Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down...
Review: Dave did some incredible writing. I felt like I was in the middle of the action. He offers a vivid insight into the world of bicycle racing without being too technical or dumbing it down for the masses.
The book flows seemlessly from each chapter and begs you to keep reading. I simply couldn't put it down.
The Race would be a great gift for any cyclist but also for any sports enthusiast in need of some inspiration. By the end, you'll be pedaling circles as you read.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: Even if you aren't into cycling, read this book. Just not right before you go to bed, its too hard to sleep while your heart is pounding!! What a story with highs and lows matching the hills and valleys the riders went over. A must have for anyone, cycling enthusiast or not, who has ever climbed a hill, literally or figuratively!!
Rating:
Summary: I know NOTHING about cycling but loved this book
Review: First let me start by saying I am a female in my mid twenties who has never even been remotely interested in cycling. This book is not only for cycling enthusiasts but for every person who has ever felt like giving up on a dream and pushed themselves farther than they thought they could.
This book is truly inspirational and motivating and in my opinion, not just about cycling. The story itself is about a young man determined to ride in the TDF but the truly inspirational part is in his journey, not neccesarily the ride itself. I have a completely different respect for athletes and felt so alive after reading this novel. I agree with previous posts that it was too short but as another post said, that can also be taken as a compliment.
I recommend this book to everyone. It has no age limits and it's not specific just to cycling. A great gift as it will capture any readers imagination.
Rating:
Summary: A real page turner.
Review: I am an avid cycling fan and therefore I do not know if I enjoyed this book because I knew what the author was talking about or because, well, it's just a good book. It was certainly a fast read, a page turner, no doubt, though it was somewhat formulaic at times. However, I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I enjoyed it immensely, which is all that really counts.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Great story and detail and with a message!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed "The Race". Like most who have commented, once I started reading it I couldn't put it down - had to read on to see what happened next. Mr. Shields has done a good job writing a fictional novel that contains all the "stuff" that you can guess that happens within a pro cycling team, with an international cast and varying degrees of ego. The characters, strategy, flashbacks to Ben's formative years create a good story with fast-paced action AND provide even non-cyclists with some motivation to never to give up. Cyclists and non-cyclists alike can enjoy this book. Bring on the sequel!
Rating:
Summary: Great preview to TDF
Review: I will be going to France this summer to watch the tour so when I found a book about the tour I just had to read it. "The Race" is a fictional story about Ben Barnes, a bike racer from the US, who gets the opportunity to ride as a domestique for a European team. As Ben in going through various stages in the tour his mind wanders and recalls parts of his cycling past from races to getting his first bike and his first crash. It's really great story telling. I couldn't put it down. After a long bike ride I managed to stay up until nearly midnight to finish the book.
Rating: 
Summary: If you're a cycling enthusiast, get this book
Review: Let me say first that I found this book a real page turner. I must have devoured it in one night! So, for a real page turner that this turned out for me, why a pithy THREE stars?
I'm a cycling fan, and with the lack of books/novels on cycling, this stands out. The pace was exciting, the story was gripping, and you just had to find out what happens next -- so you couldn't put the book down. It's a great story for those people who thirst for stories like this (i.e., about cycling, about the Tour de France).
As a literary piece, however, it is very lacking. It looks like it was written by an amateur writer. The descriptions of events, places, were done superficially. There was too much melodrama.
Contrary to what people say, this book is, in my _opinion_, ONLY for cycling fans. Oh, yeah, sure... when the (pitifully named) Ben Barnes (that really happens to be a lousy name for the star of the book -- but then so is his nemesis: another pitifully named character named Kyle Smith) upgrades his Schwinn to a Bianchi, a non-cyclist will just infer that he got an upgrade. From a literary point of view, it would have been great if the author described the differences of the bikes as well, and what makes the upgrade noteworthy.
The flashbacks to Ben Barnes' past was a good addition, and makes a nice counterpoint to what is currently happening in his race. But again, I think a little more elaboration on what was happening, what happened, the cyclists' emotions, etc. would have helped the book.
HOWEVER, IGNORE MY RATING OF 3 STARS. If you've read this far into the review, you're probably a cycling fan looking to see if you should get this book. My advice? GET IT. In fact, I found the book TOO SHORT. I wish it were longer.
Yes, I gave this book only 3 stars. If you're a cycling fan, forget about ratings; just get this book. If you're not a cycling fan, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Just in time for your vacation.......
Review: Really excellent! If you like bicycle racing (or don't understand bicycle racing and Lance Armstrong's efforts for a sixth Tour de France win have you interested) I think you'll find this book as money well spent. You may lose some sleep, not get the lawn mowed or the car washed...but you will be glad you took the time to read this insightful story about a young man who makes it all the way from a small town in Utah to the Tour de France. The chapters describing the pain, effort and resolve neccessary to win a mountian stage in the Tour are worth the price of admission. If you liked The Yellow Jersey by Hurne you'll enjoy this one as well.
Rating: 
Summary: The Natural
Review: The title may seem a little unimaginative but the rest isn't. If "The Long Season" gets two stars and "The Rider" gets five, then this book fits in at about a four. "The Race" sometimes has very powerful, moving writing, which is part of why so many people here love it.
TLS and "The Rider" are about the everyman cyclist, i.e. cat. 2-3. "The Race" is about a natural. Sometimes when a person can do anything, it's a little boring; fortunately the protagonist, Ben Barnes, isn't quite that good.
All three use flashbacks, but "The Race" definitely uses it to the most emotional effect -- since their purpose (as the author explained to me during his book tour) is to explain Ben's motivations. However I found myself oftentimes skipping the flashback sections in "The Race" (maybe I'm too much like Ben's antagonist, who dismisses psychological analysis as sissy stuff) to get back to the racing, which I found far more engaging. But then some cyclists might agree that bike races have a suspense and built-in storyline that's hard to match, as four hours of viewing a penultimate TdF stage shows.
One thing that seems to hobble American bike narratives in general, "The Race" included, is the attempt to involve the uninitiated in the audience, explaining things that "The Rider" would take for granted. But then the reviewer from Manila seems to have wanted even more explanation for the layman. (I wonder if this is required to sell the novel to a U.S. publisher.) Though "The Race" speaks to a wider audience, it manages to reveal a lot of the inner workings of the pro echelon. So much so that I'd wondered if the author had spoken to racers in the pro ranks to find out all that he had. This turns out to be true -- U.S. Postal, in fact. The discussion of politics and psychology are absorbing and enlightening. Though there are more tactics to borrow from "The Rider", "The Race" has more to say about team tactics, which "The Rider" is pretty much devoid of.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER: As an aside, there's one death in the book that I at first thought was a little contrived; however, there are deaths from crashes on average two per year in the pro ranks -- so it's not as improbable as I at first thought. Readers may notice that the book pays homage to Lemond. The storyline is not dissimilar to his '85 Tour loss (gift) to Hinault -- involving a director sportif who lies to keep an American from winning the yellow from a French.
The author is planning a sequel, and I hope it won't be his last. It's a great sport for mining narratives and I'm glad there's an American taking advantage of that.
Rating: 
Summary: Harry Potter on two wheels: fine for kids, but give me Bobke
Review: The title of this review is unfair to J.K. Rowling because unlike her Potter books, this one is chock full of awkward prose and spelling and grammatical errors.
The similarities to the Potter books lie in the form: Substitute big quads for the lightning scar and a Bianchi for broomsticks and you have The Race. The plot is pure potboiler melodrama: a simplistic bildungsroman of a young man (orphaned!) confronting a challenge and maturing by mastering both the external challenge and the limits of his own character. Not a bad framework, but the story is so thoroughly larded with trite lessons about being true to oneself and the virtues of loyalty and stiff upper lips that it often feels like something aimed at a child or a young teenager, not an adult.
For adults, almost any random essay or diary entry by Bobke has more grit, imagination, heart, and love of language than this entire book.
As in the Potter books, the characters here are either good or bad, honest or dishonest. No one really changes over the course of the book, except that the hero matures some.
What's good about the book are the descriptions of the racing itself, where my enthusiasm for all things bicyclic overcame the awkward writing and the author's love of racing came through strongly, and even there his didactic asides explaining simple bicycling terms break the illusion of being in the peleton.
If you're a complete tifoso, this book will pass a rainy evening. If you are less than completely rabid about cycling, you can do better.
Me? I enjoyed it well enough in the same way that I sometimes enjoy wasting an evening with Mickey Spillane, but for real writing about bicycling, give me Bobke any day or pop in a DVD of Breaking Away.
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