{"title":"Max Leonard","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the world of Max Leonard, where cycling adventures meet captivating storytelling. From epic races to urban explorations, discover thrilling tales for every two-wheeled enthusiast.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"lanterne-rouge-book-max-leonard-9780224091992","title":"Lanterne Rouge","description":"If you complete a bike race of over 3,000 kilometres, overcoming mountain ranges and merciless weather conditions while enduring physical and psychological agony, in the slowest time, should you be branded the loser? What if your loss helped a teammate win? This title tells the absurd stories of the last-placed rider.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49504629522705,"sku":"GOR005889876","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49546894737681,"sku":"GOR006325843","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345913778449,"sku":"CIN0224091999G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345938321681,"sku":"CIN0224091999A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50756780851473,"sku":"GOR008788291","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51173139939601,"sku":"CIN0224091999VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53507934421265,"sku":"GOR013395445","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0224091999.jpg?v=1751438035"},{"product_id":"higher-calling-book-max-leonard-9780224100380","title":"Higher Calling","description":"Why do road cyclists go to the mountains? The mountains are where legends are forged and cyclings greats make their names.  Why are Europes mountain ranges professional cyclings Wembley Stadium or its Colosseum?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49508628398353,"sku":"GOR008722367","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49658865418513,"sku":"GOR013716058","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50657586479377,"sku":"GOR014026218","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50725882102033,"sku":"GOR008323372","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51742623236369,"sku":"CIN0224100386G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0224100386.jpg?v=1750877171"},{"product_id":"lanterne-rouge-book-max-leonard-9780224092005","title":"Lanterne Rouge","description":"If you complete a bike race, overcoming mountain ranges and merciless weather conditions while enduring physical and psychological agony, in the slowest time, should you be branded the loser? This title flips the Tour de France on its head and tells the forgotten, often inspirational and occasionally absurd stories of the last-placed rider.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49516538528017,"sku":"GOR006834425","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49641810952465,"sku":"GOR007359116","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49659913371921,"sku":"GOR008779224","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49731100541201,"sku":"NGR9780224092005","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49896179269905,"sku":"CIN0224092006A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50157781287185,"sku":"GOR010618004","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51745609810193,"sku":"CIN0224092006G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0224092006.jpg?v=1751356805"},{"product_id":"higher-calling-book-max-leonard-9780224100366","title":"Higher Calling","description":"Why do road cyclists go to the mountains? Why do amateurs also make a pilgrimage to these high, remote roads and what do we see and feel when we do? Why are the roads there in the first place?  Higher Calling explores the central place of mountains in the folklore of road cycling.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49534260216081,"sku":"GOR009178964","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49559155605777,"sku":"GOR009128409","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49615209627921,"sku":"GOR009769784","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49728810287377,"sku":"NGR9780224100366","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50319232893201,"sku":"GOR013925167","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345925706001,"sku":"CIN022410036XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/022410036X.jpg?v=1750877171"},{"product_id":"cold-spell-book-max-leonard-9781526631190","title":"A Cold Spell","description":"Taking us from the beginning of our story to the present day, A Cold Spell examines how ice has shaped our thoughts, actions and societies – and what it means for us that it is rapidly disappearing from our planet  'A warm-hearted tale of the bizarre, something to cuddle up with in the bleak midwinter . . . Astonishing' THE TIMES  'Bracingly original . . . As the earth warms threateningly, there could hardly be a more pertinent time for a story like this’ MICHAEL PALIN 'A book of limitless fascinations' OLIVIA LAING 'Brightly written, nimbly researched and really quite delightful' LITERARY REVIEW  Ice has confounded, delighted and fascinated us since the first sparks of art and culture in Europe and it now underpins the modern world. Without ice, we would not feed ourselves or heal our sick as we do, and our towns and cities, countryside and oceans would look very different. Science would not have progressed along the avenues it did and our galleries and libraries would be missing many masterpieces.  A Cold Spell uses this vital link to understanding our past to tell a surprising story of obsession, invention and adventure – how we have lived and dreamed, celebrated and traded, innovated, loved and fought over thousands of years. It brings together a sacrificial Incan mummy, Winston Churchill’s secret plans for unusual aircraft carriers, strange bones that shook Victorian beliefs about the world and a macabre journey into the depths of the human body. It is an original and unique way of looking at something that is literally all around us, whose loss confronts us daily in the news, but whose impact on our lives has never been fully explored.  '[An] extraordinary, complete and utter history of the human experience of the cold stuff' JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL, COUNTRY LIFE ‘A thought-provoking chronicle of humanity . . . Leonard consistently frames ice in surprising and insightful ways, and in doing so lends it a magical quality’ GEOGRAPHICAL","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49545211871505,"sku":"GOR013749469","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49751266853137,"sku":"NGR9781526631190","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49784172708113,"sku":"GOR013362163","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50535508705553,"sku":"GOR013373959","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50560638058769,"sku":"GOR013999943","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1526631199.jpg?v=1751307839"},{"product_id":"lantern-rouge-book-max-leonard-9781681771366","title":"Lantern Rouge","description":"\u003cp\u003eA lively and entertaining history of the riders who have come in last place during the grueling 3,000-mile Tour de France\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFroome, Wiggins, Merckx―we know the winners of the Tour de France, but \u003ci\u003eLanterne Rouge\u003c\/i\u003e tells the forgotten, often inspirational, and occasionally absurd stories of the last-placed rider. We learn of stage winners and former yellow jerseys who tasted life at the other end of the bunch, the breakaway leader who stopped for a bottle of wine and then took a wrong turn, the doper whose drug cocktail accidentally slowed him down, and the rider who was recognized as the most combative despite finishing at the back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMax Leonard flips the Tour de France on its head and examines what these stories tell us about ourselves, the 99 percent who don't win the trophy, and forces us to reexamine the meaning of success, failure, and the very nature of sport.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49677821444369,"sku":"CIN1681771365G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51046104531217,"sku":"NIN9781681771366","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52107308073233,"sku":"CIN1681771365A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53509196316945,"sku":"GOR008861004","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1681771365.jpg?v=1751152352"},{"product_id":"lanterne-rouge-book-max-leonard-9781605987866","title":"Lanterne Rouge","description":"If you complete a bike race of over 3,000 miles in last place, overcoming mountain ranges and merciless weather, all while enduring physical and psychological agony, should you be branded the loser? What if your loss helped a teammate win? What if others lacked the determination to finish? What if you were trying to come in last?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49709453934865,"sku":"CIN1605987867G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50531325477137,"sku":"GOR008260249","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50936071880977,"sku":"CIN1605987867A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51423210471697,"sku":"CIN1605987867VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1605987867.jpg?v=1751277010"},{"product_id":"bunker-research-book-max-leonard-9780995488649","title":"Bunker Research","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49736151630097,"sku":"NGR9780995488649","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51534366441745,"sku":"GOR011932078","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52829644194065,"sku":"GOR014632804","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0995488649.jpg?v=1751109309"},{"product_id":"vintage-alpine-postcards-book-max-leonard-9781739126704","title":"Vintage Alpine Postcards","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49750853550353,"sku":"NGR9781739126704","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51842395603217,"sku":"GOR014423067","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/173912670X.jpg?v=1751424268"},{"product_id":"cold-spell-book-max-leonard-9781526631176","title":"A Cold Spell","description":"Taking us from the beginning of our story to the present day, A Cold Spell examines how ice has shaped our thoughts, actions and societies – and what it means for us that it is rapidly disappearing from our planet  'A warm-hearted tale of the bizarre, something to cuddle up with in the bleak midwinter . . . Astonishing' THE TIMES  'Bracingly original . . . As the earth warms threateningly, there could hardly be a more pertinent time for a story like this’ MICHAEL PALIN 'A book of limitless fascinations' OLIVIA LAING 'Brightly written, nimbly researched and really quite delightful' LITERARY REVIEW  Ice has confounded, delighted and fascinated us since the first sparks of art and culture in Europe and it now underpins the modern world. Without ice, we would not feed ourselves or heal our sick as we do, and our towns and cities, countryside and oceans would look very different. Science would not have progressed along the avenues it did and our galleries and libraries would be missing many masterpieces.  A Cold Spell uses this vital link to understanding our past to tell a surprising story of obsession, invention and adventure – how we have lived and dreamed, celebrated and traded, innovated, loved and fought over thousands of years. It brings together a sacrificial Incan mummy, Winston Churchill’s secret plans for unusual aircraft carriers, strange bones that shook Victorian beliefs about the world and a macabre journey into the depths of the human body. It is an original and unique way of looking at something that is literally all around us, whose loss confronts us daily in the news, but whose impact on our lives has never been fully explored.  '[An] extraordinary, complete and utter history of the human experience of the cold stuff' JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL, COUNTRY LIFE ‘A thought-provoking chronicle of humanity . . . Leonard consistently frames ice in surprising and insightful ways, and in doing so lends it a magical quality’ GEOGRAPHICAL","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50139167162641,"sku":"GOR013868655","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50736129868049,"sku":"GOR014055004","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1526631172.jpg?v=1751373898"},{"product_id":"higher-calling-book-max-leonard-9781643131375","title":"Higher Calling","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten with verve and enthusiasm, \u003cem\u003eA \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eHigher Calling\u003c\/em\u003e explores why mountains have such a magnetic appeal to cyclists the world over. But Max Leonard, himself an accomplished amateur cyclist, does not forget the pain, the glory, the sweat, and the tears that go into these grueling climbs. After all, cycling up a mountain is hard. So hard that, to many, it can seem absurd. But for others, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. It is where legends are forged.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany books tell you where the mountains are, or how long and how high. None of them ask \u003cem\u003ewhy.\u003c\/em\u003e Why are mountain ranges professional cycling's Coliseum? Why do amateurs also make pilgrimages to these high, remote roads? Why are the roads even there in the first place to lure us on to these obsession inducing climbs? Just why are mountains so enthralling? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is real cycling, where the glory is and where dreams come true, according to Bradley Wiggins. Mountains are where cycling's greatest heroes have made their names. Every amateur rider wishes they could climb better, too. Are all these people addicted to the pain? To the achievement? Or to the allure of the peaks? Some spend their weekends and holidays cycling up mountains from start to finish. But how does a rider push themselves beyond their limits to get up a 10% gradient on pedal power alone? What is happening when they do?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Higher Calling\u003c\/em\u003e explores the central place of mountains in the folklore of road cycling. Blending adventure and travel writing with the rich narrative of racing, Max Leonard takes the reader from the battles that created the Alpine roads to the shepherds tending their flocks on the peaks, and to a Grand Tour climax on the highest road in Europe. And he tells stories of courage and sacrifice, war and love, obsession and even elephants, along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50386049433873,"sku":"CIN1643131370G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51042703311121,"sku":"NIN9781643131375","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1643131370.jpg?v=1750830914"},{"product_id":"cold-spell-book-max-leonard-9781526631169","title":"A Cold Spell","description":"Taking us from the beginning of our story to the present day, A Cold Spell examines how ice has shaped our thoughts, actions and societies – and what it means for us that it is rapidly disappearing from our planet  'A warm-hearted tale of the bizarre, something to cuddle up with in the bleak midwinter . . . Astonishing' THE TIMES  'Bracingly original . . . As the earth warms threateningly, there could hardly be a more pertinent time for a story like this’ MICHAEL PALIN 'A book of limitless fascinations' OLIVIA LAING 'Brightly written, nimbly researched and really quite delightful' LITERARY REVIEW  Ice has confounded, delighted and fascinated us since the first sparks of art and culture in Europe and it now underpins the modern world. Without ice, we would not feed ourselves or heal our sick as we do, and our towns and cities, countryside and oceans would look very different. Science would not have progressed along the avenues it did and our galleries and libraries would be missing many masterpieces.  A Cold Spell uses this vital link to understanding our past to tell a surprising story of obsession, invention and adventure – how we have lived and dreamed, celebrated and traded, innovated, loved and fought over thousands of years. It brings together a sacrificial Incan mummy, Winston Churchill’s secret plans for unusual aircraft carriers, strange bones that shook Victorian beliefs about the world and a macabre journey into the depths of the human body. It is an original and unique way of looking at something that is literally all around us, whose loss confronts us daily in the news, but whose impact on our lives has never been fully explored.  '[An] extraordinary, complete and utter history of the human experience of the cold stuff' JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL, COUNTRY LIFE ‘A thought-provoking chronicle of humanity . . . Leonard consistently frames ice in surprising and insightful ways, and in doing so lends it a magical quality’ GEOGRAPHICAL","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50582441230609,"sku":"NGR9781526631169","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50701186629905,"sku":"GOR014040258","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52660018053393,"sku":"NLS9781526631169","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52755926843665,"sku":"GOR014610012","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53107012305169,"sku":"GOR014744260","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1526631164.jpg?v=1751373897"},{"product_id":"random-book-of-robert-book-max-leonard-9781907158094","title":"The Random Book of... Robert","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50964370882833,"sku":"GOR014150423","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51136871203089,"sku":"GOR002584193","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/190715809X.jpg?v=1751423736"},{"product_id":"mountain-style-book-max-leonard-9781739126780","title":"Mountain Style","description":"The first book to celebrate the history, vintage style and visual heritage of the UK's outdoor clothing brands.  When a British expedition reached the summit of Everest in 1953, it put British mountaineering at the top of the world. In the decades that followed, there was an explosion in the popular love of the outdoors, and outdoor clothing boomed. What hikers and mountaineers wore evolved from woolly jumpers, army surplus and cotton or tweed into highly technical specialist gear.  Mostly responsible for this was a small group of climbers, who couldn't buy the products they needed and so decided to make them, sowing the seeds for the global brands - Berghaus, Craghoppers, Karrimor, Mountain Equipment, Rab, Sprayway and others - we know today. Still worn in the toughest environments imaginable, British outdoor clothing is also now ubiquitous - equally seen on hikers, everyday dog-walkers and vintage gear lovers in east London, Manchester's Northern Quarter or Tokyo.  Mountain Style: British Outdoor Clothing 1953-2000 is the first illustrated book to tell this story, from the days of postwar austerity, through the colour explosion of the 1980s, to the 1990s, when outdoor clothing became embedded in football and rave subcultures and crossed into the mainstream. It celebrates the outsiders, the problem solvers and the mavericks: the manufacturing pioneers and the mountaineers who from humble beginnings went further, faster and higher - setting the template for what we all wear in the outdoors, and inadvertently creating style classics along the way.  Alongside interviews with those at the birth of the brands, Mountain Style features vintage brochures, adverts and photos, plus new studio photography. From down jackets that summited Everest in 1953 to the first Gore-Tex and multicoloured fleeces, via logos, materials and more, it is an indispensable companion for outdoor and style lovers in the UK and beyond.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52728087183633,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":52728087249169,"sku":"NGR9781739126780","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781739126780.jpg?v=1765448363"},{"product_id":"higher-calling-book-max-leonard-9781681776187","title":"Higher Calling","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten with verve and enthusiasm, \u003cem\u003eHigher Calling\u003c\/em\u003e explores why mountains have such a magnetic appeal to cyclists the world over. But Max Leonard, himself an accomplished amateur cyclist, does not forget the pain, the glory, the sweat, and the tears that go into these grueling climbs. After all, cycling up a mountain is hard. So hard that, to many, it can seem absurd. But for others, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. It is where legends are forged.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany books tell you where the mountains are, or how long and how high. None of them ask \u003cem\u003ewhy.\u003c\/em\u003e Why are mountain ranges professional cycling's Coliseum? Why do amateurs also make pilgrimages to these high, remote roads? Why are the roads even there in the first place to lure us on to these obsession inducing climbs? Just why are mountains so enthralling? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is real cycling, where the glory is and where dreams come true, according to Bradley Wiggins. Mountains are where cycling's greatest heroes have made their names. Every amateur rider wishes they could climb better, too. Are all these people addicted to the pain? To the achievement? Or to the allure of the peaks? Some spend their weekends and holidays cycling up mountains from start to finish. But how does a rider push themselves beyond their limits to get up a 10% gradient on pedal power alone? What is happening when they do?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHigher Calling\u003c\/em\u003e explores the central place of mountains in the folklore of road cycling. Blending adventure and travel writing with the rich narrative of racing, Max Leonard takes the reader from the battles that created the Alpine roads to the shepherds tending their flocks on the peaks, and to a Grand Tour climax on the highest road in Europe. And he tells stories of courage and sacrifice, war and love, obsession and even elephants, along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53038800503057,"sku":"GOR011478205","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781681776187.jpg?v=1768820823"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-ie\/collections\/author-books-by-max-leonard.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}