Who is graeme fife

The bike owner's handbook by Pete Drinkell Book 1 edition published in in English and held by 53 WorldCat member libraries worldwide "Two wheels, two pedals, a seat and a set of handlebars: the bicycle is a beautifully simple means of transport, and its recently renewed popularity continues to soar in urban areas worldwide, with millions of people rediscovering its efficiency and portability.

Culture makers such as Talking Heads frontman and artist David Byrne and the satirical blogger Bike Snob have popularized cycling as a lifestyle, and as major cities like Los Angeles and New York embark on major bike-lane construction projects, retailers are also stepping forward with a wide variety of clothing and accessories to accommodate the cyclist's every conceivable need.

The Bike Owner's Handbook is an attractively designed guide for the millions of bicycle commuters who want to know the basics of repairing and maintaining their bikes without having to immerse themselves in a vast and complicated technical manual, and is small enough to be carried and consulted on the go. The topics covered include bicycle anatomy, changing a tire, adjusting brakes and gears and cleaning the bike.

Step-by-step explanations for each task are illustrated with simple, clear drawings and black-and-white photographs taken by Peter Drinkell, the photographer behind cycling clothier Rapha's sumptuous cycle guides to Europe.

At the conclusion of each chapter is a QR code that, when scanned with a smartphone, will link the reader to a short film demonstrating the tasks described. An appendix provides cycling inspiration and tips from some of the big names in the field. Small, sturdy and tactile, The Bike Owner's Handbook will find a home in the back pockets of countless cycling enthusiasts and casual users" -- Publisher description.

Brian Robinson : pioneer by Graeme Fife Book 3 editions published between and in English and held by 27 WorldCat member libraries worldwide. Great cycling climbs : the French Alps by Graeme Fife Book 2 editions published in in English and held by 26 WorldCat member libraries worldwide The Alps are a place of legend for cyclists, road-racers and enthusiasts alike. Home to one of the most challenging sections of the Tour de France, the mountains offer some of Europe's most challenging and glorious cycling climbs through Geneva, Chamonix, Annecy, Chambery, Grenoble, Le Bourg-d'Oisans and Barcelonnette.

Each journey is revealed in historical snapshots, humorous observations and stirring stories from cycling's past, detailing the challenges of the climb and the key features to look out for along the way. A selection of photography of the routes and stunning scenery follows each chapter and hand-drawn maps document some of the most famous - and most challenging - climbs, both well- and lesser-known, including Chablais Massif, Grand Saint-Bernard, Col de la Colombiere, Mont du Chat and Col du Mont Noir.

The wrong side of bed by Graeme Fife 5 editions published between and in English and held by 14 WorldCat member libraries worldwide. Bob Chicken : a passion for the bike by Graeme Fife Book 1 edition published in in English and held by 8 WorldCat member libraries worldwide. Het geheim van het peloton : strategie en tactiek in de Tour by Graeme Fife Book 1 edition published in in Dutch and held by 4 WorldCat member libraries worldwide Analyse van persoonlijke eigenschappen en omstandigheden in de wielersport, die in sterke mate bepalend zijn voor succes.

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Tour de France Graeme Fife In this updated edition of the highly acclaimed Tour de France , Graeme Fife sets the race in the context of the event's remarkable history, which stretches back to July Buy from. However, my reasons for going to the Alps were specific: I wanted to see the mountains for myself, the battleground of the Tour, if you like, to experience riding them.

I wrote up the account of those rides later, on a whim. Then, having ridden in the Dolomites and my first trip to the Pyrenees in subsequent years, I expanded the original text gradually with stories about the Tour, and, in the course of several recensions of the book, stripped out the narrative of my own riding and turned to a fuller delve into the mystique of the Tour, the reasons for its longevity, its powerful traditions, what makes it unique.

PdC: Where did the idea for the inclusion of the annual updates come from? Was that a consequence of events overtaking the publisher's schedule, of l'affaire Festina having to be incorporated into the story somehow? GF: The publisher asked for the first update - the book's first three editions sold out in as many months. It's worth saying, too although I would say it, wouldn't I? At the time, there were, if I recall, only two books about cycling on the UK market.

PdC: Looking at those annual updates, there's two stories that stand out across them: Lance Armstrong's seven-in-a-row and doping. Let's start with the Texan. Seven Tours on the trot is no mean achievement. They can't have been easy to write about though. Every year, you had more or less the same story, with a different supporting cast. Were you relieved when he finally hung up his wheels and you could look forward to a Tour with a new narrative?

Each year a different race, each year a different narrative. It's unprofessional to blame the material for a failure of imagination.

I was relieved when Armstrong hung up his wheels but only because, although I respect his athletic qualities and acknowledge his exceptional gifts as a rider, I think his influence was a bane, his attitude arrogant and self-serving, his narrow breadth of understanding unattractive. As to finding a new narrative: no rider is bigger than the Tour PdC: Looking back, do you think Armstrong's domination was good for the sport?

Like Greg LeMond before him he brought a new audience to cycling but - as with LeMond too - that came at a price.

GF: I think not so much his domination but his total, fanatical obsession with the Tour was bad for the sport as a whole. To call him the greatest Tour rider ever as some skittish souls do is absurd: he is without doubt the most successful, same thing year after year.

As Guimard said, bike racing has changed and specialising is the norm, now, but I also think it remains incumbent on riders to honour the sport by more than mere lip service, to go out and ride other races, to put themselves through more of its demands than just the Tour de France. This may be what might be called a very continental approach, rooted in a long and noble, in my view tradition, but it's one I hold and hold very dear. Range, richness, the panache of the jusqu'au-boutiste.

I get the impression that you don't like the way the media have reported these doping stories over the past dozen or so years, possibly even that their discussion of doping has been a bigger problem than doping itself.

Would that be a fair interpretation of your views? GF: The media do what they do to sell papers and I have no strident opinion on the subject. For example, there is little point in complaining about Le Monde journalists, ignorant of cycling, latching onto a cycling story because it's about doping.

Their ignorance is radical. That's not to say that one can't express an opinion, objectively, about their tedious, tub-thumping irrelevance. The doping problem is more general and needs a more concerted effort from authorities, not gutter hacks or even knowledgeable journos. When I spoke to the then drugs tsar in France in , I think and heard what he and the minister for Sport and Youth, Mme Buffet, were doing - seeking to root out the real villains, not only the athletes, in some cases hapless, in other cases criminal - I was impressed with their more intelligent, balanced, all-embracing assessment of the deeper problem which was that the perception of youngsters going into sport was that if taking dope would enhance their prospects of a gold medal at no matter what risk to their health they would take the dope.

This is appalling. Cycling has always been an easy hit because it's such a hard endurance sport.