Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer
By Jamie Smith and Jef Mallett
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
★★★★★ "As an avid cyclist and amateur bike racer I feel like I can relate to every word in this book. It was so good that I bought two extra copies to give to my cyclist friends[.]"
Veteran race announcer and long-time cycling enthusiast Jamie Smith sets out to explain the sport he loves and the roadies who live for it. Every seemingly neurotic tendency is explained and celebrated with humorous illustrations from nationally syndicated cartoonist Jef Mallett.
This book is perfect for:
- Anyone who has ever known a roadie
- Anyone who has considered becoming a roadie
- Anyone who has walked away from a bike race completely puzzled
Finally, a book to explain those people who roll out for a ride dressed in technicolored Lycra at the crack of dawn on Saturday, and return at sundown with a glow of satisfaction and even stronger tan lines. Whether interested onlooker or cycling aficionado, readers will find themselves laughing out loud as they revel in the roadie's world.
Jamie Smith
Jamie Smith is a veteran bike racer and bike race announcer. He has been a bike racer since 1983 working his way up through the ranks of amateur cycling, and a bike race announcer since 1985 traveling with some of the world's greatest cyclists. He spent several years in public relations for a sleepy Detroit suburb, receiving one Emmy nomination and several Telly Awards. Writing repetitive press releases and boring speeches inspired him to find something more exciting to write about: bike racing. A graduate of Central Michigan University's Broadcast and Cinematic Arts program, Jamie has become adept at describing cycling's most complex intricacies to normal people. His first book, Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer, was selected as a 2009 Notable Book by the Library of Michigan. He has since taken on the role of sport director to translate the complexities of bike racing for befuddled bike racers who mistakenly chase down their own teammates, miss the winning breakaway, and consistently finish one place out of the money. He currently lives in Rochester, Michigan, with his 11 bikes, 2 surfboards, 1 rowing scull, and 5 pair of cross-country skis.
Read more from Jamie Smith
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Reviews for Roadie
6 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Explains the life of the bike racer to those new to the sport. An interesting and entertaining read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Humerous look at bike racing and bike racers. The focus was on road racing, but generally true for mountain biking racing and racers as well.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Fun!Jamie Smith and Jef Mallett have done a terrific job of explaining the complex (OK, weird) culture of bicycle road cycling. They have done this with such good humor that I must warn you, do not read this book while drinking milk. At some point in the book you will not be able to contain yourself and you will make a mess laughing out loud.Writer Smith takes the reader step by step through the equipment, time consuming training, eating habits and the rest of the near obsessive life style successful bike racing entails. He then segues to cycle racing tactics, the inevitable crashes and how a day at a bicycle race is structured. Along the way he translates the odd language of cycling, clearly defining each word that would be foreign to the person new to the sport.The book’s purpose is to be a guide for those who want to understand that strange fellow with the beer cooler strapped to his head and oddly-shaped shaved legs. He also gives out lots of sage and valuable advice to racers, such as “Another important and powerful action is to find and thank the sponsors for footing the bill for the event [race]. If they are not on-site, then each roadie should write a letter of thanks within the following month.” Gosh, if every racer did that, we’d have a rich racing calendar that would make the bike-mad Belgians green with envy.Jef Mallett, the award-winning creator of the nationally syndicated cartoon “Frazz”, illustrates Smith’s first-rate text with lots of wonderful pictures. As a roadie himself, Mallett understands cycling, and his cartoons are hilarious because they are spot-on true. Smith gives a detailed explanation of what happens to a rider when he doesn’t eat enough. The crippling weakness that occurs when the body can no longer supply the needed food to the muscles is called the “bonk”. Mallett’s cartoon of a blank- faced, starved rider sitting on the ground with a tow-truck backing up to take him away is perfect. It could only have been drawn by someone who has at least once forgotten to bring along enough chow and wondered if he would make it home.Smith says every rider has a “bonk” story and the memory of that misery is etched indelibly in his memory. He got that right! 20 years ago I was stuck 10 miles from home and came upon some tomatoes by the side of the road that a harvesting truck had spilled while going around a corner. Those were the best tomatoes I ever ate and they got me home.I’m not sure if it’s better that Smith and Mallett have shown that my own shaved-legged, loner, obsessive life isn’t all that rare or that I’m really in a looney bin with a bunch of other crazed people who can be spotted a mile away because of the odd tans that wearing bike clothing causes.In any case, get and read this book. I recommend it not only to those interested in the roadie (bicycle road racer) life. It is also a good refresher course for any racer on the ins and outs of cycling. And it’s funny as all get-out.