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.
Beryl Burton was one of Britain's greatest athletes and one of the best cyclists ever, a story brought to life and beautifully told in the DVD “Racing is Life - The Beryl Burton Story.”
PEZ at the Movies: Marinoni – The Fire in the Frame
Giuseppe Marinoni, a seminal figure in Canadian cyclesports, is still out on his bicycle but disappointed that he has to ride alone, due to Covid-19. Most people 82 years of age would be happy to ride at all but Marinoni, the subject of a…
PEZ Bookshelf: 48 Days
The strange bike racing year that is 2020 has seen some confusing things like races with no spectators and Spring Classics in autumn but the weirdest is the overlapping of two Grand Tours as the Giro's final week coincides with the Vuelta's…
PEZ Bookshelf: Maglia Rosa – Triumph and Tragedy at the Giro d’Italia
Book Review: Thanks to Covid-19 the 2020 Giro d'Italia started this weekend in Sicily... In October! Thanks to “Maglia Rosa: Triumph and Tragedy at the Giro d’Italia” by British author/Italian resident Herbie Sykes, we have an…
PEZ Bookshelf: Chasing the Rainbow
There is a very special jersey that, once you win it at a one day event, it is yours for a year wherever you race. This jersey, is of course, the glorious rainbow-striped confection first donned by Alfredo Binda in 1927. Its fascinating…
PEZ Bookshelf: Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep-The First Tour de France
Author Peter Cossins describes in his history of that first 1903 Tour de France, the inelegantly titled “Butcher, Blacksmith, Acrobat, Sweep,” the original Tour de France, something totally new and untried and flawed in many ways, “should…
PEZ Bookshelf: Wild Ride – Epic Cycling Journeys Through the Heart of Australia
Australia, once deemed primarily suitable as a dumping-off place for convicts, is in fact a stunningly beautiful land. Its wild countryside has attracted explorers and adventurers, but cycling around it takes a special dedication. Some of…
PEZ Bookshelf: Mapping Le Tour!
Book Review: As the 2020 Tour winds up the first week, Leslie Reissner takes a trip down Memory Lane and journeys the Tour de France routes of the past. Mapping le Tour by Ellis Bacon maps the journey taken from the first Tour to 2014 when…
PEZ Bookshelf: Cartes du Tour
The Covid-19 delayed 2020 Tour de France has eventually started and we all hope it will go all the way to Paris in three weeks time, but at least we have racing to watch. To go along with what we will see on the TV, Rapha have put together…
PEZ TOUR Bookshelf: Tour de France Climbs from Above
The highest drama in the Tour de France takes place in the mountains and the changing beauty of these alpine landscapes differentiates pro cycling from all other sports. “Tour de France Climbs from Above” is an excellent introduction to the…