Bob Roll

I've known Bob Roll since the time he first started riding as an amateur. This book is very well written and more a memoir than cycling journal which is how it is technically classified. These chapters are articles compiled from Velo News. The publication quality is very good. Roll still does TV commentary for the road racing sport with NBC but has also been involved in cyclocross and mountain biking. He's a really nice person and most people are drawn to him even if he's loud and prone to prima facie generalizations. He can change his opinion and learn from his mistakes. This book chronicles his transition from Tour road racer to mountain biker and back again. The end of the book covers his helping Lance Armstrong get back into shape for his return to the Tour de France in 1998. Apparently Armstrong wasn't doping yet. If he was, he hid it from Roll, or did it after they parted ways. Racing is about winning and losing races or what was learned from losing races. This book could have been a real bore but it's very well done and I'm surprised how well Roll writes. He's a natural student but always outside of the classroom. The last time I saw him before he left for euro racing he was taking Italian classes at Diablo Valley College which were easy for him but valuable as a crossover to learning other languages on the continent. That's one of the reasons Roll is so well liked, he'll talk to you in your native tongue including the slang which other Americans might not pick up on. I have his other books but haven't gotten to them yet. This book is so good, I'd say start here first. No pictures, but an entertaining prose style.… (more)

As someone who loves cycling but finds most books on the subject more boring than watching paint dry, this book is a refreshing change. Bob Roll takes you riding in the pelaton, on the training rides, and into the heart of a professional cyclist, which after reading this book you will never look at the same again.

Part of Roll's charm stems from his being exceptionally unexceptional. Though never having any great wins he was able to have a long career, ride in the big tours and experience the sport from the inside all because of his relentless work ethic, which seemed to be fueled by his pure love of cycling.

If you've ever watched the Tour De France and scratched your head wondering what it is about this sport that draws hundreds and thousands of screaming fans to pack the roadways to see these little skinny shaved legged men wearing garishly colored jerseys race past in a blink of the eye, Bobke will answer this. You will see cycling as this great sport; this drama of man against man, team against team, and man against himself all played out on this wonderful little machine the bicycle.… (more)