Friday, December 02, 2005

French Revolutions - Cycling the Tour de France

It's cold, it's windy and we need a laugh. So I thought I would tell you about French Revolutions by Tim Moore. This is probably the funniest book I have read in a long while. And by funny, I mean laugh out loud funny! So, if you do get this book, be careful where you read it otherwise you may get very odd looks.

Tim Moore decided that before he completely fell to pieces (He was in his mid-thirties), he should have a big adventure. And the thing he decided to do was cycle around the route of the Tour de France! He had been watching it for years on television and had been captivated by the event. He was horrendously unfit, but as he persuaded himself. "How difficult can it be? Anyone can ride a bike!".

What follows is superb reading. He has a great eye for detail and also a self-deprecating sense of humour and the story just rolls along. Don't think for one minute that this is a book about sport. Except for the fact that he is on a bicycle and following the Tour de France route for that year, that is about the nearest we get to professional sport. However, it could be construed as one mans attempt to triumph over adversity, an ailing body, an inbuilt impracticality and plain stupidity, and leads to situation after funny situation.

Did he triumph in the end? Can't tell you, but it will be fun finding out.

You can buy it from amazon.co.uk or amazon.com