Of the 81 who rolled out of Milan, only eight made it back. Committed to total authenticity, Tim acquires the ruined husk of a gearless, wooden-wheeled 1914 road bike with wine corks for brakes, some maps and an alarming period outfit topped off with a pair of blue-lensed welding goggles.
The author of the bestselling French Revolutions does Italy - cycling the course of the 1914 Giro d'Italia on a wooden bike.
'Bill Bryson on two wheels' Independent
A 3,162 km race. A 48-year-old man. A 100-year-old bike. Made mostly of wood. That he built himself.
Tim Moore sets off to recreate the most appalling bike race of all time. The notorious 1914 Giro d'Italia was an ordeal of 400-kilometre stages, cataclysmic night storms and relentless sabotage - all on a diet of raw eggs and red wine. Of the 81 who rolled out of Milan, only eight made it back.
Committed to total authenticity, Tim acquires the ruined husk of a gearless, wooden-wheeled 1914 road bike with wine corks for brakes, some maps and an alarming period outfit topped off with a pair of blue-lensed welding goggles.
From the Alps to the Adriatic the pair relive the bike race in all its misery and glory, on an adventure that is by turns bold, beautiful and recklessly incompetent.
A considerable achievement Duncan Craig Lonely Planet Traveller
Tim Moore's writing has appeared in the
Daily Telegraph, the Observer, the Sunday Times and
Esquire. He is the author of
Gironimo!, French Revolutions, Do Not Pass Go, Spanish Steps, Nul Points, I Believe In Yesterday and
You Are Awful (But I Like You). He lives in London.
Über den Autor
Having ridden the route of the Tour de France in French Revolutions, led a donkey on a 500-mile pilgrimage in Spanish Steps and driven round the worst places in Britain in an Austin Maestro for You Are Awful (But I Like You), Tim Moore can loook back on a towering career in misadventure.
Gironimo!, his latest and most imposing pedal-powered endeavour, is a story of predictable over-ambition trumped by frankly staggering over-achievement. Moore lives in London with his wife and three children, and still wears those welding goggles at Christmas.
Klappentext
Now in paperback, this sees Tim Moore cycle the course of the 1914 Giro d'Italia on a wooden bike. The original 3162km race saw 81 starters set out and only 8 finish 2 weeks later, after enduring storms, roads strewn with nails and the loss of an eye for one competitor. From the author of "French Revolutions" and "Do Not Pass Go".
