Gironimo!: Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy
May 2014 · Random House
4.7star
31 reviewsreport
Ebook
368
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About this ebook
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.
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.
Ratings and reviews
4.7
31 reviews
A Google user
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October 5, 2018
I have just finished reading this for the third time in 6 months. I am currently sitting on a train on the way home from work, with tears running down my face from laughing so much and people looking at me like I'm mad. This book is funny, poignient at times, beautifully written and one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. I would recommend this to all cycling fans or anyone that just enjoys being taken on a fantastic journey and feeling good about life.
1 person found this review helpful
peter mac
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August 18, 2014
Outstanding return to form that will have you literally laughing out loud. Loved it! That magical mix of self propelled travel, history and desperate execution of a pointless endeavor. Read it and weep, in a good way.
Alex Parsons-Moore
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May 8, 2014
A fantastic and amusing account of a truly heroic ride. A perfect combination of comic adventure and cycling nostalgia. Enjoy!
About the author
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.
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