The Rider

The Rider
by Tim Krabbe

The Rider
List Price: $12.99
Our Price: $3.99
You Save: $9.00 (69%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.27 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Tim Krabbe
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-06-12
ISBN: 1582342903
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9781582342900
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of The Rider

Book Review: It's A Ride To The Sun, And A Ride To Zen
Summary: 5 Stars

Tim Krabbe, from Holland, is a much beloved writer by his country men and women. His books "The Vanishing" and "The Cave" have become known world wide, and made into very successful movies. He started out in life knowing he had to be a winner. His first love was that of chess. He played chess, he wrote books on chess, he joined tournaments, and then he realized he would never be the winner he wanted to be. So, at the age of 29, he turned to bicycle racing.

Through out his life, Tim Krabbe,also realized he had to write. No matter what he was involved in, he had to write. In this book "De renner" or "The Rider', he has made literary history. The book was written in 1978 and has become a cult classic. This is a fascinating book, a half-day race, 150km, of the love of bicycle racing, and the love of relating the life of racing.

"It's a ride to the sun, and a ride to Zen-the definitive abc of sports, an encyclopedia, a literary masterpiece, an adventure novel and bicycling odyssey all rolled into one," one book critic wrote. Tim Krabbe tells of us his life as a cyclist all rolled up into a small book of 129 pages. The prose that rolls out of his mouth onto the paper of the book is memorable. This is a book that begs to be read again and again. He tells us of a fantasy of riding with bicycle's best and besting them all by winning the race. Throughout this half day race, we learn how to put the bicycle together and take it apart. We learn all about gears, and what to use, when. We learn what he eats before he starts the race, where to put his hands on the handle bars and how to choose the bicycle seat. The men he races with, the fans that turn out and scream encouragement for all of their favorites. The cafes, the bars,and the major developments of racing. And through out this race, instead of chapters the book is divided into kilometers of the race. We end at Kilometer 137, when he crosses the finish line. Was he the first, third, or tenth? Gotcha' you need to read this book, and you will love it.

This is not a book that is a metaphor for life. It is a book of the racing life and how this life takes over. I understand for the first time, how a racer's blood becomes attuned to the race, the speed, the climbs, the straights, the finish line, the Win!

"Whenever I hit absolute rock bottom I always think of those immortal words from De renner by Tim Krabbé-Batoowoo Creakcreak-and everything seems just fine again."
Maarten Ducrot, bicycle racer

Highly recommended. Prisrob "Batoowoo Creakcreak"


Summary of The Rider

A literary sports classic, finally available in the U.S.

Originally published in Holland in 1978, The Rider became an instant cult classic, selling over 100,000 copies. Brilliantly conceived and written at a break-neck pace, it is a loving, imaginative, and, above all, passionate tribute to the art of bicycle road racing.

Not a dry history of the sport, The Rider is beloved as a bicycle odyssey, a literary masterpiece that describes in painstaking detail one 150-kilometer race in a mere 150 pages. The Rider is the ultimate book for bike lovers as well as the arm-chair sports enthusiast.

Sports Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Sports Books
Ruffians ImageRuffians
by Tim Green
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 1999-12-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $142.80
Hot Money ImageHot Money
by Dick Francis
Berkley; Published: 2010-07-06; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $7.99
Wild Pitch ImageWild Pitch
by Mike Lupica
Putnam Adult; Published: 2002-09-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Franchise Babe: A Novel ImageThe Franchise Babe: A Novel
by Dan Jenkins
The Booklegger; Doubleday; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $24.95
Dead Solid Perfect ImageDead Solid Perfect
by Dan Jenkins
Anchor; Published: 2000-04-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist: A Novel ImageThe Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist: A Novel
by Dan Jenkins
Doubleday; Published: 2001-08-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: $24.95
Danger Zone (Harlequin NASCAR) ImageDanger Zone (Harlequin NASCAR)
by Debra Webb
Harlequin; Published: 2007-02-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops: $5.99
The Inheritance (Jan Hardy Series) ImageThe Inheritance (Jan Hardy Series)
by Jenny Pitman
Macmillan UK; Published: 2006-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.13
Price in other shops: $8.99
Barney Polan's Game (Harvest Book) ImageBarney Polan's Game (Harvest Book)
by Charley Rosen
Mariner Books; Published: 1999-03-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.20
Price in other shops: $13.00
All The Stars Came Out That Night ImageAll The Stars Came Out That Night
by Kevin King
Dutton Adult; Published: 2005-09-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.70
Price in other shops: $24.95
Similar Books and other products
Bobke II: The Continuing Misadventures of Bob Roll ImageBobke II: The Continuing Misadventures of Bob Roll
by Bob Roll
VeloPress; Published: 2003-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.10
Price in other shops: $16.95
Come and Gone ImageCome and Gone
by Joe Parkin
VELO; Velo Press; Published: 2010-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.05
Price in other shops: $21.95
Slaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France ImageSlaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France
by Richard Moore
Yellow Jersey Press; Published: 2011-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.35
Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World ImageHell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World
by Amy Snyder
Triumph Books; Published: 2011-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Belgian Hammer: Forging Young Americans into Professional Cyclists ImageThe Belgian Hammer: Forging Young Americans into Professional Cyclists
by Daniel Lee
Breakaway Books; Published: 2011-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops: $15.00
Team 7-Eleven: How an Unsung Band of American Cyclists Took on the World - and Won ImageTeam 7-Eleven: How an Unsung Band of American Cyclists Took on the World - and Won
by Geoff Drake
VELO; Velo Press; Published: 2011-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.07
Price in other shops: $27.95
Boy Racer: My Journey to Tour de France Record-Breaker ImageBoy Racer: My Journey to Tour de France Record-Breaker
by Mark Cavendish
Velo Press; Published: 2010-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.37
Price in other shops: $21.95
A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium ImageA Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium
by Joe Parkin
VELO; Velo Press; Published: 2008-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops: $21.95
It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels ImageIt's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels
by Robert Penn
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2011-04-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops: $20.00
Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling ImageBike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
Chronicle Books; Published: 2010-05-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.62
Price in other shops: $16.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories