41 Broken Spokes (Hardback)

It has been said that the Bicycle saved the human race from a particular type of catastrophe...inbreeding. In rural areas in particular it offered pioneering males and females the opportunity to roam further afield, e.g the next village, in order to unleash their romantic powers and marry into another community and in doing so spread the gene pool...Hooray for that then! Starting life as an item much desired by the gentry, the bicycle in its early days had the Range Rover effect, sitting high the rider felt mighty. In later years its uses expanded and thus its appeal was diluted as it became a useful means of delivering bread, meat and newspapers and the favoured tool transporting workers to the factory gate whilst lithe types pedalled quickly and became racers. So, for the last 150 years there tubular geometric shapes have liberated and broadened our lives, but not until 41 Broken Spokes has that configuration of tubing and its riders been presented in poem, verse and imaginings in such a unique and wonder filled way. You might laugh out loud. You might sob quietly.