What's Cool In Road Cycling

Author

Leslie Reissner

Growing up in the two-wheel desert that was Canada decades ago, Leslie Reissner discovered the joys of cycling when he and a friend rode from London to Munich one summer after high school. Since then, he has done some long distance riding in Europe, including the Camino de Santiago (which apparently entitles him to reduced time in Purgatory), dragged himself over major climbs in the Alps, Pyrenees, Dolomites, Vosges and Appalachians, and even done some racing. In spite of owning 11 bicycles and a cool sports car, Leslie still stays indoors for six months of the year due to the lousy weather and terrible roads in Ottawa but at least he has time to listen to classical music and read a lot of cycling books.

PEZ Bookshelf: Balmamion

Leslie Reissner
The Giro d'Italia has been won more than once by 22 riders, but only eight of those riders have managed to win consecutive races. In the postwar period, only Coppi, Merckx and Indurain have managed. Oh, and a somewhat lesser figure-Franco…

Pez Bookshelf: Goggles & Dust

Leslie Reissner
Drawn from the one of the world’s finest collections of cycling artifacts, the latest cycling book from Velopress, 'Goggles & Dust' collects over 100 stunning photographs from competitive cycling’s heyday in the 1920s and ’30s. PEZ's…

PEZ Bookshelf: The Spring Classics

Leslie Reissner
It is said that when the snow melts away and daylight lengthens, the thoughts of many turn towards romance. But for more than a few, it means the joyful return of the great one-day bicycle races and yet, as the VeloPress book “The Spring…

Pez Bookshelf: Willkie Sprint

Leslie Reissner
In 1951, Bloomington, Indiana, saw the first running of the Little 500, a very unusual bicycle race modelled on the Indianapolis 500 car race, and which has been a fixture of Indiana University's self-proclaimed “World's Greatest College…

PEZ Bookshelf: The Midlife Cyclist

Leslie Reissner
Carefully working my way through Phil Cavell's “The Midlife Cyclist” for some weeks now, a remarkable book of startling scope, whenever I mention the title it causes people to smile or laugh indulgently. But “The Midlife Cyclist” is…

PEZ Bookshelf: The Buddha and the Bee

Leslie Reissner
It is said that people travel to see the world, or to run away from something behind them, and in his entertaining book, “The Buddha and the Bee,” author Cory Mortensen discovers that perhaps his reason for wanting to ride his bicycle from…