Higher Calling: Cycling's Obsession with Mountains

by Max Leonard

Guaranteed to appeal to all lovers of cycling, the author of Lanterne Rouge  explores the glorious―and painful―allure of cycling up mountain peaks. Written with verve and enthusiasm, Higher Calling explores why mountains have such a magnetic appeal to cyclists the world over. But Max Leonard, himself an accomplished amateur cyclist, does not forget the pain, the glory, the sweat, and the tears that go into these grueling climbs.  After all, cycling up a mountain is hard.  So hard that, to many, it can seem absurd. But for others, climbing a mountain gracefully (and beating your competitors up the slope) represents the pinnacle of cycling achievement. It is where legends are forged. Many books tell you where the mountains are, or how long and how high. None of them ask why. Why are mountain ranges professional cycling’s Coliseum? Why do amateurs also make pilgrimages to these high, remote roads? Why are the roads even there in the first place to lure us on to these obsession inducing climbs?   Just why are mountains so enthralling?  “This is real cycling, where the glory is and where dreams come true,” according to Bradley Wiggins. Mountains are where cycling's greatest heroes have made their names. Every amateur rider wishes they could climb better, too.  Are all these people addicted to the pain? To the achievement? Or to the allure of the peaks? Some spend their weekends and holidays cycling up mountains from start to finish. But how does a rider push themselves beyond their limits to get up a 10% gradient on pedal power alone? What is happening when they do? Higher Calling  explores the central place of mountains in the folklore of road cycling. Blending adventure and travel writing with the rich narrative of racing, Max Leonard takes the reader from the battles that created the Alpine roads to the shepherds tending their flocks on the peaks, and to a Grand Tour climax on the “highest road in Europe.” And he tells stories of courage and sacrifice, war and love, obsession and even elephants, along the way. B&W photographs throughout

Genres: Cycling, Nonfiction, Sports

320 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2019

About the author

Max Leonard writes books about cycling, adventure and mountains. His books under his own name include Higher Calling: road cycling’s obsession with the mountains, Bunker Research and Lanterne Rouge: the last man in the Tour de France.

He is the ghostwriter behind two Sunday Times Top 10 Bestsellers and a rock star memoir, as well as smaller things for a legendary racing driver, famous spy-film makers, a Swiss banker and others.

His work has appeared in Esquire, Rouleur, Monocle, the Telegraph and other publications and he runs a small photobook imprint, Isola Press.

Reviews

[Rachel Carr]

I received this book from a goodreads giveaway.

As a fan of the Grand Tours, this book is right up my alley. I like books that encompass natural history/local history around events/landmarks, etc., so this book also fit that description as well. Double win for me.

This book is very well written and extremely well researched. I had an advanced readers copy so there were a few grammatical/typographical errors that I'm sure will be corrected before the final version is released. Aside from that, I have no real negative points to make.

I really loved the history elements from the Giro, Vuelta and Tour that are woven throughout the story and the real time elements of the current bike races/racers as well as the behind the scenes topics that the author included like plowing the high roads, the shepherds/environmental issues as well as the war/border historical related topics as well. Really well done and enjoyable to read.

This just makes me more excited for the upcoming 2017 cycling season!

[Michael]

Oddly there is no record for the hardback print edition published in the U.S. with this title, just the "ebook" and Kindle versions.

Whatever.

I read 145 pages, or about half, and found I was consistently being distracted by other books, so I wouldn't continue to pretend I was going to resume reading this. I am slightly annoyed I even got 145 pages into this before stopping - but I usually get engaged with books about cycling history at some point.

And I liked the author's previous "Lanterne Rouge" (about the Tour de France) well enough. This book just seemed disjoint. It had a theme, yes, but the narrative doesn't flow in a proportional way. When i gave up, it appeared the author was endlessly lost in some mountain pass in the snow, recreating some racing experience, but not really. What the heck?

[Dave Gerrard]

A bit of travelogue; anecdotes from someone who knows someone who came third in a stage of the Giro; some history of bike racing over mountains. I liked the description of how they clear the roads of snow. Writing weak.

[Peter Kuin]

Interessant boek, best leuk om te lezen maar mist net de volgende stap in diepgang. Waar zit nou echt die psychologische drive van mensen om die bergen op te fietsen?

[Mike Hannaford]

For a cyclist some very good chapters in the first two thirds, but then some rather dull stuff about shepherds.

[Andrés P. Mohorte]

Me ha fascinado a muchos niveles. Leonard utiliza el ciclismo como proxy para muchas otras obsesiones: la historia, la geografía, el desempeño humano de cualquier tipo en espacios tan remotos y salvajes como las montañas, la psicología del sufrimiento, la obsesión por metas banales e imposibles... He conectado con este libro de forma muy personal.

Hay otros pasajes menos inspirados y Leonard, en general, adolece de esa mirada acrítica y un tanto infantil del periodismo anglosajón hacia el ciclismo (2015-2017, hablamos del pináculo de la era Sky). Mi interés ha sido dispar en función de la temática del capítulo. Algunos me han atrapado (los encargados de retirar la nieve de La Bonette, los planes bélicos de Napoleón III como fuerza primordial para el nacimiento del Galibier o del Izoard) y otros no (Joe Dombrowski, en general, es una persona muy aburrida).

Se lo recomendaría a cualquier apasionado al ciclismo como actividad deportiva, no tanto a los aficionados al ciclismo como espectáculo televisivo.

[Matt]

Leonard explores the desire of cyclists, from amateurs to pros, to ride mountain roads. This is a wide ranging book that covers everything from the fitness and strategy needed to ride at high altitudes to WWI and WWII history, which is required to understand why roads even exist on some Alpine peaks. Along the way he befriends the U.S. cyclist Joe Dombrowski and charts the young rider's progression through the pro peloton. Leonard even observes the hard work of the road clearing crews that dig out deep snow drifts in the Spring from his favorite climb on the Col de la Bonnette. This jumping between aspects of cycling, fitness, and history adds depth to the book, but also makes it feel scattered and a little distracted. It is certainly less focused than Leonard's "Lanterne Rouge" book about the last placed rider in the Tour de France. Still, any cycling enthusiast should enjoy this venture on the steep roads less traveled.

[Rauno Villberg]

I enjoy Leonard's writing, but the chapters were too scattershot for my liking.
I mean, I came here for the cycling, so while I did find the chapter talking about how the immense amounts of snow get cleared fascinating, I wasn't quite as taken by the long penultimate chapter focusing on shepherds.
On the other hand, the chapters that focused on at-the-time-pro Joe Dombrowski were a treat!
Especially the last chapter, about the 20th stage of the 2016 Giro - especially awesome reading as an Estonian, because Rein Taaramäe and Tanel Kangert come into play in a major way. Thanks to that, I did end up finishing the book on a high, but I can't quite stretch it to four stars (I'd be a coward and give it 3.5 if possible)

[Craig Warner]

This is a great account of what the mountains mean to cylists and, personally, really captured the awe and wonder that leaves me in a constant state of wanting to be back in the Alps and Dolomites on my bike. There's some fascinating insight and history in here and so much to learn about the recovery of the roads from the winter. As well as following Joe Dombrowski closely in his early career, Max Leonard brilliantly portrays the role the mountains have played in history, as well as the role shepherds and other locals continue to play.

[Matt Reynolds]

Equal parts journalism and autobiography, Higher Calling takes a deep dive into what it means to climb a mountain on a road bicycle. Although the subject matter is broad, the book is guided by the author’s own personal perspective, and informed by the experience of several friends (including pro cyclist Joe Dombrowski of EF, Education First). In an unmistakably modern account, Leonard mixes strava and instagram with the folklore and history of cycling.

[Ben]

With the exception of a few authors, I usually go into a new cycling book with low expectations. This book was exactly what I was hoping all it would be -- a very thoroughly researched study of why cyclists climb, with a mix of all the elements that play a role in this obsession interwoven with the story of one man's search for a stage win at the tour. There's some expert story telling here with lots of facts and history to make a fully rounded book. Very well done.

[Kris Lucius]

I really enjoyed this book. The balance of reflection and storytelling, the wide range of subjects that collage to explain a singularity: a mountain.

To my taste I would’ve compressed some of the 2016 Giro coverage, and it left me wanting to know ALOT more about Pierre Kraemer (I think that cliche painting got more ink in this book than him) but overall this was a great first read for my cycling offseason.

[Maya]

Great topic, horrible writing. Each chapter focuses on a set of random anecdotes, and it's difficult to follow unless you pay close attention to which character was a professional cyclist in the 80s versus which character is a random dude the author met at a birthday party in Nice last summer. I persevered because I thought it would get better, but it didn't.

[Erik Ronningen]

Perhaps one of the most beautifully written books I have read in a long time. Leonard paints scenes with words that move the reader and make one long for the mountains. Plus the history, the stories, and the personal experiences make for a varied and rich read.

[Mark Salmon]

If you love cycling, mountains, history, Tour de France and hill climbing this is the book for you . Really well written and fascinating insight into how and why the high mountain roads were built and maintained and into the local life in the mountains . Also a bit of me into why I love climbing .

[Kevin O]

An interesting rambling tale by Max dealing with man’s obsession with high mountains specifically centred around grand tour races whose colosseum is formed by these high altitude roads .
Peppered with great anecdotes and heroic tales he touches on the formation of the Tour de France among others.

[Startinmerc]

Actually actual interesting writing. It has voice, as they say. 3.97

[Peter]

A good read that goes beyond cycling and into the realms of philosophy. Recommended.

[Preston Pendergraft]

I enjoyed this book. At times it does wander. The sections on then road clearing, military history and mountain life were the most interesting to me.

[KendraLee]

I read this at the tail end of winter in my mountain town and it made me desperate to get back on my bike. Dreaming of sunshine and hills to climb!

[Louise Watson]

Maybe for ur cyclists...

[Filip Olšovský]

Interesting chapters mixed with absolutely useless stories about showeling snow.

[Sara Goldenberg]

Learned a lot and liked it.

[Heidi]

Higher Calling: Cycling's Obsession with Mountains by Max Leonard 320 pages 4/5

I loved this book. It's fun to read. This book I read slowly, enjoying it one chapter at a time. The writer takes us on a fun journey on a road bike around the European mountains. We learn some of what motivates professional riders. It's well-researched. We history of some famous riders. But also what it is like to live in these areas. Plowing snow or being a sheep herder. It's written for the general public, so one gets to learn a whole new vocabulary if aren't familiar with road bike culture. Now my husband is reading and enjoying it just as much as I did. I started as part of #nonfictionnovember.

[Steve Chilton]

What might have been boring, as it concentrates heavily on the geography and history of the Col de la Bonette, turned out to be interesting as it included some good history on the mountains in cycling's Grand Tours. An informative book which engaged me throughout. It includes a few grainy black and white photos which weren't always captioned so you had to guess from the context within the text.

[Robert Meade]

This is peak reading season, at least for me anyway. So far my reading much at all, so I will take the time to write a review for this book which I read some time ago. I have read my share of cycling books including several biographies about famous racing cyclists , I have found they have several things in common, the major factor is ; you guessed it, they all started seriously riding their bikes a lot at an early age and continued professionally into their thirties so I have had my share of biographies of famous cyclists. Books on the Tour re France are alike, you read about some of the same legendary stories and riders, teams over again. Now, onto this book. Donned good book, very original and interesting from whole new perspective, for example; a great section on the European Alps and what is was like for soldiers trekking through the alps on recon missions and firefights and hand to hand combat against allies and the axis of evil during a time when there was no competivebike races happening in Europe.