The pinnacle of road cycling has always been the climb – climbing a mountain gracefully, beating your competition up the slope. The mountains are where cycling legends are formed. Max Leonard goes in-depth to explore this obsessional relationship. He asks why road cyclists have turned Europe’s mountains into the Colosseum of the cycling world. He explores the pilgrimages that amateur cyclists have created of these high, remote roads and what they see and feel when they do. Higher Calling explores the central place of mountains in the folklore of road cycling. Leonard beautifully combines adventure and travel writing with the narrative of pro racing – taking readers from the battles that created the Alpine roads in the first place, to the shepherds tending their flocks on the peaks, to a Grand Tour climax on the highest road in Europe. Through this journey, Leonard brings together stories of courage and sacrifice, war and love, and obsession.
“Marathons are no longer enough. Pain is to be relished, not avoided. Hallucinations are normal.” Adharanand Finn’s takes a journey, in The Rise of the Ultra Runners, to discover why anyone would want to take part in one of the world’s most brutal and challenging sports. An experienced marathon runner, Finn explores the psychological and social drivers that are leading more and more runners to swap tarmac for trail, and 26.3 miles for 30-, 50- or 100-mile races. In the book Adharanand Finn pushes himself, journeying from the deserts of Oman to the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, and on to his ultimate goal – the 105-mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. Along the way he encounters the sport’s most colourful characters and shares firsthand experience of the sports soaring highs and crushing lows. This is the perfect book for anyone who is thinking of taking up ultra-running, or for anyone who wants to read about the boundaries of human endeavour.