Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for cyclists!
'Out on the roads of regional France, fundamental truths about the human condition were being played out. At home on the couch, I was a mass of youthful confusion, seeking guidance from bewilderment. As I watched the Tour, it told me stories of persistence, of grace in the face of defeat, of effort rewarded or thwarted, of luck both good and bad, and those stories resonated with great profundity. It was like I'd gone on some sort of transcendental peyote retreat, except it lasted three weeks and I didn't have to endure the company of emotive new age stoners. Life altering epiphanies rolled in thick and fast.' — Ianto Ware
When chronic insomniac and reluctant office worker Ianto Ware went looking for answers to life's big questions, he found them in the world's largest bike race. Twenty-One Nights in July is a joyride through the Tour's greatest moments — part love letter to cycling, part history of the Tour de France, and part philosophical treatise on the merits of the humble bicycle,
Twenty-One Nights in July unravels La Grande Boucle's greatest stages, contests, personalities, scandals and controversies — from Fausto Coppi's victory on Alpe d'Huez, to Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor's epic battle on the Puy de Dôme, from René Vietto's shameless weeping to Greg LeMond soiling himself in his battle against Bernard Hinault.
From the Italian whose win prevented a revolution, to the British champion whose dying words were 'put me back on my bike', and the convicted doper who declared 'I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles', Twenty-One Nights in July mines deep into the Tour's hidden secrets to reveal how cycling transcended mere sport to become a philosophy for the modern age.
About the Author
Ianto Ware was the CEO and one of the founders of Renew Adelaide and is a board member of both Renew Adelaide and Renew Australia. He was the co-founder, director and executive producer of the Format Festival, a co-founder of the Format Space, and the executive producer of the 2011 Festival of Unpopular Culture, the official fringe to Adelaide’s Festival of Ideas.
