The Ronde

Author: Edward Pickering
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471140814
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Every April, up to a million fans line the streets of Flanders to watch one of cycling's most exciting and dangerous one-day races: the Ronde. Flanders is cycling's heartland, and the sport's followers there are among cycling's most knowledgeable. The race is characterised by a series of short, steep narrow climbs, often over slippery cobbles that can soon send the unwary cyclist tumbling. Despite the race's huge popularity, there is no proper English language book on the story of the Ronde, but here Pickering fills that void. He explains how the Ronde is inseparable from its landscape, and from the people who line the route. He not only provides a stunning, in-depth account of the race itself, but assesses its history and how it has come to form such a vital part of Flemish identity. He will also reveal why this is such a tough race to master, one that has been targeted by the seemingly all-conquering Team Sky, but yet still remains beyond their reach. This is a book about cycling in its purest, most compelling form.

The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman

Author: Harry Pearson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Sport
ISBN: 1472945042
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
Cycling is wildly popular all over Belgium, but in the northern, Dutch-speaking half of the country it is part of the psyche. Tiny Flanders boasts a population of just 6 million, yet this small corner of northwest Europe has produced eight winners of the Tour de France, five times as many professional riders as Italy or Spain. Blending reportage, interviews, observation, biography, and history, and written with affectionate humor by a committed Belgophile, The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman tells the story of Flanders' neurotic love affair with bike racing, from tough early heroes such as Jules Vanhevel--wounded by mortar fire in World War I and leading the world championship road race until he collided with a cow--to latter-day ironmen such as Tom Boonen, three-times winner of the Tour of Flanders and owner of a pet donkey named Kamiel.

The Monuments

Author: Peter Cossins
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408846829
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 469

Book Description
'Peter Cossins is an engaging writer whose conversational style makes this an effortless yet interesting read. The cosy tone delivers a great deal with a good balance of history and anecdotes. If you wish to explore cycling beyond the Grand Tours this is the book.' - Carlton Kirby An awe-inspiring history of the five most legendary 'classic' races in world cycling. The Tour de France may provide the most obvious fame and glory, but it is cycling's one-day tests that the professional riders really prize. Toughest, longest and dirtiest of all are the so-called 'Monuments', the five legendary races that are the sport's equivalent of golf's majors or the grand slams in tennis. Milan–Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy date back more than a century, and each of them is an anomaly in modern-day sport, the cycling equivalent of the Monaco Grand Prix. Time has changed them to a degree, but they remain as brutally testing as they ever have been. They provide the sport's outstanding one-day performers – the likes of Philippe Gilbert, Fabian Cancellara, Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, Peter Sagan and Thor Hushovd – with a chance to measure themselves against each other and their predecessors in the most challenging tests in world cycling. From the bone-shattering bowler-hat cobbles of the Paris–Roubaix (rumoured to be Bradley Wiggins' next challenge) to the insanely steep hellingen in the Tour of Flanders, each race is as unique as the riders who push themselves through extreme exhaustion to win them and enter their epic history. Over the course of a century, only Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck have won all five races. Yet victory in a single edition of a Monument guarantees a rider lasting fame. For some, that one victory has even more cachet than success in a grand tour. Each of the Monuments has a fascinating history, featuring tales of the finest and largest characters in the sport. In The Monuments, Peter Cossins tells the tumultuous history of these extraordinary races and the riders they have immortalised.

The Year of Less

Author: Cait Flanders
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
ISBN: 1401953514
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
The Year of Less In her late twenties, Cait Flanders found herself stuck in the consumerism cycle that grips so many of us: earn more, buy more, want more, rinse, repeat. Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy—only keeping her from meeting her goals—she decided to set herself a challenge: she would not shop for an entire year.The Year of Less documents Cait’s life for twelve months during which she bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things besides shopping. She decluttered her apartment and got rid of 70 percent of her belongings; learned how to fix things rather than throw them away; researched the zero waste movement; and completed a television ban. At every stage, she learned that the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.The challenge became a lifeline when, in the course of the year, Cait found herself in situations that turned her life upside down. In the face of hardship, she realized why she had always turned to shopping, alcohol, and food—and what it had cost her. Unable to reach for any of her usual vices, she changed habits she’d spent years perfecting and discovered what truly mattered to her.Blending Cait’s compelling story with inspiring insight and practical guidance, The Year of Less will leave you questioning what you’re holding on to in your own life—and, quite possibly, lead you to find your own path of less.

The Fair Face of Flanders

Author: Patricia Carson
Publisher: Lannoo Uitgeverij
ISBN: 9789020943856
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description

Tour of Flanders

Author: Les Woodland
Publisher: McGann Publishing LLC
ISBN: 9780985963620
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Book Description
The Tour of Flanders is Belgium's most brutal day in the saddle. The bike-crazed Flemish don't just send riders over cobblestone roads. Nor are they content to break the racers' legs with nearly 20 steep hills. No, the worst of all cycling worlds meet in Flanders with narrow, vertical roads paved with slippery, dangerous cobbles. The hills are so steep they are called "muurs", or walls, and they come one after another, for hours, until the riders are shattered with exhaustion. The Tour of Flanders is so fiendishly difficult that the man who wins it earns everlasting fame. Les Woodland tells the inside story of how the Flandrians became the world's most formidable racers, and of the dream of one writer to create a signature race, one that would showcase the Flemish virtues of toughness, endurance and determination. That dream became the Tour of Flanders, one of cycling's monuments. Come join Les for a fascinating ride in the cobbled hills of Flanders. About the Author: Les Woodland has been cycling for 50 years and has been writing about cycling since 1965, when he wrote his first reports for the British publication "Cycling". Since then he has been a prolific contributor to newspapers, magazines, web sites and radio stations in the U.K., the U.S. and Belgium as well as authoring more than 25 books. Mr. Woodland, who lives in France, speaks several of the languages of cycling: English, Dutch and French.

The Ascent

Author: Barry Ryan
Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
ISBN: 0717180263
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 389

Book Description
Barry Ryan is European Editor at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and other events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is from Glanworth in County Cork.

Half Man, Half Bike

Author: William Fotheringham
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1613747268
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
First published in Great Britain in 2012 as Merckx, half man, half bike by Yellow Jersey Press"--T.p. verso.

Shielded

Author: KayLynn Flanders
Publisher: Ember
ISBN: 0593118561
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Book Description
For fans of Sorcery of Thorns and Furyborn comes a thrilling new fantasy about a kingdom ravaged by war, and the princess who might be the key to saving not only those closest to her, but the kingdom itself, if she reveals the very secret that could destroy her. The kingdom of Hálendi is in trouble. It's losing the war at its borders, and rumors of a new, deadlier threat on the horizon have surfaced. Princess Jennesara knows her skills on the battlefield would make her an asset and wants to help, but her father has other plans. As the second-born heir to the throne, Jenna lacks the firstborn's--her brother's--magical abilities, so the king promises her hand in marriage to the prince of neighboring Turia in exchange for resources Hálendi needs. Jenna must leave behind everything she has ever known if she is to give her people a chance at peace. Only, on the journey to reach her betrothed and new home, the royal caravan is ambushed, and Jenna realizes the rumors were wrong--the new threat is worse than anyone imagined. Now Jenna must decide if revealing a dangerous secret is worth the cost before it's too late--for her and for her entire kingdom. A Whitney Award Nominee "A gorgeous fantasy that captivates from beginning to end."--KATHRYN PURDIE, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Burning Glass and Bone Crier's Moon "YA fantasy at its most fun."--DANA SWIFT, author of Cast in Firelight

Adventures in Opting Out

Author: Cait Flanders
Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
ISBN: 0316536938
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Book Description
Opt out of expectations and live a more intentional life with this refreshing guide from the national bestselling author of The Year of Less. We all follow our own path in life. At least, that's what we're told. In reality, many of us either do what is expected of us, or follow the invisible but well-worn paths that lead to what is culturally acceptable. For some, those paths are fine -- even great. But they leave some of us feeling disconnected from ourselves and what we really want. When that discomfort finally outweighs the fear of trying something new, we're ready to opt out. After going through this process many times, Cait Flanders found there is an incredible parallel between taking a different path in life and the psychological work it takes to summit a mountain -- especially when you decide to go solo. In Adventures in Opting Out, she offers a trail map to help you with both. As you'll see, reaching the first viewpoint can be easy -- and it offers a glimpse of what you're walking toward. Climbing to the summit for the full view is worth it. But in the space between those two peaks you will enter a world completely unknown to you, and that is the most difficult part of the path to navigate. With Flanders's guidance and advice, drawn from her own journey and stories of others, you'll have all the encouragement and insight you'll need to take the path less traveled and create the life you want. Just step up to the trailhead and expect it to be an adventure.