The Race Against Time

For anyone wanting to understand the roots of British cycling's recent triumphs, The Race Against Time is essential reading, and it is Pickering's thorough research that makes it so. Rouleur, Ian Cleverly's pick of 2013 cycling books Chris Boardman and Graeme Obree are both highly individual characters and brilliant bike riders in their own right and this book from Edward Pickering does them proud with a detailed look at how they contested the Hour record throughout much of the '90s. The story telling is excellent as befits two such strong characters. Boardman could be seen as the establishment Team GB figure reserved and scientific while Obree was a working class maverick riding home-made bikes using parts of his washing machine. To a degree you can paint their rivalry as that between science and art but ultimately both were united in their quest to go faster and their quick intuitive minds. -- Brendan Gallagher Sweetspot Cycling Book of the Year shortlist nomination A great read about a wonderful episode not just in British cycling but in world cycling too. Pickering brings a fresh perspective to the telling of the tale and strips away some of the myths that surround two riders who have become living legends. Podium Cafe The bare essentials is hardly how the modern sport of cycling is best described. With the genius behind the two-wheeled success of Team GB and Team Sky Dave Brailsford describing his philosophy as the 'aggregation of marginal gains', the attention paid to the smallest engineering, physiological and psychological detail is obvious. It is an evolution that is retold quite thrillingly in Edward Pickering's book The Race Against Time. This is the story of the 1990s rivalry of Chris Boardman vs Graeme Obree and their battle for the one hour track cycling record. Boardman remains well-known today thanks to his TV work as a pundit, Obree meanwhile has become a virtual recluse, a superbly gifted athlete who doubles up as an inventor. It's a great story, which in many ways created the base for the later success of Hoy, Pendleton, Wiggins, Cavendish, Froome and Trott. Philosophy Football, Mark Perryman's autumn sports books review