' 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. ...

Coach Joe Friel is the most trusted name in endurance sports coaching, & his ” Cyclist’s Training Bible” is the most comprehensive & reliable training resource ever written for cyclists. This new edition of the bestselling book

Includes:: all of the latest advances in training & technology. Using this book, cyclists can create a comprehensive, self-coached training plan that is both scientifically proven & shaped around their personal goals. Friel empowers athletes with every detail they need to consider when planning a season, lining up a week of workouts, or preparing to race. This fourth edition

Includes:: extensive revisions on the specifics of how to train & what to eat. Friel explains how cyclists can:- best gauge intensity with power meters & other new training technology to maximize form & fitness & reduce fatigue.- more knowledgeably & accurately make changes to their annual training plan over the course of a season.- dramatically build muscular endurance with strength training.- improve body composition & recovery with smarter nutrition. With more case studies to draw from & multiple contingency plans for those times when training doesn’t progress as planned, ” The Cyclist’s Training Bible” continues to be the definitive guide to optimal cycling performance.



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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. ...

This powerful study chronicles the evolution of the invasion plan & culminates in a day-by-day account of the landings by sea & by air on the Normandy beaches, followed by the grim six-week struggle to break through the German defences. An important feature is the space devoted to the German point of view, based on the latest archival research, & the organization of the French Resistance in northern & western France. At the heart of the book are 71 maps in full colour, many drawing in detail on those used by the Allies in 1944. Specially commissioned reconstruction drawings & contemporary photographs help bring the beaches & bocage of Normandy to life. ...