It’s All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels
Robert Penn has saddled up nearly every day of his adult life. In his
late twenties, he pedaled 25,000 miles around the world. Today he rides
to get to work, sometimes for work, to bathe in air and sunshine, to
travel, to go shopping, to stay sane, and to skip bath time with his
kids. He’s no Sunday pedal pusher. So when the time came for a new bike,
he decided to pull out all the stops. He would build his dream bike,
the bike he would ride for the rest of his life; a customized machine
that reflects the joy of cycling.
It’s All About the Bike follows
Penn’s journey, but this book is more than the story of his hunt for
two-wheel perfection. En route, Penn brilliantly explores the culture,
science, and history of the bicycle. From artisanal frame shops in the
United Kingdom to California, where he finds the perfect wheels, via
Portland, Milan, and points in between, his trek follows the serpentine
path of our love affair with cycling. It explains why we ride.
It’s All About the Bike
is, like Penn’s dream bike, a tale greater than the sum of its parts.
An enthusiastic and charming tour guide, Penn uses each component of the
bike as a starting point for illuminating excursions into the rich
history of cycling. Just like a long ride on a lovely day, It’s All About the Bike is pure joy- enriching, exhilarating, and unforgettable.
Robert Penn has saddled up nearly every day of his adult life. In his
late twenties, he pedaled 25,000 miles around the world. Today he rides
to get to work, sometimes for work, to bathe in air and sunshine, to
travel, to go shopping, to stay sane, and to skip bath time with his
kids. He’s no Sunday pedal pusher. So when the time came for a new bike,
he decided to pull out all the stops. He would build his dream bike,
the bike he would ride for the rest of his life; a customized machine
that reflects the joy of cycling.
It’s All About the Bike follows
Penn’s journey, but this book is more than the story of his hunt for
two-wheel perfection. En route, Penn brilliantly explores the culture,
science, and history of the bicycle. From artisanal frame shops in the
United Kingdom to California, where he finds the perfect wheels, via
Portland, Milan, and points in between, his trek follows the serpentine
path of our love affair with cycling. It explains why we ride.
It’s All About the Bike
is, like Penn’s dream bike, a tale greater than the sum of its parts.
An enthusiastic and charming tour guide, Penn uses each component of the
bike as a starting point for illuminating excursions into the rich
history of cycling. Just like a long ride on a lovely day, It’s All About the Bike is pure joy- enriching, exhilarating, and unforgettable.
A Dream Bike comes to life This is the story of a man who decided to build his Dream Bike after many years getting experience as a bicyclist. Interwoven with the main plot (the man traveling around the world to get the parts and components for his dream bike, and in the process visiting the factories and meeting the owners and some true personalities of the bike world) are remembrances of his lifelong adventures on the bike, which are astounding; a lot of interesting history (especially captivating: how the today…
Fun Story: The Evolution of the Bicycle and its Components Robert Penn decided to have a bicycle built to his own specifications and to fit him perfectly and wrote the book about that experience. He chose the components and then travelled to see them built by craftsmen in England and the United States. Along with an explanation of how he picked each component, he talked about the person who was creating that particular part for him and provided a history of that part. In the end, Penn has given us a history of the bicycle and the evolution of all its…