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Can’t get hold of a bicycle due to the surge in post-lockdown demand? Here are five books for cycling fans and newcomers alike
In these strange past few months there has been a bicycle boom, as lapsed cyclists have pulled neglected machines out of sheds and new converts have rushed to get hold of their own two wheels – a surge so great that bicycle suppliers can’t keep up with the demand. Cycling is a safe and practical way to get about in the pandemic, but it also offers freedom and pleasure. The lure of the open road has never been more keenly felt, and those of us used to spending a lot of time in the saddle are longing for the day when we can pedal further afield.
The Irish writer Dervla Murphy knows all too well the frustration that results when events outside your control force you to wait for an extended bicycle trip. In her memoir Wheels Within Wheels she describes how, on her 10th birthday, she decided she would cycle to India. But the solo journey from Dunkirk to Delhi she made famous in her travelogue Full Tilt had to be put on hold until she was 31. From the age of 14 she cared almost single-handedly for her mother, who was all but paralysed by rheumatoid arthritis. Murphy’s memoir vividly recounts the years of stifling confinement in her “domestic cage” and her longing to be free. After her mother’s death, even the coldest winter in living memory couldn’t get between her, her bicycle Rocinante and that icy road east. Continue reading...