Ok... Books...

[t27]

Memories of Running
A novel where the bike provides the vehicle of transformation.
Some of the details of bike touring sound like the author may not be that familiar with long distance touring, but it is not about the bike.

[mike_khad1]

1. Park Tool's Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair

2. Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook

3. Metal Cowboy's Momentum Is Your Friend

[bikerinNE]

Originally Posted by mike_khad1

2. Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook

plus one on Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook

[elk]

2 more good reads:

The Need for the Bike Paul Fournel

Heft on Wheels MIke Magnuson

[OldCog]

World War Z ... yeah its a zombie book.

I can't help my self

[randy5235]

The art of urban cycling .... by Hurst I believe.. I found it to be a pretty nice book. He bashes a bit too much on VC for my taste, but makes a couple of good points on a couple of issues. Worth the read for anyone that commutes in my opinion.


Randy

[lacorota]

I needed a little book for those increasingly spare moments I seem to be able to dedicate to reading. This fit the need. It's an anthology of little bike stories: humorous, serious, political, technical, meaningful, and all worthy of time spent reading. Plus, it's got a really cool cover.

One of my favorites inside the little book was "Of Dogs and Cyclists: The Difference Between Riders." This past summer, after logging lots of in-city commuting and dating miles, I noted the differences in all of us; cyclists are a diverse bunch with different bikes, costumes, and perhaps different motives for biking.

My observations ranged from the quintessential Portland Hipster enjoying a smoke and a PBR on a recycled classic chromoly, to an upscale lycra clad cyclist ripping it up on a feather weight carbon frame.

Despite the wonderful variety, the passion for riding is common to all.

"Of Dogs and Cyclists . . . " put a fun spin on it all.

[RonC]

Greg Moody wrote a series of cycling murder mysteries that I found fun to read. They are:

Perfect Circles
Two Wheels
Derailleur
Dead Air
Dead Roll

The later books in the series seemed a little darker, but the first few are very good page turners. All worth reading, but I'm not sure if they are published anymore.

[Dovestrobe]

Some of my faves

Bike Cult by David Perry: an encyclopedic book of various historical facts and current trends, written in the 90's (so this book may not be so current for the hipster in you!)

Cycling by James C. McCullagh: an enjoyable read, especially good for those who wish to be inspired by stories of folks who were way over weight, got a Huffy, rode forever, lost a ton of weight and buy a better bike, a Cannondale, to celebrate. Also detailed for the racer regarding training regiments, diet etc...

The Complete Book of Bicycle Commuting (Rodale press) by John Allen: nice to have or own a commuting bike book to refer to when contemplating daily commutes. Defensive cycling is what this book is all about! Out of print, however there are other notable bike commuting books out there.

Bike Snob NYC is a blog in addition to being a current book written with the same title by the same snobby dude, which is profoundly funny and of course keeps current with what's going on in bike culture with a charming sense of funny! http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/

[kenl666]

Most of these have already been mentioned but here goes:

- Ten Points, Bill Strickland. A tremendous story about the chilling abuse he suffered interspersed with his efforts to get sufficient upgrade points to cat up.

- Tales From the Bike Shop, Half-Wheel Hell, both by Maynard Hershon (he also has a column that appears in the Bicycle Paper). Most of these are only a page or two long, real light reading but some of the stories are so poignant and touching.

And of course anything & everything by our local home-boy, the Metal Cowboy Joe Kurmanskie.