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Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable for Tour fans or Euro bike tourers
Review: I didn't like the flippancy or overly Brit humor at first. But I grew to like the author as he morphed into a credible athlete by book's end. If you love the Tour or if you've toured by bike or foot in Europe, then you'll identify with many of his stories. It did stir a longing to have a go at some of those climbs.
Rating: 
Summary: a little motivation, a little density, a little blah
Review: I picked this book up to try to remotivate me for a summer ride - I figured I'd read it in a few quick sittings. Two months later, I'm still ambling through it. I enjoy Moore's clever turns of phrase enough to stare at the page and parse each sentence, but I'm not engrossed enough in any one chapter to hurry to finish it that night. I wouldn't hurry to pick up his next book, but if you're a touring cyclist, it's not so bad. I'll just use images of Lance at Luz-Ardiden to motivate instead.
Rating:
Summary: It's a funny and entertaining read
Review: I read this over the period of a month and enjoyed the authors humour. If you like road cycling, and you want something that will make you laugh, buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: a good vacation read
Review: I recently bought this book on vacation... a little light reading. I enjoyed it for just that. It had interesting historical facts about the Tour without succombing to a history lesson. His writing style is very...British. Be aware Mr Moore describes his European neighbors and their habits in a particularly british light. Overall it was an enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent fun!!
Review: I'm a cyclist, tour de france fan and occasional cycle tourist. Tim Moore has managed to capture the essence of all that is good and bad about cycling and cycle-touring. He crams humour into almost every sentence and at times I was laughing out loud at the unique way that he manages to decribe things. An excellent read for anyone that rides a bike, and I suspect that many non-cyclists will enjoy this too.
Rating: 
Summary: Great concept, average execution
Review: The best part about this book was the concept: the author (an in-experienced cyclist) would ride the same route as the 2000 TourDeFrance, a few weeks in advance of the peloton. This seemed like an incredible idea to me and I was especially anxious to read the book since the reviews compared Moore's writing to one of my favorite authors - Bill Bryson. Unfortunately, the comparison escaped me. The writing just wasn't as witty and the story-telling was more "stream of conciousness" style than BB-style.
I will congratulate the author on completing the task he set out to accomplish (particularly the 270km stage at the end), but I was just not as captivated with the telling of this adventure as I had hoped. I was also disappointed that he did not bother to thank his wife for providing the support without which he would NOT have completed this journey. Rather, he claimed a "solo achievement".... Yeah. Right.
Still, it was a good cycling story - not intended for the technical cyclist, but more in the travel genre. The things I really liked about the book was it provided some good history lessons and background of the TDF for the casual race fan (the drug stories were amazing). And it also inspired me to try an adventure like this. If Mr. Moore can do it, then I guess I could too - IF my wife would agree to drive the sag wagon.
Rating:
Summary: Uneven, at times frustrating, but a lot of fun.
Review: This novel answers a question most cyclists have asked themselves: Could I, a mere mortal, finish the Tour de France? The answer Moore walks away with is yes, you can probably Forrest Gump your way through--provided you play free and loose with the route and the rules. As you begin the book, however, it seems as though it will take Moore a lifetime to reach this conclusion. The first few chapters read less like literature than the winning essay in a "Can You Fit a Gag in EVERY Sentence?" contest. At times it takes paragraph after excruciating paragraph of wacky hijinks for Moore to complete the most mundane task, e.g., picking up the bike and walking out the door--you may find yourself ready to scream "just get ON with it!" more than once. Once Moore gets his act together and starts rolling, however, so does the book. Moore makes no secret of the fact that he is an absolute beginner when it comes to cycling, and this really helps the book remain fun. Rather than getting bogged down in technical jargon and precise details, Moore simply bumbles his way around France, using a liberal dose of caustic English wit to chronicle his journey and reflect on the unique, at times baffling enigma that is French culture. And he does bring to light some head-scratchers; why do the French post a permanent sign next to every chip, hole and gouge in a road instead of simply repaving it? In a country the size of France, how could a canyon 12 miles long and a mile wide possibly go undiscovered until 1905? Moore's real genius, though, was in unearthing a treasure trove of arcane, fascinating Tour de France trivia. From the unimaginable suffering of the early tours, to the insane results of egos run amok, to the at times hilarious, at times heartbreaking lengths men go through to finish the Tour, Moore misses nothing and weaves it seamlessly into his own "Tour." That's the good news. The bad news is the fun is concentrated in the center of the book; it loses steam in last few chapters. And while both Americans and Brits speak English, the English we speak is not the same, a fact made painfully obvious by Moore's liberal use of impenetrable Brit-slang. Combine that with dozens of French phrases, and you may go for sentences without a clue to what Moore is talking about. A final irony is that this book will likely appeal more to those who don't cycle that those who do, because while Moore is a novice, he is also quite often an unbearable idiot. I found myself checking the jacket to see if this book wasn't written in 1951--why would anyone in this day and age attempt to ride 100 miles fueled up on candy bars, pate, espresso, cold medicine and liters of wine? I guess Moore loves the macho/romantic image, but excuse me if I don't think getting yourself--or someone else--killed while riding half drunk is cool, particularly when you've got three kids. I just found much of what he did so exasperatingly, pointlessly stupid I couldn't let it go. But more seriously, it just didn't ring true to me; bluntly, I think Moore is often flat-out lying about his exploits. Knowing what I know about cycling, and given the massive dehydration, cramping, fatigue and overall havoc such a crap diet would wreak on his system, I find it VERY difficult to believe Moore could have finished as much of this ride as he claims he did. But then, Moore didn't take his journey that seriously, so I suppose I shouldn't either. And, so long as you don't take it seriously, I would imagine that virtually anyone can enjoy Moore's ride. Flaws aside, a fun read.
Rating: 
Summary: Whinging Pom
Review: What a miserable read - all the author did was whinge and moan about the french, the countryside, cycling and the food. I know Bill Bryson can offer his share of complaints in his travel books but at least his are tinged with humor.
Tim Moore is just miserable throughout.
He gets disgusted when a french town is not pretty and then disgusted when it is. He hates cycling the mountains but gets bored on the flat stretches. He gets drunk at lunchtime and drunk again in the evenings. What a bore.
The only redeeming feature was the bits of history about the Tour that are interspersed throughout.
I don't think I'll even finish it.
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