bicycle racing

I’ve recently been obsessed with reading about ultra-runners, so I wasn’t surprised to find that running does not hold a monopoly on extremists. Bicycle Dreams documents the 2005 transcontinental Race Across America (World’s Toughest Bicycle Race). Each year, cyclists from around the world gather in California and race to Maryland in less than twelve days. I wasn’t kidding when I said extremists. The race is about 3000 miles and in 27 years there have been less than 200 finishers. Director Stephen Auerbach follows several of the racers, interspersing race footage with interviews of racers and

Peter Mayle has written delightful non-fiction accounts of his life in Provence--this switch to fiction, while equally delightful, appears somewhat authobiographical (both Mayle and the main character leave high-powered advertising jobs to find fulfillment in France), incorporating his love of Provence and its good food with a rather comical bank heist and kidnapping.  This is not a deep discourse on anything but it displays Mayle's affection and appreciation for this part of the world, and the book provides an entertaining and appetizing way to spend a lazy summer afternoon, if you're ever