Chased by Pandas: My life in the mysterious world of cycling

Reviews

Rob's Review

I lived in the Midlands of England and am familiar with the area of Dan’s family home. A recommended read. When reading such books about the life of a bike racer covering the key points and the stories of race successes, though for me the greater interest is within storyline of the detailed day to day of what went on within a team, the camaraderie with other riders, the management and organisation, the positive aspects of how well the team prepares in it’s approach to an an important race. As well as the err… perhaps not so positive.

Though Dan also had successful rides in grand tour races and my feeling is he might have had even more success with greater support within his team(s)! The book came as a 2022 Christmas present from my son, very fitting and of special interest for me, I used to follow Dan as a rider through the racing season. I’m sure I also remember, for example seeing riders with CC Giro (Dan’s club) jerseys when on Audax rides in the area! I think it’s fair to describe Dan as more of a classics rider, his favourite race being Liege-Bastogne-Liege (La Doyenne), notably fifth in 2012, winning the race in 2013 and second in 2017.

But what do I know? This book scores well on the day to day detail, Dan’s personal training approach of preparing to ride a race like La Doyenne as well as the appraisal of equipment choice and bike fitting when he moved to the UAE team. The picture I've added of Dan was taken on a visit to see a few TdF stages in 2019.