From the Library: Hearts of Lions, The History of American Bicycle Racing

This is one hefty book here. I suppose any book attempting to cover the breadth of American bicycle racing history is bound to be long and hefty. 

I warn you now, keep this away from leaky Camelbaks and hungry dogs, my copy suffered the effects of both and, while the latter resulted in a missing corner of the back cover and end pages, it was the former - drenching - that set me back multiple days as I waited for it to dry out.

With that out of the way, let me say that any book touting to be a history of something as broad and diverse as American bicycle racing is about the most difficult type of tome to write. Consider that we are fast approaching the 150th anniversary of the first bicycle race held in the United States, you can realize how much time has passed, how many races and racers have passed through the sport in that time, and how daunting a task it might be to to even contemplate such a history. Decisions about who and what to include, and who and what to leave out as your labors near 500 pages, have implications on just how complete a history it is.

I think the author made the task easier in this regard by focusing on those Americans who made an impact on bicycle racing at the International level, but even at that the coverage, in my view, seems inconsistent. Some riders are covered by pages, others by single paragraphs or even single sentences. There is almost no mountain biking, though Americans clearly dominated the sport in its early days (the cover photograph is a cue that the books' content is road and track dominated). The most recent period of bicycle racing, say since the Greg Lemond era seems especially abbreviated, and the end appears before you in a very abrupt manner.

But enough about what I think is missing, there is also much that is included. The mid-century period, which is largely overlooked in minds if not also pages, is given considerable coverage here, as is the women's side of the sport which, as the author makes clear, has often been more successful from a podium perspective, than the men's side.

I can't imagine anyone being disappointed after reading this one, there is so much information that even the most ardent cycling fanatic will find something new. Yet that same knowledgable person may wonder, well, what about this person, or why isn't that event included? It is the age old problem faced by anyone authoring a "history of..." type book - the limit of space. I see this book as a sort of general text, offering readers the opportunities to branch off along any number of interesting avenues in search of more information about individual racers, races, or even time periods.

Nye, Peter Joffre   Hearts of Lions: The History of American Bicycle Racing, 2nd ed.   Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2020