Books : A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.6
EAN: 9781934030264
ISBN: 1934030260
Label: VeloPress
Manufacturer: VeloPress
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: September 01, 2008
Publisher: VeloPress
Sales Rank: 4375
Studio: VeloPress
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In this brutally frank book, Joe Parkin puts readers in the whirlwind of the extreme world of professional bicycling, starting with his first visit to his team doctor, where, strapped to a metal table and monitored by humming electrodes, his future as a professional racer is coldly determined. Parkin pulls no punches, celebrating the glory of bike racing at its best, but also exploring the harsh reality of the life behind it. The author covers it all from an insider's perspective: the drugs, the payoffs, the races bought and paid for, the misery of training, the physical agony of racing, the battles with team owners for contracts and money, the endless promises, and the betrayals by enemies, teammates, and friends. Set in Belgium, the epicenter of all that's daunting and dazzling about the sport,A Dog in a Hat is one American's story of his love affair with professional cycling.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
I could not put this book down and was sad to see that it was over so soon.
This is a wonderfully written book filled with first hand accounts of a great American cyclist who says "I'm going to Europe". You meet so many people during the course of a group ride or a bike shop who talk about going to Belgium one day and just try to make it. This book talks about one such cyclist, Joe Parkin, who does just that. This story has vivid stories filled with youthful enthusiasm about his racing experiences.
There are so many stories about people larger than life like Lance Armstrong. It is really nice to read a book about the other 95% of cycling. A reader is vividly taken back to the small towns of Belgium where the rain fades in and out all day and you sit at the bar sharing a Leffe Bruine, some frites, and looking at the racing odds written on a small chalkboard in the corner.
This is a must read for people who want to read about the heart and soul of cycling and the adventurous American's who actually make that flight with a few dollars, their bicycle, and dreams of making it.
Rating:  -
If you are interested in bike racing this is a great book. I couldn't put it down, the writer does a good job of transporting the reader to this period of his life. It really gives the reader a sense of how difficult it is to be a professional bike racer......Fascinating.
Rating: -
If you race (or are a fan of racing) you must read this...what racing is really really like as a pro. Most of us (myself included..38 y/o cat 4) will never go pro, but still what a story of what it's REALLY like. I feel like I have a much deeper understanding of what life is like for all those 'pack fodder' guys in the 120+ person peloton's you see on TV. Well written, you tear through this in no time...it's the story/reality you always wanted to hear and didn't know existed. Much more interesting and revealing than a memoir of a TDF champion, this story is more like what it would be like for 'one of us.' Finally, how could you not love a book where the forward (written by Bob Roll) tells a large segment of potential readers to "F O and D". If you are reading this review you must read this book.
Rating: -
In Joe Parkin's memoir, "A Dog in a Hat" the reader is taken inside a different world than that which has been largely reported following Lance Armstrong's victories in the Tour de France. In this world you read about small teams and mostly unheard of races populated by unheralded riders fighting to make a living. In this world you see the tarnished underbelly of cycling that involves drug use for it's own sake and shady in-race deals that predetermine the outcome of a race apart from true competition.
What comes across most clearly in this work is the day to day life of a mostly unknown American cyclist who, in his own way, helped blaze a trail that many promising young riders now follow into the Belgian cycling scene. You see the struggles, training and pitfalls that awaited the cyclists of the late eighties and likely still exist today.
I would recommend this book for any racing cyclist and for those interested in cycling culture.
Rating: -
I thought it was a great read, it gave a realistic view of life as a professional cyclist, shared some interesting anecdotes about fellow professionals, and compared life as a cyclist in US of A and Europe. Full of humour,fact and interest.
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