Stuart Larry David likes to quote from The Rider:
“Racing is licking your opponent’s plate clean before starting on your own.”
That’s but one memorable line from the best cycling book ever written. Why is it the best?
- It reflects the experience of a suffering on a bike better than any prose should.
- Lance isn’t in it.
- The author, Tim Krabbe, knows about the joys of suffering in an intimate way.
- It takes place at a time when racing was all about effort and guile, and not about the bike.
- It puts you there, in the saddle, climbing European cols.
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