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Vuelta Skelter: Riding the Remarkable 1941 Tour of Spain

Vuelta Skelter: Riding the Remarkable 1941 Tour of Spain

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-10-23 08:51:03
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Tim Moore
  • ISBN：1787333051
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Summary

Tim Moore completes his epic （and ill-advised） trilogy of cycling's Grand Tours。

Julian Berrendero's victory in the 1941 Vuelta a Espana was an extraordinary exercise in sporting redemption: the Spanish cyclist had just spent 18 months in Franco's concentration camps， punishment for expressing Republican sympathies during the civil war。 Seventy nine years later， perennially over-ambitious cyclo-adventurer Tim Moore developed a fascination with Berrendero's story， and having borrowed an old road bike with the great man's name plastered all over it， set off to retrace the 4，409km route of his 1941 triumph - in the midst of a global pandemic。

What follows is a tale of brutal heat and lonely roads， of glory， humiliation， and then a bit more humiliation。 Along the way Tim recounts the civil war's still-vivid tragedies， and finds the gregarious but impressively responsible locals torn between welcoming their nation's only foreign visitor， and bundling him and his filthy bike into a vat of antiviral gel。

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Reviews

K Curry ，

Not my favourite - a book about his experience of cycling the route of the Vuelta with some history thrown in。 I enjoyed the bits about cycling， especially his inclination to bring humour into it， but for me his dabbling into the complexities of the Spanish Civil War took him into dangerous territory。

Anthony Frobisher ，

Brutal， tortured and insane。 A bike ride and a civil war。 I opened the first pages of Vuelta Skelter in excited anticipation。 Tim Moore， a man in his 50's a couple of years older than I， about to embark on another epic cycle adventure， aboard a vintage bicycle。 A 4，500km lap of Spain following the 1941 route of La Vuelta。 In interminable heat， up tortuous， endless mountain climbs， and in an all too brief window when Coronavirus had relented before resuming with avengence。 Tim Moore's books are a Brutal， tortured and insane。 A bike ride and a civil war。 I opened the first pages of Vuelta Skelter in excited anticipation。 Tim Moore， a man in his 50's a couple of years older than I， about to embark on another epic cycle adventure， aboard a vintage bicycle。 A 4，500km lap of Spain following the 1941 route of La Vuelta。 In interminable heat， up tortuous， endless mountain climbs， and in an all too brief window when Coronavirus had relented before resuming with avengence。 Tim Moore's books are a delight。 Each travelogue is written with humour （and Vuelta Skelter is hilarious）， self deprecation， and insight。 In the case of Vuelta Skelter， Tim's own struggles with route planning， weather， age and a recalcitrant bicycle of advanced years， are juxtaposed with those of Julian Berrendero， winner of the 1941 Vuelta， incarcerated in a concentration camp during the Spanish Civil war and a man of fierce， unstinting sheer bloody-mindedness。 He had few friends on the road， made enemies easily， but delighted in crushing them on his bike。What was a stark and sobering contrast to the humour， travails and journey Tim Moore undertakes is the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War。 Episodes of brutality， a bloodlust and vengeance， the murdering of innocents， refugees， reflects a terrible period of European history， and indeed was a precursor to the rise of the atrocities inflicted by the Nazis。It would have been a great book without the history， but it is a superb book because of it。A brutal， tortured and insane challenge for a brilliant writer who I have enjoyed ever since Frost on My Moustache。 A brutal， tortured and insane period of history that needs to be more understood - especially as there is an （understandable） reluctance to discuss it in Spain as Tim Moore discovers。 Add Vuelta Skelter to French Revolutions （following the 2，000 Tour de France route） and Gironimo （following the 1914 Giro de Italia on a 100 year old bicycle） and you have a Grand Tour triptych。 As with all Tim Moore's travel books， highly recommended。 I can however still smell his cycling gloves。。。。some things never leave you。 。。。more

Fritzov ，

Tim bikes around in spain and sometimes it's quite fun to listen to。 Tim bikes around in spain and sometimes it's quite fun to listen to。 。。。more

Ipswichblade ，

The best book I have read this year。 I have read every Tim Moore book and he gets better with age。 This also has the added extra of one of his cycle rides done in the time of a pandemic。 A brilliant brilliant book

Rob McMinn ，

I’ve been feeling tired all day， weak legs， stiff all over， aching feet。 It’s warm， 29ºC， the kind of muggy heat that makes you feel a bit sick。 All of this following a 26km bike ride this morning。 I’d wanted to set off early， but insomniac daughter was slow to get going。 I offered to go on my own， but she wanted to come， so it was gone 9 o’clock by the time we set off down the hill。 And the cool air on the way down， in the shade of the trees， was the last cool air we’d feel – all day， but certa I’ve been feeling tired all day， weak legs， stiff all over， aching feet。 It’s warm， 29ºC， the kind of muggy heat that makes you feel a bit sick。 All of this following a 26km bike ride this morning。 I’d wanted to set off early， but insomniac daughter was slow to get going。 I offered to go on my own， but she wanted to come， so it was gone 9 o’clock by the time we set off down the hill。 And the cool air on the way down， in the shade of the trees， was the last cool air we’d feel – all day， but certainly until the last painful grind up our hill， on wobbly legs and with my right foot burning， as usual。And that’s my limit， an hour or so in the saddle and I’m done， and more or less useless for the rest of the day。 Exercise！ It’s good for you！ It was the kind of ride that has you throwing your bib shorts in the bin as soon as you get undressed for the shower: those are too uncomfortable， you say， slamming the lid of the bin down。That being my limit: the weak legs， the burning feet， is why I like to read Tim Moore’s various books of cycling adventure。 There was his hilarious Tour de France opus， French Revolutions， and more recently his vintage Giro d’Italia travails， Gironimo！ And now comes Vuelta Skelter， his retracing of the route of the 1941 Vuelta d’Espagna on a 40-year-old bike sold by the shop run by that race’s winner， Julián Berrendero。Moore， as a man of a certain age， makes me feel better about my struggles on the bicycle， because he details his own struggles in such an entertaining way。 It’s one of his great gifts as a writer that he can find 300 different ways to detail his pain and exhaustion without boring you。 But whereas he is deliriously hungry and puking after 140km over mountains in the Spanish heat， I feel that way after 26km。 He achieves feats of endurance that are really quite incredible， especially for a lone cyclist， and his various misadventures in hotels and bars and petrol stations around Spain are all part of the fun。 A favourite passage:…I wobbled into the first petrol station in a state of some disarray。 There， in the shadow of a refuelling tractor， I struggled to ingest four bags of cheese puffs。 It was all the apologetic attendant could offer me to eat， and as I wanly crunched through smelly handfuls of air and yellow dust， it felt as if the process was expending more calories than it replaced。Moore’s refusal to take nutrition seriously is very funny， when you consider all the column inches dedicated to gels and electrolytes in the cycling press。 He needs around 7000 calories a day， but these take the form of whole bottles of red wine， humungous sandwiches and unappetising chocolate pastries。 He does have the odd gel， but what the （all right， this） reader envies is his ability to sit down of an evening and eat two whole pizzas – and still lose about 7 kilos over the 6 weeks of his ride。All of this was taking place against the backdrop of the pandemic， as he manages to arrive in Spain and complete his adventure in the brief hiatus between the first and second lockdowns。 More seriously， the 1941 Vuelta was only the third in that race’s history， and the first after the devastation of the Spanish Civil War。 This lends the book a different tone to the others， as it’s impossible to escape the grim， brutal history of that conflict – especially as the race’s winner spent the previous 18 months in a concentration camp。 Only 32 riders started the race， and less than 20 finished， in an era when the race organisers would confiscate drink bottles because of their belief that real athletes didn’t need to hydrate and when half the country was starving。It still brings me up short to remember that Spain was a fascist dictatorship well into the 1970s， in the era during which many Brits experienced their first foreign summer holidays。 So the darker sections of this book are a stark whiplashy counterpoint to Moore’s usual self-deprecating buffoonery。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Vuelta Skelter: Riding the Remarkable 1941 Tour of Spain

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Vuelta Skelter: Riding the Remarkable 1941 Tour of Spain&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Vuelta Skelter: Riding the Remarkable 1941 Tour of Spain&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0