Product Description

An entertaining social and cultural history of cycling in post-war Europe seen through the eyes of a veteran racing cyclist. Written with great literary and historical relish, One More Kilometre examines the spread of cycling's popularity, how it developed into a sport and how the bicycle has changed people's lives -- all viewed through the eyes of a seasoned 56-year-old racing cyclist/art critic who keeps eleven racing cycles in his garden shed and who never cycles less than 10,000 miles a year. The book starts with the 1950s, regarded as the golden age of cycling, and when the author, 'an unhappy communist child', first discovered cycling and its emancipating powers. Progressing through four decades of cycling social history, the author will examine cycling as a Continental phenomenon, the rise and fall of the Tour de France; the lives of the great 'trackmen'; cycling in its domestic form, cycling for fun, the ever-popular British cycling clubs -- some of which are over one hundred years old and are home to many fellow eccentrics, fanatics and old-timers, like the author's friend, 'the Yorkshire junior road race champion of 1954, now living in a caravan, crippled and penniless with his much younger companion a taxidermist -- beautiful and cruel'. One More Kilometre is a lovely blend of personal anecdote, serious history and informed obsession, combining gentle humour, personal reminiscence and good history into a beguiling whole.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79549 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
'A deeply affectionate mental scrapbook ! Hilton has the skill as a writer to make the subject of cycling fresh and compelling again. Fascinating ! Exuberant' Matt Seaton, Guardian 'An exhilarating work ! just the book for anyone who, shooting past a traffic jam on the way to work, imagines himself wearing the winner's yellow jersey at the head of the Tour de France pack' Independent 'Tim Hilton is a man of sardonic humour as well as high intelligence ! his book is one of the most unusual, eccentric and captivating ever written by a "wheelman"' Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Daily Mail 'A hugely engaging history of the sport' Simon O'Hagan, Books of the Year, Independent on Sunday 'A charmingly eccentric account of his love of cycling, mixed in with a history of the sport' John Preston, Books of the Year, Sunday Telegraph 'Hilton is a brilliantly quirky, inventive writer ! A wonderful testament to a life in the saddle' Daily Telegraph 'Remarkably infectious and richly atmospheric; so much so that the effect is like being hoisted up on to his handlebars and swept along for the ride. His enthusiasm drives everything forward at an exhilarating lick' Sunday Telegraph

Telegraph
'Hilton’s own unusual life in cycling is beautifully woven into a history of English and continental racing.'

Financial Times
'A moving and funny memoir...connoisseurial pages about the Tour de France give Hilton's story its thumping heart.'

Customer Reviews

three tales in one, highly readable, though not sure why
A very interesting book for a number of reasons. Firstly, its not a typical contemporary cycling book - its quite interesting to hear about Hilton's youth, how he was brought up in a Midlands Communist party household and cycling being part of his escape to all sorts of places and people. Second, the history of club cycling in Britain - the racers, races and politics / organisation. Finally, he covers the history and characters of the classic races in Europe (but not through to latter day - he certainly gives the impression that he doesnt like the commercial modern ways of big races like the TdF). All of which is sometimes a bit hard going (personally I would have liked to learn more about Fausto Coppi and Eddie Merx than so many of the British riders and club politics) and occasionally mixed in with bouts of poetry and other literary pieces.

The book can sometime be a little pretentious in the ways it views the 'golden era' of cycling, traditions, French verses without translation for people like me... and so on

But the bottom line is it is hard to put down and before I knew where I was, I was at the end. I would summarise this as a worthwhile read from many different dimensions, I enjoyed it.

Accessible for the tourist/randonneur/audaxer
An unexpected wellspring for such a book; all the better for it. Tim Hilton writes very well. His enthusiasm for and experience of cycle racing/time trialling gives a great flavour to reminiscence which didn't bore me at all. I particularly liked the tangential observations on well known names like Beryl Burton and Frank Patterson. The first book on cycle racing that I've enjoyed completing; others I remember as rather dour.

Sepia toned pleasure
What an unusual cycling book. As a cyclist who has never raced - dawdling is more my scene - I found this a captivating view of a world I have never tasted. Tim Hilton writes with fondness of his cycling days after the war, adding vignettes of the greats of British and continental cycling. You're not likely to read the book in one sitting, but you will find it a perfect companion for a wild winter's afternoon.