JUST RIDE the BIKE

Much has been written about The Rider since it was first published in Dutch in 1978. Despite being fictional, it has become a kind of ‘bible’ for describing what it is to ride a bike, and specifically to race a bike. There has been little printed since that has bettered Krabbe’s descriptions of pain, suffering and the ability to keep pedalling, come what may.

The fictional Tour de Mont Aigoual is the backdrop for Krabbe’s suffering, as he takes on five particular antagonists over the course of the 137 km. It’s a short book, some might call it a novella, and the nature of the course; plateaus, climbs, rolling roads and descents, provides an elegant contrast to the suffering that Krabbe experiences. It is a suffering of his own making, and the mental anguish of being dropped by the group, then finding the energy to jump to a break, carries a hypnotic appeal.

Some may suggest that the talk of different cog sizes dates the book. That’s not my experience, because the numbers don’t mean much to me, it’s all about the experience of riding, of racing, of pitting yourself against others, but ultimately yourself. Krabbé’s mental war carries on with a set of asides, about other races, other experiences with other famous cyclists both on and off the bike. This represents those thinking/unthinking (dare I say existential) moments on the bike. Moments where you seems to come out of a trance, and find yourself further down the road than you were just know, with little recollection of how that happened.