- Published: 31 July 2017
- ISBN: 9780224100212
- Imprint: Yellow Jersey
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 352
- RRP: $19.99
The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold
Adventures Along the Iron Curtain Trail
From the author of French Revolutions and Gironimo! comes a hideously over-ambitious challenge on doomed machinery. Tim Moore cycles the length of the old Iron Curtain on a shopping bike.
'Bill Bryson on two wheels' Independent
Scaling a new peak of rash over-ambition, Tim Moore tackles the 9,000km route of the old Iron Curtain on a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike.
Asking for trouble and getting it, he sets off at the Arctic winter’s brutal height, bullying his plucky MIFA 900 through the endless and massively sub-zero desolation of snowbound Finland.
Haunted throughout the journey by the border detritus of watchtowers and rusted razor wire, Moore reflects on the curdling of the Communist dream, and the memories of a Cold War generation reared on the fear of apocalypse – at a time of ratcheting East-West tension.
After three months, 20 countries and a 58-degree jaunt up the centigrade scale, man and bike finally wobble up to a Black Sea beach in Bulgaria, older and wiser, but mainly older.
- Published: 31 July 2017
- ISBN: 9780224100212
- Imprint: Yellow Jersey
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 352
- RRP: $19.99
One hundred per cent self-inflicted … Beyond stupid … It's hilarious.
Adrian Chiles, Radio 5 Live
Bill Bryson on two wheels.
Independent
The world's funniest travel writer.
Observer
A good, entertaining writer, laugh-out-loud funny in parts.
Irish Independent
It’s a hoot.
Michael Kerr, Daily Telegraph, Book of the Year
It’s a hoot.
Michael Kerr, Daily Telegraph, Book of the Year
Terrifically engaging
Times Literary Supplement
[An] entertaining travelogue.
Sport
Moore’s books are strangely inspiring. It’s hard not to be impressed by a man in his early 50s who hasn’t really ridden for two years…deciding to undertake a huge ride on a completely inappropriate bicycle. It makes the daily struggle to get motivated for ride to work seem a little weak, and whets your own appetite for a bike-based adventure. It probably won’t be quite as amusing without Tim Moore for company though.
Bike Radar
An epic trip… Underpinned by Moore’s pinpoint accurate observations and engaging style that has you rooting for him from the moment he pedals forward on his folding bike.
Peter Sharkey, Post
If you enjoyed reading about Moore's travels in France and Italy, chances are you'll love this too.
Road Cycling UK, Book of the Year
An epic, hugely amusing journey… Perfect Christmas fare.
Dorset Echo
It is well worth reading.
Paul Cheney, Nudge
Moore lurches from crisis to crisis in a hilarious 9,000km, 20 country, ride along the old Iron Curtain from the Norwegian-Russian border to the Bulgarian Black Sea with quasi-frostbite and a few rusted watchtowers thrown in
GQ
Calling it a 'proven formula' is not to take anything away from Moore's achievements, both in completing an incredible cycling journey, and then writing another entertaining book about it: to have done both three times is impressive. To keep to the successful formula, Moore first needs another ridiculous challenge as the theme of his journey: check. Then he must use wholly inappropriate equipment: check. Try to avoid any fitness training before the journey: check. Make sure that there are numerous challenges and obstacles to overcome along the way to provide amusing anecdotes: check. Finally, make sure that you can write in an engaging and humorous style: check… Tim Moore does it again, enhancing his reputation as one of the best exponents of the cycling travelogue
Richard Peploe, Road.cc
Tim Moore is a serial cyclist who loves to do things the hard way… His blackly comic account of his adventures will convince you that extreme cycling is best appreciated in anecdotal form
Jane Shilling, Daily Mail
Filled with laugh-out-loud scenes and witty comments, alongside serious reflections on the consequences of the Communist dream and reminders of how disparate Europe still remains, this book was difficult to put down
Rhiannon Roy, Time & Leisure
He is quite, quite bonkers - and very funny
The Bookseller
