On the Road Bike: The Search For a Nation’s Cycling Soul Audiobook (Free)

Ned Boulting has noticed something. It’s to do with bikes. They’re everywhere. And so are their riders. Some of these riders seem to be wearing sideburns and some of them are winning stuff. Big things. Today Ned wants to know how on the planet it found this. And what, precisely is ‘this’.

In On the highway Bike, Ned Boulting asks how Britain became so obsessed with cycling. Ned’s search places him in touch with a number of the great and wonderfully idiosyncratic individuals who have contributed to the nation’s two-wheeled background. It’s a journey that requires him through the velodrome at Herne Hill to the Tour of Britain at Stoke-on-Trent via Bradley Wiggins, Chris Boardman, David Millar (and David’s mum), Ken Livingstone, both Tommy Godwins, Gary Kemp (yes, him from Spandau Ballet) and many, many more. The result can be an amusing and personal exploration of the austere, nutty soul of British cycling.