Tour d'Europe: The Yoga of Road Cycling

by Kaisa Leka, Christoffer Leka

Tour d'Europe is a 476-page comic book about a bike trip from Porvoo, Finland to Nice, France. Created by Kaisa and Christoffer Leka, it describes the uphills and downhills on the way to the Mediterranean, concentrating on what goes on in the cyclicst's head as the head wind blows in your face and your butt gets increasingly sore.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Travel, Nonfiction

476 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This impulse buy from thrift store took me by a surprise, offering funny and exciting story about great effort adventure through Europe on bikes that made me even chuckle loudly at times, which is a rare thing indeed for this cynical dog. Also the drawing style with Mickey Mousey and Donald Duckish characters is absolutely endearing and the spiritual thoughts between chapters were pure gold!

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially liked the concept of having a bit of mind yoga at the beginning of each chapter, followed by Kaisa and Leka’s adventures on the road. But… yes, you felt it coming, didn’t you? At some point, no matter how interesting it was, I got bored of the yoga. Sorry guys! And another thing I can’t seem to let go: Great that you didn’t have too many troubles getting there, after all.. it’s about 3000km from Porvoo, Finland to Nice, France? It just didn’t do it for me. Would have liked to see a bit more action.

OD’ed with granola by a yogi, left me behind with the following mental image:

[Aapo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kaisa ja Cristoffer Leka pyöräilevät Porvoosta Nizzaan. So what, sanoisi Paavo. Okei, Kaisalla on proteesit alkuperäisten jalkojen tilalla ja olisihan se pitkä matka kenelle vaan. Eniten harmittaa se, että pidän Lekan piirrostyylistä sekä tästä aiheesta, mutta lukuelämys jää harmillisen valjuksi. Kunnon draamaa ei synny, familjen Bra vaan joogaa. Ehkä tämä on autenttinen dokumentti matkasta, mutta se ei välttämättä tee hyvää sarjakuva-albumia. Lintsasin ne lukujen aluissa olleet joogapohdinnat, kun ne tuntuivat helposti ylihypättäviltä ja ei-kiinnostavilta. Bhagavadgitansa lukeneet ovat kenties eri mieltä.