Since the earliest days of Henri Desgrange and the first Tour de France competitive cycling has developed its own distinct language - a velo vernacular, a peloton patois - that celebrates a rich history, a proud culture and those myths and legends of the road fashioned by extreme feats of two-wheeled endurance. Some sports lend themselves to language: cycling is one of them. With its rich history and culture, its professional roots across the continent and beyond, cycling has developed a terminology that goes well beyond borders, producing a lexicon all of its own. This book guides the reader through a land where the road to hell is paved not with good intentions, but with cobbles. This is a place where all the world is a stage, unless you are a one-day specialist. Where its inhabitants come with a litany of arresting nicknames: Badgers, Cannibals, Eagles, Pirates, each with a wonderful story of their own. This is a book that takes the reader from the tête de la course to the grupetto at the back, from the caravane following the race to the tifosi cheering on the mountainside. Insightful and irreverent, Be:Spoke is the book for anyone who wants to be able to speak cycling. The book is complete with a series of specially commissioned artworks by celebrated ?Crayonfire' illustrator Neil Stevens. SELLING POINTS: ? Entries fully cross-referenced across cycling's main languages and destinations ? Features some 20 specially commissioned artworks and drawings from famed cycling illustrator Neil Stevens (of Crayonfire fame)
