Search results for ""author tony hewson""

Sheffielder Tony Hewson is a former champion racing cyclist who won the 1955 Tour of Britain and went on to represent his country in the Warsaw - Berlin - Prague and the Tour de France. His first book, "In Pursuit of Stardom", was a widely acclaimed memoir of the 1950s telling how he and his companions faced handicap and privation in their struggle to earn a living a-wheel on the European continent. "A Cyclist's Worst Nightmare" covers a similar time-scope, though as a collection of individual but interrelated stories it employs a variety of different literary genres - autobiography, biography, discourse and fiction. Whilst each piece can be enjoyed in its own right, the work as a whole casts light on an era of UK cycling history in the aftermath of World War II that until now has been somewhat neglected and forgotten. Some events, for example the tumultuous birth and demise of the rebel British League of Racing Cyclists that split the sport and framed its future, have ramifications to this day. From foul-mouthed Jean Robic ('I haven't enough enemies!') to aggressive Korean war-veteran Reg ('Heroes we were - fat thanks we get.') via bullied national service 'nutter' Michael ('a queer boy wi' them fancy togs n' that weird show-off bike'), the mood is one of a shared sense of grievance from real and imagined characters who see themselves as put-upons in search of recognition. The theme of the social outsider will ring bells with any reader who has ever been a committed cyclist in the British Isles, and will also be of interest to many who have not.

Read more less

For much of cycling's "Fabulous Fifties" it was Brian Robinson alone who flew the flag for Britain abroad - that is until three young men set out to emulate his success, starting from ground zero. This book tells the story of how, along with fellow Yorkshireman Vic Sutton and South Londoner John Andrew, the intrepid Tony Hewson set off to conquer the European racing scene, first off in an old, battered, converted ex-WD ambulance, then in an oil-leaking pre-war Wolseley with a caravan in tow. Variously mistaken for gypsies, terrorists, undertakers, even market traders, these were our original cash-starved, have-a-go pioneers, whose inspiration prompted Tom Simpson and succeeding generations of would-be stars to cross the Channel. It is an often hilarious sometimes sad but never bitter saga of daring-do that found the trio rubbing shoulders with Coppi, Anquetil, Van Looy and the other greats of the era. It tells of how Andrews won a place in the prestigious Mercier-BP trade team and of how Sutton conquered the headlines with a brilliant display of climbing in the mountaains of the 1959 Tour and its relates Hewson's own pickings of primes and placings in after-Tour criteriums.It also provides a wonderfully evocative insight into what life was like in France and Belgium back in that far-off era.

Read more less