For Christmas, one of the sneeky gifts I got my mom was Mike Barry's "Inside The Postal Bus". I figured she liked both of Lance's books, so it would be an easy way to get a gift for her, and also a treat for myself. A way of getting two birds stoned at once.
For those who havn't heard of Mike Barry, he is a Toronto native who is one of the only Canadians in the Pro Peleton right now. If you ever watch the Olympics or the World road Race Championships on TV, he is the lone Canadian in the field of hundreds. He also happens to be on Lance's famed USPS/Discovery team.
For those who havn't heard of Mike Barry, he is a Toronto native who is one of the only Canadians in the Pro Peleton right now. If you ever watch the Olympics or the World road Race Championships on TV, he is the lone Canadian in the field of hundreds. He also happens to be on Lance's famed USPS/Discovery team.
The book is a run down of his entire season, from early season training camps in California, and Texas, to the Olympics in 2004, and also the post Tour de France Races. He covers it all with intimate detail of the way the team works, and also little traits of each team member on USPS.
I think any cyclist can get something out of this book. What a lot of people don't realize about professionals in Europe is that, other than Lance Armstrong, these guys race probably 4-6 times a WEEK. The Tour De France, in retrospect is a very small part of the year for them. They race in everything from snow in February, to the 40+ degree weather in Spain in the heat of the summer. Mike does a great job of documenting this in a way that you wouldn't be exposed to in other ways, its essentially his diary.
The book is written well for someone who spends their life on a bike, but it is slow in parts, and is a bit mono-tone. I found Lance's book to flow very well, and to be very easy to read. A read that even, a non-cyclist could understand and enjoy. Mikes book, although written well, would be difficult to follow if you were a non-cyclist, but makes it that much better if you are a cyclist.
In any case, I found it interesting. Even if you just pop it in the washroom, and take a few chapters out of it every once in awhile, its great. Much better than reading the same MTB magazine from 2000 over and over again. I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5.
I think any cyclist can get something out of this book. What a lot of people don't realize about professionals in Europe is that, other than Lance Armstrong, these guys race probably 4-6 times a WEEK. The Tour De France, in retrospect is a very small part of the year for them. They race in everything from snow in February, to the 40+ degree weather in Spain in the heat of the summer. Mike does a great job of documenting this in a way that you wouldn't be exposed to in other ways, its essentially his diary.
The book is written well for someone who spends their life on a bike, but it is slow in parts, and is a bit mono-tone. I found Lance's book to flow very well, and to be very easy to read. A read that even, a non-cyclist could understand and enjoy. Mikes book, although written well, would be difficult to follow if you were a non-cyclist, but makes it that much better if you are a cyclist.
In any case, I found it interesting. Even if you just pop it in the washroom, and take a few chapters out of it every once in awhile, its great. Much better than reading the same MTB magazine from 2000 over and over again. I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment