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 Goes to the Movies: Alf Engers aka “The King”

The British have a great love of the idiosyncratic and this enthusiasm for the oddball has extended to bicycle racing. Before British Cycling conquered track racing and Grand Tours fell to British riders, the British had a warm enthusiasm…

PEZ Bookshelf: Higher Calling

Ah, mountains! Perhaps they share only with the sea something that universally arouses us to flights of poetry and fancy. “Higher Calling” is a book by Max Leonard that endeavours to explain this attraction to “up.” Beautifully written and…

PEZ Bookshelf: Climb!

We have shelves full of books about the great climbs of the world, and about effective training but, oddly, one cannot recall a book specifically devoted to the art and practice of going uphill. Now Selene Yeager, has nicely filled that gap…

PEZ Bookshelf: Bicycles: Past, Present and Future

Italian book “Bicycles: Past, Present and Future” by Roberto Gurian, with graphic design by Maria Cucchi, has been translated by Robert Bethel into English, but marvelous bike photos speak in all languages. PEZ literary editor, Leslie…

PEZ Bookshelf: The Art of the Cycling Jersey

“What is the well-dressed cyclist wearing these days?”, I hear you ask me. “Or back in those early days?” I am glad you asked because Rodale Press' excellent book, “The Art of the Cycling Jersey,” subtitled “Iconic Cycle Wear Past and…

PEZ Bookshelf: Into The Suffersphere – Cycling And The Art of Pain

It is an apparent given that cycling requires not so much talent as an ability to suffer. Greg Lemond said that: “It never gets easier. You just get faster.” Now expat Brit Jon Malnick has written a droll and novel book about the…

PEZ Bookshelf: Re: Cyclists – 200 Years on Two Wheels

2017 marked the 200th anniversary of Baron Drais's ride around Mannheim on his Laufmaschine, generally held to be the predecessor of our carbon-framed, electronically-shifted disc-braked wonder bicycles. From then to now, with its detours,…

PEZ Bookshelf: Good To Go

Cyclists determined to improve their condition have a wide variety of choices, from training diaries to formal programs to online coaching. But recent developments have now opened up a multi-million dollar market for an aspect many of us…

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