Something for the weekend…

The Times has the best books about cycling to celebrate the start of the Tour de France.

Also in The Times, thriller novelist Simon Kernick is interviewed and reveals why hitchhiking is not always that great. It’s a remarkable article.

Then the car stopped on a quiet stretch of the road beside the river. And it happened. Just like that. Six words delivered matter-of-factly by the man in the front passenger seat. “All right, lads, empty your pockets.” I was still wondering if I’d heard him right when the driver leaned round in his seat and punched me twice in the face, harder than I’ve been punched before or since. Amazingly, there was no pain. Just numb shock.