I first became aware of this book when I was reading Bert Wagendorp’s Ventoux. As the main character describes how his cycling obsession began “The urge to sit on a racing bike again came back later. That was after I had read The Rider by Tim Krabbé. I was 15, read it at one sitting, and knew instantly what I had to do.” With both books being originally written in Dutch I suppose it was inevitable that the later would mention the original Dutch cycling classic. Continue reading
You may recognise the name of the author from his popular website ipayroadtax.com. I stumbled upon this particular website when looking for the facts about road tax after being shouted at from a white van (like most cyclist will have been at some point) about cyclists not paying road tax. As I’m sure you’re aware there is no such thing as “Road Tax”, if however this is news to you, may I suggest you visit the aforementioned website before reading the rest of this book review.
Road tax is just one of the many modern myths or misunderstandings that surrounds road use today, and this book sets out to set things straight, starting with the title! Continue reading