Cycling (in) literature

D.M. Procida said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Here's an interesting essay on the subject - the HGWells book sounds
good, 'specially as the hero learns to ride on a fixie...

http://www.bikereader.com/contributors/forester/literature.html

[email hidden] (D.M. Procida)typed

Quoted message said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Quoted message said:

Right now all I can think of is the opening paragraphs of Jack London's
_Cruise of the Dazzler_, and the rather different final pages of
Houellebecq's _Whatever_ ("Whatever" is the English for "L'extension du
domain de la lutte", of course).

Quoted message said:

It does seem that wherever cycling plays a central role in fiction it is
as a glimpse into human spirit, which I think says something about it.

Quoted message said:

Daniele

The 'Penguin Book of the Bicycle' was written by two English lecturers
and has some delightful literary excerpts (and photos). I lurve that
book...

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

D.M. Procida said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Right now all I can think of is the opening paragraphs of Jack London's
_Cruise of the Dazzler_, and the rather different final pages of
Houellebecq's _Whatever_ ("Whatever" is the English for "L'extension du
domain de la lutte", of course).

It does seem that wherever cycling plays a central role in fiction it is
as a glimpse into human spirit, which I think says something about it.

Daniele

In Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, he uses the main protagonist cycling with Alan Turing to discuss modular arithmetic. Apparently Turing's chain kept falling off when a certain chaining/freewheel tooth combination occurred. If they were even then it would happen in each revolution, but if they were different this would only coincide ever 100 or so pedal revolutions. Very interesting book if you're into that sort of thing.

Bryan

D.M. Procida said:

Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Bicycles and cycling play a prominent role in The Third Policeman by
Flann O'Brien, with particular regard to the relationship between a man
and his bike.

It is a very, very funny book.

d.

D.M. Procida said:

Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

You have Italian roots, yesno? Don Camillo had a bicycle
that is the star of one or two stories.

Or in a very English tradition, three men on the bummel.

--
not me guv

davek said:

D.M. Procida said:

Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Bicycles and cycling play a prominent role in The Third Policeman by
Flann O'Brien, with particular regard to the relationship between a man
and his bike.

It is a very, very funny book.

Permission to mention H.G.Wells' "Wheels of chance" about here in the
thread?:-

"Now you must understand that Mr. Hoopdriver was not one of your fast
young men. If he had been King Lemuel, he could not have profited more
by his mother's instructions. He regarded the feminine sex as something
to bow to and smirk at from a safe distance. Years of the intimate
remoteness of a counter leave their mark upon a man. It was an
adventure for him to take one of the Young Ladies of the establishment
to church on a Sunday. Few modern young men could have merited less the
epithet "Dorg." But I have thought at times that his machine may have
had something of the blade in its metal. Decidedly it was a machine
with a past. Mr. Hoopdriver had bought it second-hand from Hare's in
Putney, and Hare said it had had several owners. Second-hand was
scarcely the word for it, and Hare was mildly puzzled that he should be
selling such an antiquity. He said it was perfectly sound, if a little
old-fashioned, but he was absolutely silent about its moral character.
It may even have begun its career with a poet, say, in his glorious
youth. It may have been the bicycle of a Really Bad Man. No one who has
ever ridden a cycle of any kind but will witness that the things are
unaccountably prone to pick up bad habits--and keep them."

D.M. Procida said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Right now all I can think of is the opening paragraphs of Jack London's
_Cruise of the Dazzler_, and the rather different final pages of
Houellebecq's _Whatever_ ("Whatever" is the English for "L'extension du
domain de la lutte", of course).

It does seem that wherever cycling plays a central role in fiction it is
as a glimpse into human spirit, which I think says something about it.

Daniele

Found this , does it count :O)

http://www.bikereader.com/solo/holmes.html

D.M. Procida said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Right now all I can think of is the opening paragraphs of Jack London's
_Cruise of the Dazzler_, and the rather different final pages of
Houellebecq's _Whatever_ ("Whatever" is the English for "L'extension du
domain de la lutte", of course).

It does seem that wherever cycling plays a central role in fiction it is
as a glimpse into human spirit, which I think says something about it.

Daniele

And the one I was actually looking for

http://sherlock-holmes.classic-literature.co.uk/the-adventure-of-the-priory-school/ebook-page-08.asp

In article <1hj9dis.4yfcwz1s99mq5N%real-not-anti-spam-address@apple-
juice.co.uk>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Right now all I can think of is the opening paragraphs of Jack London's
_Cruise of the Dazzler_, and the rather different final pages of
Houellebecq's _Whatever_ ("Whatever" is the English for "L'extension du
domain de la lutte", of course).

It does seem that wherever cycling plays a central role in fiction it is
as a glimpse into human spirit, which I think says something about it.

Did anyone mention "Bad To The Bone" by James Waddington?

No? Well, I just did. Go and read, everyone. Cycle racing is central.
To it. And it is utterly bonkers.

I think I shall re-read it now, in fact, as the tome with which I have
been grappling most recently is Hard Work.

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
God was my co-pilot, but we crashed in the mountains and I had to eat
Him.

Jack London.

If you read John Barleycorn - London's catharsis of his alcohol
addiction he mentions that he loved his 'wheels' as he called his
bike, which in those days must have been a 'shed' by today's
standards, he says he could cycle over 80 miles a day - not bad even
by today's standards.

I am much impressed by your knowledge of Jack London.

Alas you will be hard pushed to find much of his work in Cardiff
Central Library.

D.M. Procida said:

Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Yes and it can be read online, a wonderful book

The Man Who Loved Bicycles THE MEMOIRS OF AN AUTOPHOBE. by Daniel
Behrman.
www.bikereader.com/contributors/behrman/behrman.html

B

On 31 Jul 2006 08:22 sothach said:

D.M. Procida said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having
read I immediately started reading again from the beginning.
Is there much in the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Here's an interesting essay on the subject - the HGWells book
sounds good, 'specially as the hero learns to ride on a fixie...

http://www.bikereader.com/contributors/forester/literature.html

A good read- thanks for the link - and full of interesting pointers /
recommendations. These included a book I particularly like, Ralph
Hurne's _The Yellow Jersey_

--
Tim Forcer [email hidden]
The University of Southampton, UK

The University is not responsible for my opinions

in message <[email hidden]>, Tim Forcer

(') said:

On 31 Jul 2006 08:22 sothach said:

D.M. Procida said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having
read I immediately started reading again from the beginning.
Is there much in the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Here's an interesting essay on the subject - the HGWells book
sounds good, 'specially as the hero learns to ride on a fixie...

http://www.bikereader.com/contributors/forester/literature.html

A good read- thanks for the link - and full of interesting pointers /
recommendations. These included a book I particularly like, Ralph
Hurne's _The Yellow Jersey_

The Yellow Jersey is quite good, but it isn't a patch on The Rider, which
is absolutely brilliant and very strongly recommended.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Wannabe a Web designer?
<URL:http://userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/97dec/19971206.html>

Mark W said:

Found this , does it count :O)

http://www.bikereader.com/solo/holmes.html

Dunno. But if that level of online story counts,
then so presumably should many of the splendid
ride reports that appear from time to time here
(many of them better-written than that piece, too).

--
not me guv

davek said:

D.M. Procida said:

Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Bicycles and cycling play a prominent role in The Third Policeman by
Flann O'Brien, with particular regard to the relationship between a man
and his bike.

I've read some interesting 'literature' about a lady and a bicycle
pump,but its probably unsuitable for this newsgroup !

It's a shame that 'Bicycling Books' is no more. The proprietor (David
Stuart-Clark) died a while ago.

I 'lived' in his Acton shop...

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email hidden]
Edgware.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

The 'Penguin Book of the Bicycle' was written by two English lecturers
and has some delightful literary excerpts (and photos). I lurve that
book...

Having now finished "Bad To The Bone", I looked out my copy of the
above. It is curious, nay, /spooky/ to note that among those
Acknowledged is:

Richard Phipps! (FX: spooky Horrorshow music)

Either cloning SCIENCE was a lot more advanced in 1977 than was
previously suspected or, like Alan Bennett[1], Being Richard Phipps is
more a sort of franchise arrangement.

1 - it was, I think, Dai Infidel who noted that the ubiquity of Alan
Bennett meant that he couldn't possible be but a single speccy
Yorkshireman.

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
My liver is evil, and must be punished.

D.M. Procida said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

An amusing short story:
http://arthursclassicnovels.com/arthurs/gothic/tmsval10.html
I don't know how feasible the ride is today. Perhaps someone would like to try it.

There is some cycling in Hornung's Raffles, E.F. Benson's Mapp & Lucia novels
and Paying Guests, and a couple of Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster tales.

--
Eiron

No good deed ever goes unpunished.

I have a copy, have been meaning to read it [not surprising in that I
haven't read a book in over 20 years!] , have recommended it somebody
else [who has read it...and loved it], but you might like to give this
a whirl:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670033634/102-2854246-7521757?v=glance&n=283155

It's not a novel about cycling as such, but a long bike ride is at the
heart of the book.

Garry

Quoted message said:

A friend has lent me Tim Krabbé's _The Rider_, which having read I
immediately started reading again from the beginning. Is there much in
the way of a cycling-related literary tradition?

Right now all I can think of is the opening paragraphs of Jack London's
_Cruise of the Dazzler_, and the rather different final pages of
Houellebecq's _Whatever_ ("Whatever" is the English for "L'extension du
domain de la lutte", of course).

It does seem that wherever cycling plays a central role in fiction it is
as a glimpse into human spirit, which I think says something about it.

Daniele