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Chris Gerhard's Weblog
Monday April 09, 2007
Holiday reading Whilst away I managed to finish “The Death of Marco Pantani” by Matt Rendell which I found to be a difficult read. I suppose the title should have given me the clue but to have documented the self destruction of a person, a cyclist, who achieved so much was difficult to read. Add to that that it appears that most of his greatest feats were EPO assisted and it did not make for an uplifting read.
At the other end of the Scale was “One more kilometre and we are in the Showers” by Tim Hilton. It covers so much of the British cycling scene and British cycling clubs that it even describes the informal one I ride in. Even if it is not by name. It seems we are not at all unique. The slightly depressing nature of the book was to refer, probably rightly, to the 1950s as the hay day of British (club) cycling and that we are now in a long slow decline. I hope that this is not the case but see little to support my hopes. My local “club” has no members under 40, although we do continue to pick up members. That we don't compete and sometimes loose members temporarily or permanently due to not being fast enough does not make us completely typical. It also allows me to delude myself that we have helped a few riders start or restart. My thanks to Gary for recommending it.
( Apr 09 2007, 12:54:39 PM BST ) Permalink Trackback
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