It’s not a secret around these parts that William Fotheringham is my favorite Cycling journalist. Growing up as a budding Velominatus in the isolated island known as North America, I could count on one hand the publications that even mentioned Cycling, let alone provided reliable coverage. Winning Magazine and Velonews were my source for race information, but they came out weeks or months after the events they were covering had transpired. Several times a year, however, my dad would come home from a trip to Europe carrying a suitcase loaded with every Cycling publication he could get his hands on, regardless of language.
His cache would usually include a newspaper or two and it was here that I first learned of William Fotheringham. His articles were usually written immediately after the events transpired and, because several of the Pros at the time were from Britain and Ireland, he often had some inside information to relate about the events. I loved it. This was, incidentally, how I came to learn of Royce, a love affair that continues to this day. When he founded Cycle Sport magazine, my dad got a subscription despite the stratospheric cost due to the international shipping. Cycle Sport existed on another plane from the other Cycling rags in the quality and depth of coverage, and I attributed that – right or wrong – to William.
Fotheringham’s latest book, Racing Hard, is a collection of his works throughout his 20 years as a Cycling journalist. The book appeals on a number of levels. The writing is fantastic to begin with, and reading the articles relating events from 20, 10, or 5 years ago through the lens of their context at the time they transpired is a wonderful trip down memory lane. But most of all, the pretext and posttext added to most articles provides interesting insight given his 20/20 hindsight knowing what we know now. Reading the book, I felt as though he was reading his old articles and adding his insight just like you or I might do in picking up an old newspaper and coming across one of his pieces.
The articles he picked for the book also cover elements I completely missed out on due to the lack of coverage here in the States. For instance, the account of Boardman’s crash and subsequent interview are new to me. (We knew about the crash, of course, but our coverage here was more along the lines of, “Some Pommy twat slipped in the rain and now has an owie.”) Another example was the account of Greg LeMond’s last abandon from the Tour de France, climbing into the broom wagon as his team refused to give him a seat in the team car. A triple Tour winner in the broom wagon…
Racing Hard went on sale yesterday, so while you pop out to buy a leaked copy of our book, grab William’s book as well. If nothing else, it will help contrast The Rules with a competently written book.
Racing Hard
ISBN: 0571303625
Publisher: Faber Books
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@scaler911
I'm an old fuck.
Frank, I had a subscription to Cycle Sport for many years and I let it expire last year because I read it so carefully that when I was done, a new one would arrive. That's all I read. I'm an idiot. I miss it. Rouler does not have that wiseass british humor seeping through it and I can actually devour a Rouler in a weekend.
I am getting his new book. It sounds fantastic.
I remember Velonews TDF addition coming in the mail to Hawaii in September. I immediately took the phone off the hook and began the journey. It was like Christmas, when that addition showed up in the mail box. There very few things I have saved from the past other than Family pictures, but I did save the Velonews additions of Lemond's first two TDF wins. I think, I remember the TDF stage that Lemond pulled out of. It was the Alpe d'Huez stage that Andy Hampsten won. The story I heard was that the cut off time was the estimated winner's time. Lemond said he saw domestiques, who had never ridden in front of him, dropping him. It was a sad day in cycling that day.
@Andrew
Thank you for the kind words, and welcome!
Nice review and heads up, Frank! I've been reading "It's All About the Bike" since I received it as a gift last year. I just keep on reading it over and over in bed, hoping cycling dreams will keep the Man with the Hammer away a bit longer on the next ride.
And how about books or movies or experiences as a kid that stick with you because from the isolation of your hometown you felt like you knew more about the world you yearned to join? For me it was snowboarding and lacrosse. Both were still majorly under the radar on a national scope. I had a stack of Burton catalogues that I'd page through constantly, even though I'd seen ever photo and read every story.
I'm going to think about this the next coupla rides - how to rediscover the youthful feeling of a link to something you love but can't enough of and how it inspires your imagination and wonder.
So if William Fortheringham wrote the intro, was Pippa Middleton too busy with her ever burgeoning literary career? Or did she think that being a member of the aristocracy and +1 to Royalty, that Rules didn't apply to her?
@scaler911
Ha! I used to check those out at my high school's library and read them on the bus home.
Eye am famous. Frank mentions @cyclops his column in the latest issue of Cyclist magazine.
Do I spot two Pinarellos on the cover?
And, does Pharmstrong have his FD setup with the DT shifter in that photo? I only see his right shifter cable emerging, not a left one.
I went to my local uni library today to check out their cycling books. They have a fair amount on the subject, and some great photo book (albums) of Le Tour. I avoid that section when I have work to do but today I had some free time and hadn't looked at them in too long.
I know the section well enough that I can just climb two flights of stairs and find it. Much to my surprise I saw a book on the shelf that I had yet to see. In multi-colored letters a spine read: "MERCKX."
Oh my. What a treasure. I didn't know that Mr. Fotheringham had written a text on the Prophet. I can wait to read it! (need to ask a friend who is a student to check it out for me, ah the lengths I'll go to for my passion)
Also, there is an incredible photo in there of Merckx unconscious on the ground after his derny crash, bloodied, but a hand still reached out for the bars. His front wheel is bonkers, bent in half and I think his tubular is rolled off. It occurred in 1969. To think, Eddy accomplished all that, all those 500 some wins...with a bad back?! What a fucking cannibal is right.
An hour after I picked up the book I found myself halfway into a ride. I thought, "Wait, I wasn't planning on riding today?" I guess a few photos and that colorful font lighting up "MERCKX" was all I needed. Awesomeness, looking forward to checking it out, Mr. Fotheringham!
@Ron
The next step is to get a grant so that the library is at home. I can highly recommend that process...