There are cycling enthusiasts, and then there’s Rob Penn. Anyone who has completed a 25,000 mile round-the-world cycle trip, and now runs a cycle training camp in the Brecon Beacons, has to know a thing or two about the sport.
In his book, It’s all about the bike, Penn embarks on a global search for the various components that will eventually form his dream bike, from saddle to spokes to the unique, hand-welded frame, “I need a talismanic machine that somehow reflects my cycling history and carries my cycling aspirations” he writes, “I want a bike that has character”.
Each chapter is dedicated to a different bike part, with additional forays into the history of cycling and the social impact it had. Bikes and cyclists are now such a common sight that we take them for granted, but it’s well worth being reminded what an enormous impact they have had on the way people live and work. For example, mass produced, affordable bikes with pneumatic tyres allowed many more people to purchase a bike and commute to work for the first time, leading to the creation of suburbs.
The depth of technical detail in the book can get a bit overwhelming at times, depending on how much of a ‘cycling nut’ you are, but Penn’s chatty and compelling writing style more than make up for the occasional lapse into the pros and cons of aluminium versus steel frames.
His overall passion for cycling, and the vivid portraits he paints of the individuals who have formed part of it’s history, right up to the present day, will keep you turning the pages even if you’re more of a general reader. “The bike is one of man’s greatest inventions,’ he writes. “It’s up there with the printing press, the electric motor, the telephone, penicillin and the world wide web”. I find it hard not to agree with him.
You can buy It’s all about the bike in my online bookshop, and do add your own reviews in the comments section below.
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Hi and welcome. I'm a freelance travel and lifestyle copywriter and editor, with a passion for the great outdoors. This is my personal blog all about getting out in the fresh air and reconnecting with our green spaces and countryside.
