The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom and Wanderings

by Jim Joyce

Book Overview

The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings is a celebration of the bicycle by people who love to ride. It's a tribute to one of the finest, most efficient, useful machines ever invented. It's packed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972919155
• ISBN13: 9780972919159
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Satya House Publications
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Review for the Westerville Bicycle Club

The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings, edited by Jim Joyce (Satya House Publications: Hardwick, MA, 2007), is a delightful compilation of short essays on cycling (some humorous, some inspirational, some amazing) and cartoons. Whether you have just a few minutes (before someone else arrives at your cycling meet point, perhaps?) or a full hour to devote to reading (how many folks won't look for an excuse to get out of detailing the bike for one more day?), this book can provide a pleasant distraction from our hum-drum everyday lives, and place us right back on the saddle. Joyce covers a fun gambit, from how cycling is the fountain of youth (Law 6 in Gianna Bellofatto's "An Invitation to the Open Road & the Laws of Cycling"; "The Next 30 Years? How about the Next 50?" by Chip Haynes), to helpful mechanic hints ("Bits and Bolts from Ask the Mechanic," by Andy Wallen), and everything in between. Then there are the cartoons, decorating the pages like your favorite bike accessories. You'll find yourself laughing at which sign of the cycling zodiac would represent you (Neal Skorpen's "The Cyclist's Zodiac"), or picturing bicycles for other animals than those captured (Skorpen's "Bikes of the Animal Kingdom" and "More Bikes of the Animal Kingdom")--of course the lemur's bike doesn't have any brakes; what does that say about our fixie crowd?, or even the cycling crest (Skorpen's "Human Power"). You'll laugh at how Bonkerz describes the cycling bank bandit (Bonkerz is Bob LaDrew's character who appears in the Delaware Valley Bicycle Club newsletter). The book ends with some inspirational tales of wandering on the bike--ever think about riding across the Sahara? John Stuart Clark and his wife have done it ("Saharan Margins"). Riding Across the USA? I know some of you have done that. Check out Rhonda & Dave Fritsch's "Cross Country Tandem Trip: A Journal." Or, for the most vivid images I've had evoked by words in a long time, surrounding a storm the author could not outrace, check out Clark's "Desert Storm." The editor, Joyce, also authors some pieces in here, in the "Wanderings" section. Who hasn't survived a ride because of a mentor's wisdom? ("Remembering Hank") Or gotten help exactly when you needed it? (brother Bill Joyce contributes "California Angel") Joyce was a TOSRV vendor this year, and I enjoyed jawing with him as I made my purchase. Hmm, I wonder where my piece on night-of-TOSRV repair jobs would fit in this book? Please note, Joyce plans to donate 15% of his royalties to several worthwhile organizations: League of American Bicyclists; SoldierRide.com; and the United States Association of Blind Athletes.

"The Bicycle Book" by Jim Joyce

This book is one of the best $14.95 investments I've ever made, full of wonderful essays and cartoons, such as: --John Stuart Clark, a Scotsman who describes riding through a violent storm in Wyoming and then his adventures riding with his wife through the Sahara. --Ella Lawrence's observations of the various multinational fans attending the Amstel Gold Bike Race in the Netherlands. --Gianna Bellofatto's "Life is a Bike" series on life, love, and bicycling. --Rhona & Dave Fritsch's account of their 3710-mile cross-country tandem journey from Washington State to Ocean City, NJ. The Delaware County Bicycle Club's "Bonkers" cartoon character's two-wheeled adventures (and misadventures). "The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings" is a must for any bicyclist's library!

A Relaxing Point To Point Read From Your Easy Chair

Jim Joyce's "The Bike Book--Wit, Wisdom and Wanderings" is for gearheads, travel loggers, illustrator illumines, comic junkies, physics freaks, folksy fanatics, Garrison Keller cheerleaders, economics evangelicals, humor twirlers, news "nosies", philosophical philanders, "roadie" raconteurs, and commuter commodores. The perfections and imperfections; the certainties and uncertainties; the knowns and the unknowns possess real life metaphors expressed through the eyes of these essay cyclists. No matter if you are a recreationalist or a hardcore dirt-ragster, there is something in this collection of essays written with two-wheelers in mind. As Gianna Bellofatto (a great name for a bike frame), a contributor to this book, says, "Life is a Bike". Damn right there! It can be read in an afternoon when the wind is too strong and the rain too hard. When finished, you will feel like the sun came out, the sky opened up, and a light breeze blew in from the South. This book is a Stocking Stuffer for yourself, and a relaxing point-to-point ride from your easy chair!

The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom and Wanderings

Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings is a collection of stories, cartoons, essays and interviews that address all aspects of bike riding. It surely belongs in the collection of everybody who ever set foot to pedal. The wit in the title is abundantly demonstrated in six essays by Gianna Bellofatto (aka Joan Reid, Feature Editor of The Nyack Villager) and author of the column, Life Is a Bike. In one of her essays she hands down the Laws of Cycling: "Fourth Law: You can never get lost while riding a bike; your ride is merely extended. ... Sixth Law: You always look younger on a bicycle." Other contributions include sports writer Scott Roberts' interview wth Lance Armstrong's coach, a husband and wife's journal of their tandem bike ride from Washington State to New Jersey (3,710 miles accomplished in forty-seven days), Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas Hylton, with his thoughts on bicycle-friendly communities. There are predictions on the future of bicycling and thoughtful commentary on the sport and pastime--even tidbits for non-bikers; we learn that cyclists affectionately refer to their bikes as wire donkeys and each other as gear heads. This book is a treasure for the cyclists on your holiday gift list.The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings

A 'must read' for any and all bicyclists

Compiled and edited by bicycling enthusiast Jim Joyce (founder of The Bicycle Exchange), "The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom & Wanderings" is a collection of original stories, narratives, and cartoons with the theme of bicycle riding. The contributors range from Pulitzer Prize-winning author and newspaper columnist Thomas Hylton (who initiates this anthology with his piece on 'Bicycling and Walking'; to Scott Robert's 'Keeping Up With Lance' based on a one-on-one interview with Chris Carmichale who is Lance Armstrong's long time coach and friend; to New York City-based Gianna Bellofatto, the author of the 'Life Is a Bike' series and contributor of six terrific essays; and so many other informed and informative men and women sharing a passion for bike riding. A 'must read' for any and all bicyclists, "The Bicycle Book" is a unique and very highly recommended addition to personal and community library Outdoor Recreation collections.