A Racing Cyclist's Worst Nightmare by Tony Hewson

A Racing Cyclist's Worst Nightmare by Tony Hewson

Sheffielder Tony Hewson is a former champion racing cyclist who won the 1955 Tour of Britain and went on to represent his country in the Warsaw - Berlin - Prague and the Tour de France. His first book, In Pursuit of Stardom, was a widely acclaimed memoir of the 1950s telling how he and his companions faced handicap and privation in their struggle to earn a living a-wheel on the European continent. A Cyclist's Worst Nightmare covers a similar time-scope, though as a collection of individual but interrelated stories it employs a variety of different literary genres - autobiography, biography, discourse and fiction. Whilst each piece can be enjoyed in its own right, the work as a whole casts light on an era of UK cycling history in the aftermath of World War II that until now has been somewhat neglected and forgotten. Some events, for example the tumultuous birth and demise of the rebel British League of Racing Cyclists that split the sport and framed its future, have ramifications to this day. From foul-mouthed Jean Robic ('I haven't enough enemies!') to aggressive Korean war-veteran Reg ('Heroes we were - fat thanks we get.') via bullied national service 'nutter' Michael ('a queer boy wi' them fancy togs n' that weird show-off bike'), the mood is one of a shared sense of grievance from real and imagined characters who see themselves as put-upons in search of recognition. The theme of the social outsider will ring bells with any reader who has ever been a committed cyclist in the British Isles, and will also be of interest to many who have not.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781874739531
ISBN 10	1874739536
Title	A Racing Cyclist's Worst Nightmare
Author	Tony Hewson
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Mousehold Press
Year published	2009-07-15
Number of pages	230
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.