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Bicycle Kicks
ONE MAN. ONE TEAM. ONE BIKE.
Sick of drifting aimlessly through his thirties, Simon Hood gives up his job and flat to embark on a unique adventure. A lifelong York City supporter, he sets out to cycle to their every match over the course of a season.
York are languishing in the fifth tier of English soccer; home to footballing outposts as obscure as Ebbsfleet, Histon and Nailsworth. What follows is a ten-month, fifty-match, 10,000-mile pilgrimage taking Simon from Tyneside to the Sussex coast, from Cumbria to Kent. Along the way he rides through floods and snow with friends old and new, meets a Knight of the Realm, breaks a couple of bikes and battles with The Bonk.
Would he make it to each match in time for kick-off? Would he resist the temptations of public transport? Would the team rise to the challenge and reward his efforts with an unlikely shot at glory?
Sick of drifting aimlessly through his thirties, Simon Hood gives up his job and flat to embark on a unique adventure. A lifelong York City supporter, he sets out to cycle to their every match over the course of a season.
York are languishing in the fifth tier of English soccer; home to footballing outposts as obscure as Ebbsfleet, Histon and Nailsworth. What follows is a ten-month, fifty-match, 10,000-mile pilgrimage taking Simon from Tyneside to the Sussex coast, from Cumbria to Kent. Along the way he rides through floods and snow with friends old and new, meets a Knight of the Realm, breaks a couple of bikes and battles with The Bonk.
Would he make it to each match in time for kick-off? Would he resist the temptations of public transport? Would the team rise to the challenge and reward his efforts with an unlikely shot at glory?
156 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 31, 2013
Hood cycles to every York City game fora n entire season, because he’s endearingly mental.
This was really fun, and I’m not just saying that because he’s a nice guy! The writing is really good, and it’s a very enjoyable style. There’s lots of dry and/or self depreciating humour in here, but not enough to detract from the trip. The balance between cycling, football and random odds and ends is pretty good for the most part, with the random strangers who help out being flessed out nicely, if briefly, and the games being covered in a manner I like, the memorable bits and then a score. Although it would have been nice to have heard more about the Finney visit, and a couple of the repeat journeys from London way to York got a little dull tbh.
There were a couple of times where the flow wasn’t quite right too (the end of the Chester game just merges into a random day riding which gave me a double take) but it’s an engaging read of a man you’d love to have a pint with doing something amazing.
8/10
This was really fun, and I’m not just saying that because he’s a nice guy! The writing is really good, and it’s a very enjoyable style. There’s lots of dry and/or self depreciating humour in here, but not enough to detract from the trip. The balance between cycling, football and random odds and ends is pretty good for the most part, with the random strangers who help out being flessed out nicely, if briefly, and the games being covered in a manner I like, the memorable bits and then a score. Although it would have been nice to have heard more about the Finney visit, and a couple of the repeat journeys from London way to York got a little dull tbh.
There were a couple of times where the flow wasn’t quite right too (the end of the Chester game just merges into a random day riding which gave me a double take) but it’s an engaging read of a man you’d love to have a pint with doing something amazing.
8/10
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