So You Think You're a Cyclist? : 50 Tales from Life on Two Wheels

50 profiles of some of the cycling world’s most colorful characters

Every day, more and more people are getting into cycling. Whilst this may be a good way to reduce the nation’s obesity problems whilst saving the planet at the same time, it’s bad news for anyone who has to spend more than a few minutes listening to a bike rider bleat on and on. So You Think You’re a Cyclist analyzes 50 members of the cycling community, examining what makes this ever-growing tribe tick, just as keen to spend a fortune on a carbonfibre brake lever as they are to throw themselves down a hill on a freezing February morning dressed only in a thin layer of lycra.Over the following pages, a series of case studies will introduce you to some of the most common members of the cycling fraternity, giving you a glimpse into their gear-obsessed world. Starting with the newly turned cycling evangelist, this guy spent the previous 10 years slumped on the sofa with one hand on the remote control, the other shoveling snacks into his mouth. Now he’s determined to preach to everyone he meets how two wheels have turned his life around and could do the same for you. Then there’s the MAMIL, the middle-aged man in lycra who spends every Sunday wheezing his way up hills on a bike that costs more than your average car. The vintage princess struggles to get going on her incredibly heavy 1940s frame, but that’s the price you pay for looking retro. The jury’s out on whether sweat patches on your thrift store tea dress are going to go down well on the vintage style blogs.

Pete Jorgensen is a writer, editor, and extremely smug cyclist. He looks terrible in lycra but insists on wearing it and owns more bikes than he has space for. The author is based in Dulwich, South London.