Gironimo!: Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy

Moore, Tim

ISBN 10: 1483085058 ISBN 13: 9781483085050

Publisher: Blackstone Pub, 2015

Synopsis

The 1914 Giro d Italia was the most difficult bike race in history; eighty-one riders started and only eight finished. Now Tim Moore is going to attempt it himself, and he s committed to total authenticity.Twelve years after Tim Moore toiled around the route of the Tour de France, he senses his achievement being undermined by the truth about Horrid Lance. His rash response is to take on a fearsome challenge from an age of untarnished heroes: the notorious 1914 Giro d Italia. History s most appalling bike race was an ordeal of 400-kilometer stages filled with cataclysmic storms, roads strewn with nails, and even the loss of an eye by one competitor and it was all on a diet of raw eggs and red wine.Of the eighty-one riders who rolled out of Milan, only eight made it back. To truly capture the essence of what these riders endured a century ago, Tim acquires the ruined husk of a gearless, wooden-wheeled 1914 road bike, some maps, and an alarming period outfit topped off with a pair of blue-lensed welding goggles. As Moore rides up and over the Alps and then down to the Adriatic (with only wine corks for brakes), "Gironimo!" is an adventure that is by turns bold, beautiful, and madly inspiring."

About this title

Review:

In this funny and fascinating tale of cycling, writer Tim Moore takes the reader on a journey few will ever attempt, let alone finish: a 3,162-kilometer route over the Italian mountains that was once the setting of a notoriously difficult bicycle race. On a mission that could easily veer into preachiness, Moore is too humorous a narrator to let the story go off track. Hilarious.

A superbly funny read.

One of the funniest books about sport ever written.

Moore s adventures are perfect for adventure readers, cyclists, and sports fans alike."

Disgusted by the Lance Armstrong scandal and disappointed in the dispassionate, technology-driven cycling world, British humorist Moore challenges himself to ride the route of the 1914 Giro d'Italia. His journey is peppered with self-deprecating humor, and his interactions with the people he encounters and charming towns he visits are very entertaining. Moore's patented combination of humor and travelogue proves thoroughly engaging.

Moore's adventures are perfect for adventure readers, cyclists, and sports fans alike.

Book Description:

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

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Pub
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1483085058
• ISBN 13: 9781483085050
• Binding: Audio CD