From the Library: Dog In A Hat...

"... you see a dog in a hat when a normal situation changes, when something looks out of place." A Dog In A Hat is a first of the two part story relating the triumphs and travails of American racer Joe Parkin as he attempts to first, break into, and second establish his position in the European professional peloton, during the 1980s and 1990s. The book not only documents the experiences of Parkin while attempting to find his way in the sport, but it is also a telling expose of an era, a time win which the use of performance enhancing drugs were beginning to reach dangerous and arrogant levels not previously seen. Don't mis-construe this to mean that drugs occupy the spotlight in this book. They are there, but more significant, I think, are the challenges faced by the young rider learning the ropes. I reviewed Parkin's second book, Come and Gone, previously.

Parkin, Joe   A Dog In A Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium   Boulder, CO: Velo Press, 2008