the biggest annual sporting event in the world. 101 Damnations is a chance to relive the 2014 race, stage for stage, fall after fall, tantrum by tantrum; just the good bits mind, without all the aerial shots of castles. Or sunflowers. (Though it does wax lyrical about some stunning Alpine scenery . . . and, with the race starting in Yorkshire, even some stunning scenery not far from Bradford). From Leeds to Paris (how often do you say that?), Ned details the minutiae of his encounters with the likes of Vincenzo Nibali, David Millar, Chris Froome, Chris Boardman (or 'Broadman' as some would have it), Marcel Kittel, Mrs Cavendish (Mark's wife), Peter Sagan and the rest. Their endeavours, achievements, humour and occasional rancour, sit alongside his own decade-long quest for the ideal end-of-race T-shirt. Ned weaves together the interesting, amusing and unheralded threads of the race itself, and reflects on his own perennial struggle to get round, get on and get by. 101 Damnations encapsulates all that is incredible - and incredibly ordinary - about the greatest race on earth.

Ultimate Cycling Trips: World features 35 handpicked destinations for the best slow travel on two wheels. Including detailed descriptions, suggested itineraries, maps, photos and even interviews with world cyclists, Ultimate Cycling Trips: World is the perfect guide for planning your own cycling adventure. There are trips to suit every fitness level, from riding through the Italian and French Riviera, to Canada's wildlife-rich Icefields Parkway, and the volcanic island of Jeju off the southern tip of South Korea. As we grow more anxious about our planet, author Andrew Bain offers cycling trips as one way to minimise our environmental impact while on holiday. If that wasn't enough, there are also the added benefits of improving your fitness and becoming more immersed in your surroundings. Now has never been a better time to see the world by bike, with Ultimate Cycling Trips: World.

WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner in Boulder, Colorado. Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell Coyle his story, and his sport's story, in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The truth would set Tyler free, but would also be the most damning indictment yet of teammates like Lance Armstrong. The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven - and some flawed - characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.

"Shows that sport has been for us moderns the ultimate "tabula rasa" into which we pour our hopes, fears, prejudices and self-interest."--Robert A. Nye, author of "Crime, Madness, & Politics in Modern France" and "Masculinity and Male Codes of Honor in Modern France"
"Chris Thompson has written an engaging, nicely-paced account of France's world-famous cycle race: his writing is lively and full of detail and excitement. But he has done much more than simply narrate the story of the Tour. His book sets the race--its history, its participants and its meaning--firmly in its shifting national and cultural contexts. The sections dealing with professional cycling as a form of labor and with the Tour's place in France's troubled twentieth century are absolutely first-rate: insightful and original. This is the best history of the Tour that we have and are likely to have for many years, a work of scholarship that deserves to find a broad general readership."--Tony Judt, author of "Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945"

Plump, grumpy, slumped on the couch, and going nowhere fast at age 16, Phil Gaimon began riding a bicycle with the grand ambition of shedding a few pounds before going off to college. He soon fell into racing and discovered he was a natural, riding his way into a pro contract after just one season despite utter ignorance of a century of cycling etiquette. Now, in his book "Pro Cycling on $10 a Day," Phil brings the full powers of his wit to tell his story.

Presented here as a guide and a warning to aspiring racers who dream of joining the professional racing circus, Phil s adventures in road rash serve as a hilarious and cautionary tale of frustrating team directors and broken promises. Phil s education in the ways of the peloton, his discouraging negotiations for a better contract, his endless miles crisscrossing America in pursuit of race wins, and his conviction that somewhere just around the corner lies the ticket to the big time fuel this tale of hope and ambition from one of cycling s best story-tellers.

"Pro Cycling on $10 a Day" chronicles the racer s daily lot of blood-soaked bandages, sleazy motels, cheap food, and overflowing toilets. But it also celebrates the true beauty of the sport and the worth of the journey, proving in the end that even among the narrow ranks of world-class professional cycling, there will always be room for a hard-working outsider. "

Many amputees want to know how it feels to be able to cycle, and some even want to be professional amputee cyclists. The disability market offers many options for amputee cycling. This book shows you how to get started and take those exciting first steps on your way to a higher level of mobility and independence. The contributions in this collection are written by some of the best-known amputee cyclists in the world, including Margaret Biggs, Rajesh Durbal, Mark Inglis, and Keira Roche. Their achievements are nothing short of remarkablewhether cycling around a velodrome at the Paralympics or around the world raising funds for charity. This guide offers great advice from experts and ordinary cyclists alike for arm, leg, combination, and all matters of amputee cycling. The book includes tips not only on the vast arrangement of two wheelers, but also tricycles, recumbents, handbikes, tandems, unicycles, electric bikes, and more specialized cycling forms designed for the disability market. The book offers practical tips and stories, imagery, photographs, and much more to help you or a loved one firmly connect with cycling as an activity that can be done despite a disability.