Gironimo! Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy

Tim Moore

This is the story of a guy who restores an early 1900s bike and then rides it all the way around Italy covering the course of what is widely considered the hardest bicycle race in history.

What can I say, I have disparate tastes.

This is part cycling history, part travelogue. There are moments of seriousness, most notably in Moore’s reflections on the depredation the rides of the 1914 Giro had faced in the years leading up to the race, but most of this book is is played for a very British sort of laugh  — dotty country gentleman takes on insane challenge, protagonist is often humiliated, but eventually accomplishes basically pointless task.

I love these sort of stupid endurance challenge books, but you might be a more sophisticated person.

Recommended for the enthusiast.