I admit, I am a book geek. Reading gives me inspiration and a brake away from daily life. So what do I recommend (obviously bike related).
Free Ride: Heartbreak, Courage, and the 20,000-Mile Motorcycle Journey that Changed My Life. Noraly Schoenmaker.
Noraly Schoenmaker was a thirty-something geologist living in the Netherlands when she learned that her live-in partner had been having a long-term affair. Suddenly without a place to stay, she decided to quit her job and jet off to India in search of a new beginning. Her plans were dashed when she fell quickly and helplessly in love: with a motorcycle. Behind the handlebars, she felt alive and free – nimble enough to trace the narrowest paths, powerful enough to travel the longest of roads.
Hutchy: Miracal Man. Ian Hutchinson.
A road racer to the core, Hutchy has enjoyed spectacular success at the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200 and the Ulster Grand Prix, but his own story goes far beyond even those triumphs. In the summer of 2010, Hutchy set the record for most wins in a single Isle of Man TT festival, then disaster struck. At a British Supersport round in September that year, he crashed heavily after being struck by another rider’s machine, breaking his left leg so badly that at one stage it was feared it might have to be amputated.
In search of greener grass. Graham Field.
“Well, now I’m committed,” he thought to himself after telling a national TV game show audience that he wanted to ride a motorcycle to Mongolia with his winnings. Consequently, he spent a winter on eBay and a spring in the garage preparing his £800 KLR 650 for an uncertain life on the road. Armed with a cynical humour, a strong sense of direction, a vague sense of balance, and no sense of proportion, he embarked on a 15,000-mile solo motorcycle ride to see what would break first; bike, body, or budget. Leaving an indifferent existence in England behind he headed east, looking for purpose, a new life, and a new location to live it. He was in search of greener grass.
Lone Rider. Elspeth Beard.
In 1982, at the age of just twenty-three and halfway through her architecture studies, Elspeth Beard left her family and friends in London and set off on a 35,000-mile solo adventure around the world on her 1974 BMW R60/6.
Reeling from a recent breakup and with only limited savings from her pub job, a tent, a few clothes and some tools, all packed on the back of her bike, she was determined to prove herself. She had ridden bikes since her teens and was well travelled. But nothing could prepare her for what lay ahead.
When she returned to London nearly two and a half years later she was stones lighter and decades wiser.
The life of a racer. Michael Rutter.
In 1992, when Michael Rutter was just 20 years old, he followed in his dad’s footsteps and began a career as a professional motorcycle racer.
This is his story of highs and lows, survival, luck and persistence, set against the raw, infectious atmosphere of the racing paddock. It is also a story of growing up with a global superstar for a Father; Tony Rutter. Read Michael’s account of spending his childhood watching his dad’s career – from fighting for world championships to fighting for his life after a devastating crash in 1985. Undeterred, Michael would go on to build his own career and forge his own unique path.
Michael has started 431 British Superbike races, 20 World Superbike races, and 16 MotoGP races while also competing in road racing, where he has started 90 Isle of Man TT, 83 Northwest 200 and 24 Macau Grand Prix races.
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