Scaling a new peak of rash over-ambition, Tim Moore tackles the 9, 000km route of the old Iron Curtain on a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike. Asking for trouble & getting it, he sets off from the northernmost Norwegian-Russian border at the Arctic winter`s brutal height, bullying his plucky MIFA 900 through the endless & massively sub-zero desolation of snowbound Finl&. Sleeping in bank vaults, imperial palaces & unreconstructed Soviet youth hostels, battling vodka-breathed Russian hostility, Romanian landslides & a diet of dumplings, Moore & his `so-small bicycle` are sustained by the kindness of reindeer farmers & Serbian rock gods, plus a shameful addiction to Magic Man energy drink. Haunted throughout by the border detritus of watchtowers & rusted razor wire, Moore reflects on the curdling of the Communist dream, & the memories of a Cold War generation reared on the fear of apocalypse
- at a time of ratcheting East-West tension. After three months, 20 countries & a 58-degree jaunt up the centigrade scale, man & bike finally wobble up to a Black Sea beach in Bulgaria, older & wiser, but mainly older.
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' Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart'
- Iris Murdoch. Roadies, tourers,
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Who likes climbing hills? The fight against gravity can leave your legs screaming in pain, your chest burning in agony & your head desperately craving oxygen. Yet there`s a great feeling of achievement after taking on a murderous climb & winning. You may not enjoy it at the time, but that feeling always brings you back for more. In this guide, John Mc Kendrick brings together 36 of Southern Scotland`s best hillclimbs, including such cycling club favourites as The Nick o` the Balloch, The Crow Road, The Duke`s Pass & The Serpentine, as well as many less-known but equally exhilarating & testing climbs
- stretching from Glasgow & Ayrshire to Galloway, the Borders, Edinburgh & the Central Lowlands.
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The smell of lavender at a roadside picnic, waiting for the Tour de France to race past. The Pacific Ocean view from the 10, 000-foot summit of Hawaii`s Haleakala volcanic crater (after 5 hours of uphill riding). A fresh Fat Tire ale hitting your lips at the new Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. These, & a wide-ranging variety of other experiences, all rooted to a specific location or event, comprise The Cyclist`s Bucket List. The book will definitively catalogue both the iconic & little known
- the accessible & aspirational
- sensory & emotional experiences that instill cyclists with a deep passion for the sport. In this book, Ian Dille compiles & showcases the world`s quintessential cycling experiences through extensive research & interviews with expert sources, vivid storytelling, stunning photography, & compelling design. The format

Includes:: lengthy in-depth descriptions as well as much shorter, easy to consume write-ups, ranging from locations such as Italy & Belgium to Nova Scotia & Texas.



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There is historical precedent for a book that uses roads to inflict pain on people throughout Highland Scotl&. Thanks to the various Jacobite Rebellions between 1688 & 1746 the British Government embarked on an unparalleled programme of road building to enable their troops to quickly cross the length & breadth of the land in order to quell unrest & control unruly clansmen. Under the direction of Generals Wade & Caufield, 1100 miles of roads were constructed in less than fifty years. Inevitably, almost as quickly as they covered the miles in distance, these roads racked up the metres in altitude, as they clambered their way to the lowest point or easiest route through the bealachs that connect the Highland glens that dissect the mountains of Scotl&. Following on from A Cyclists` Guide to Hillclimbs on Scottish Lowland Roads, this volume by John H Mc Kendrick features 40 of the best road climbs in the north of the country, many of them on the old military roads. As well as established classics like the Cairn o` Mount, The Lecht, Bealach Ratagan &, of course, the legendary Belach na Ba, there are some lesser-known gems & unusual challenges to keep the adventurous roadie on their toes. ...

Designed with collaboration from cyclists & coaches, this next generation of cyclist`s training diary will make it easier than ever to record & interpret every component of cycling training & is a companion to Joe Friel`s bestselling book ” The Cyclist`s Training Bible”. Coach Joe Friel gives athletes a thorough introduction to the essential details of training & keeping a log. For athletes who are designing their own annual training schedule he provides a guide to planning the entire season. With 53 undated weekly spreads, these diaries are the most comprehensive training logs available with space for:- every training detail, from weather conditions to resting heart rate & daily nutrition- charts to organize race results & fitness indicators- physiological test results such as VO2max & lactate threshold- power meter data & weekly race results specific to cycling The Cyclist’s Training Diary takes training seriously. Athletes can be confident that they will be better prepared for competition & have insight to the progress made along the way. ...

The Cypriot by Andreas Koumi is set in the British ruled Cyprus of the 1950s. To the Orthodox Christian majority, freedom means enosis – union with Greece. To the Muslim minority, the same sort of freedom means disaster. Alongside the choice & identity of the nation are the issues of personal freedoms & choices. Andonis, a young Christian, is struggling to escape his father’s fields & become a tailor, struggling with formulating his own sense of Cypriot national identity & fighting to be with his forbidden Muslim love. ...

For nearly 60 years-from its uprising against British rule in the 1950s, to the bloody civil war between Greek & Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in the 1970s, & the United Nation`s ongoing 30-year effort to reunite the isl&-the tiny Mediterranean nation of Cyprus has taken a disproportionate share of the international spotlight. & while it has been often in the news, accurate & impartial information on the conflict has been nearly impossible to obtain. In The Cyprus Problem, James Ker-Lindsay offers an incisive, even-handed account of the conflict. Ker-Lindsay covers all aspects of the Cyprus problem, placing it in historical context, addressing the situation as it now stands, & looking toward its possible resolution. The book begins with the origins of the Greek & Turkish Cypriot communities as well as the other indigenous communities on the island (Maronites, Latin, Armenians, & Gypsies). Ker-Lindsay then examines the tensions that emerged between the Greek & Turkish Cypriots after independence in 1960 & the complex constitutional provisions & international treaties designed to safeguard the new state. He pays special attention to the Turkish invasion in 1974 & the subsequent efforts by the UN & the international community to reunite Cyprus. The book`s final two chapters address a host of pressing issues that divide the two Cypriot communities, including key concerns over property, refugee returns, & the repatriation of settlers. Ker-Lindsay concludes by considering whether partition really is the best solution, as many observers increasingly suggest. Written by a leading expert, The Cyprus Problem brings much needed clarity & understanding to a conflict that has confounded observers & participants alike for decades. ...

The Czech Reader brings together more than 150 primary texts & illustrations to convey the dramatic history of the Czechs, from the emergence of the Czech state in the tenth century, through the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 & the Czech Republic in 1993, into the twenty-first century. The Slav-speaking Czechs have lived for more than a millennium surrounded on three sides by German-speaking people. The Czechs have preserved their language, traditions, & customs, despite their incorporation into the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Third Reich, & the Eastern Bloc. Organized chronologically, the selections in The Czech Reader include the letter to the Czech people written by the religious reformer & national hero Jan Hus in 1415, & Charter 77, the founding document of an influential anticommunist initiative launched in 1977 in reaction to the arrest of the Plastic People of the Universe, an underground rock b&. There is a speech given in 1941 by Reinhard Heydrich, a senior Nazi official & Deputy Reich-Protector of Bohemia & Moravia, as well as one written by Vaclav Havel in 1984 for an occasion abroad, but read by the Czech-born British dramatist Tom Stoppard, since Havel, the dissident playwright & future national leader, was not allowed to leave Czechoslovakia. Among the songs, poems, folklore, fiction, plays, paintings, & photographs of monuments & architectural landmarks are ” Let Us Rejoice, ” the most famous chorus from Bedrich Smetana`s comic opera The Bartered Bride; a letter the composer Antonin Dvorak sent from New York, where he directed the National Conservatory of Music in the 1890s; a story by Franz Kafka; & an excerpt from Milan Kundera`s The Joke. Intended for travellers, students, & scholars alike, The Czech Reader is a rich introduction to the turbulent history & resilient culture of the Czech people. ...

The Czechs, in the Xenophobe guide series; consisting of a range of pocket-sized guides which take a humorous & irreverent approach to a wide range of world cultures. Each guide explores the characteristics of a country’s people in a series of dedicated sections, encompassing nationalism & identity, behaviour, manners, character, obsessions, beliefs & values, leisure & pleasure, culture, custom & tradition, business, systems, health & hygiene, crime & punishment, government & bureaucracy, conversation & gestures & language. Written in a wholly irreverent style, Xenophobes guides attempt to forewarn readers of the main stereotypes & foibles that are associated with individual nationalities. ...