Rating: 
Summary: An engrossing read, superb writing
Review: A very enjoyable reading experience, with plenty of meat on the bone. Krabbe is a supremely intelligent and observant narrator, and a superb writer. The translation only fails in a couple of spots, but redeems itself in hundreds of others.
Rating:
Summary: Go, Timmy, Go!
Review: An utterly engrossing book, "The Rider" by Tim Krabbé is a first-person account of a competitor in a French amateur cycling race. Kilometer by kilometer, the author describes, economically, but with plausible feeling, the range of emotions he goes through. It is clear that he rides for the love of cycling, but his writing reveals the mental calculations, often not very flattering, that go through the mind of a rider. A chess player, he is out on the road playing a form of chess with his opponents, considering their weaknesses, weighing their histories, examining his own position on the board, so to speak.In this short book about a 150 km long race, Tim Krabbé also travels back in his mind, recalling legends of bike racing as well as his own dreams of sporting success in Holland. These include some wonderful absurdist episodes, including a brief "Little ABC of Road Racing" where he fantasizes about riding with Merck and Anquetil and the other greats in a series of bizarre circumstances. And all through this one is conscious of the race going on, the change of scenery and weather and how the cyclist must constantly monitor his situation-now trying to make up for his downhill lack of skills, now attacking as the others weaken, now preparing for a sprint. One is struck by the fundamental cruelty of the sport, how one must endure pain and inflict it as well. Anyone who has ridden fairly seriously will love this book, as will those who admire strong, clean writing. The author has brilliantly portrayed a concentrated moment. This is a world of intense focus and narrow but exhilarating boundaries.
Rating:
Summary: Go, Timmy, Go!
Review: An utterly engrossing book, "The Rider" by Tim Krabbé is a first-person account of a competitor in a French amateur cycling race. Kilometer by kilometer, the author describes, economically, but with plausible feeling, the range of emotions he goes through. It is clear that he rides for the love of cycling, but his writing reveals the mental calculations, often not very flattering, that go through the mind of a rider. A chess player, he is out on the road playing a form of chess with his opponents, considering their weaknesses, weighing their histories, examining his own position on the board, so to speak. In this short book about a 150 km long race, Tim Krabbé also travels back in his mind, recalling legends of bike racing as well as his own dreams of sporting success in Holland. These include some wonderful absurdist episodes, including a brief "Little ABC of Road Racing" where he fantasizes about riding with Merckx and Anquetil and the other greats in a series of bizarre circumstances. And all through this one is conscious of the race going on, the change of scenery and weather and how the cyclist must constantly monitor his situation-now trying to make up for his downhill lack of skills, now attacking as the others weaken, now preparing for a sprint. One is struck by the fundamental cruelty of the sport, how one must endure pain and inflict it as well. Anyone who has ridden fairly seriously will love this book, as will those who admire strong, clean writing. The author has brilliantly portrayed a concentrated moment. This is a world of intense focus and narrow but exhilarating boundaries.
Rating:
Summary: Go, Timmy, Go!
Review: An utterly engrossing book, "The Rider" by Tim Krabbé is a first-person account of a competitor in a French amateur cycling race. Kilometer by kilometer, the author describes, economically, but with plausible feeling, the range of emotions he goes through. It is clear that he rides for the love of cycling, but his writing reveals the mental calculations, often not very flattering, that go through the mind of a rider. A chess player, he is out on the road playing a form of chess with his opponents, considering their weaknesses, weighing their histories, examining his own position on the board, so to speak. In this short book about a 150 km long race, Tim Krabbé also travels back in his mind, recalling legends of bike racing as well as his own dreams of sporting success in Holland. These include some wonderful absurdist episodes, including a brief "Little ABC of Road Racing" where he fantasizes about riding with Merckx and Anquetil and the other greats in a series of bizarre circumstances. And all through this one is conscious of the race going on, the change of scenery and weather and how the cyclist must constantly monitor his situation-now trying to make up for his downhill lack of skills, now attacking as the others weaken, now preparing for a sprint. One is struck by the fundamental cruelty of the sport, how one must endure pain and inflict it as well. Anyone who has ridden fairly seriously will love this book, as will those who admire strong, clean writing. The author has brilliantly portrayed a concentrated moment. This is a world of intense focus and narrow but exhilarating boundaries.
Rating:
Summary: Captures the mindset of racing
Review: Anybody who has ever raced a bike will love this book! It doesn't matter that this book takes place in the 70's, the feeling of racing remains timeless. Krabbe is from Holland and writes from a European perspective, which makes this book a little more interesting to an American cycling enthusiast such as myself. In this fictional one-day race, Krabbe captures the emotional ups and downs that go along with racing. The book is full of great one-liners such as "Racing is licking your opponents plate clean before starting on your own." Krabbe has also laced some interesting cycling history throughout the book.
Rating:
Summary: Less is More
Review: Best cycling novel ever (2nd best is Ralph Hurne's "The Yellow Jersey", despite flaws). 'Rider' is extremely engrossing. Can be read in one or two evenings. Cannot be put down. Evoked every emotion I've encountered while racing a bicycle.
Rating: 
Summary: A tour de force of human neuroses
Review: Cycling fanatics will find great pleasure in this literary cult classic. The author clearly knows what it's like to be a competitive cyclist, and he does an exceptional job of revealing what goes on inside the head of such a person. This book is as much about the athletic psyche as it is about a race. And that's what makes it so interesting. Anyone who has competed in any kind of race, especially a distance race, will be able to relate to the often bizarre, irrational thoughts that one's mind produces. Krabbe's anecdotes about inventing words in his head to keep himself amused during training rides, or telling himself repeatedly that his lowest climbing gear is clean as a whistle, are just two examples of the intimate psychological glimpses that readers will surely enjoy. I think the point of the story is that you have to be just a little bit crazy to be a professional cyclist, but at the same time, the cyclist's neuroses are completely human and natural.
Rating:
Summary: A tour de force of human neuroses
Review: Cycling fanatics will find great pleasure in this literary cult classic. The author clearly knows what it's like to be a competitive cyclist, and he does an exceptional job of revealing what goes on inside the head of such a person. This book is as much about the athletic psyche as it is about a race. And that's what makes it so interesting. Anyone who has competed in any kind of race, especially a distance race, will be able to relate to the often bizarre, irrational thoughts that one's mind produces. Krabbe's anecdotes about inventing words in his head to keep himself amused during training rides, or telling himself repeatedly that his lowest climbing gear is clean as a whistle, are just two examples of the intimate psychological glimpses that readers will surely enjoy. I think the point of the story is that you have to be just a little bit crazy to be a professional cyclist, but at the same time, the cyclist's neuroses are completely human and natural.
Rating: 
Summary: The Writer
Review: Cycling holds a unique niche in the world of sports. It is a delicate balance between rider and machine, between strength and tactics, between the individual and the team, between man and the elements. Anyone who has ever ridden seriously knows that almost any serious ride is an epic journey, an endless series of choices and possibilities, of suffering and pleasure. To date, I have read nothing that captures the real essence of that experience nearly as well as Tim Krabbé's The Rider, which was originally published in 1978 in Amsterdam and which appeared in English only in 2002. Like a racing bike that has been relieved off all excess weight and trimmed of anything that could increase resistance against the wind, The Rider is prose in its most basic and stripped down form. There is hardly a wasted or misplaced word here: the writing is crisp, powerful, efficient, and compelling. The little book weighs in at just 148 pages, just a little more than one for each of the 137 kilometers of the Tour de Mont Aigoual, by all rights a nondescript semi-pro bicycle race through the rolling mountains of Cévennes, in south central France. It may not sound like much, but Mr. Krabbé breathes life into it by describing perfectly what goes on inside a racer's head: everything from relevant glimpses at strategy -- in addition to being a strong rider and an even better writer, Mr. Krabbé may be best known as a chess champion, and his eye for tactics and detail shows -- to interesting thoughts about his own athletic career, about philosophy, fantasy, his competitors, and fascinating memories from cycling history. The book is set in the 1970s, a time that will seem quaint to riders who have become interested in the sport only over the last few years: a period when riders made decisions about strategy rather than have it radioed into their ear pieces, when leather straps and not titanium clips held the shoes to the pedals, and when riders packed half an orange and a few figs in their pockets to fuel the ride rather than the latest scientific miracle mix. I found it all exhilarating. As I leafed through my copy of the book earlier in order to double check a few facts before writing this review, I found myself happily re-reading some of the more compelling passages. While I was doing so, two (non-cyclist) friends stopped by and I read out loud to them Mr. Krabbé's dramatic account of Charley Gaul's stunning victory in the 1956 Giro d'Italia ... and they were unimpressed. Which brings me to why I withheld one star from what I think is an excellent book: its appeal is far from universal. Unless you are a rider -- or at the very least, a serious fan of the sport or very close to someone who is a rider -- then I think it will be difficult to appreciate the discussions of the nervousness that accompanies a rapid descent from the mountains or the thought that goes into choosing the right gears. But if you are a serious (or semi- or formerly-serious) rider, I can't imagine that you wouldn't be as thrilled by this book as I was. If you do get a copy, my one piece of "strategic" advice would be to keep careful track of the names Mr. Krabbé mentions, famous and otherwise: to an English speaker's ear, many may sound quite similar. In addition to Mr. Krabbé himself we meet riders called Kléber, Koblet, Coppi, Caput, Kübler, and Clemons. And don't even get me started on the mouthful that many Dutch names represent to non-natives. Not that that sort of thing would be much of a stumbling block for anyone accustomed to the rigors of cycling.
Rating:
Summary: I ride, thus I am
Review: Even with all the success of Lance Armstrong in his unprecedented six consecutive Tour de France victories, race cycling remains a rather underappreciated sport in this country. This in stark contrast to countries like France, Belgium and Holland, where the pursuit of speed on the bike can still induce close to religious devotion. Based on my own racing experience in the late eighties, I think no book gives you as good an impression of what goes on in the mind of a cyclist during the race. In addition, the short and poignant prose of this short novel contains many aphorisms that extend way beyond racing.
Tim Krabbe received international fame for "the Vanishing". While the original book was a careful examination of evil, Hollywood unfortunately dismembered it into another unsuccessful vehicle for Keifer Sutherland to convert his minimal acting talents into lasting fame. Growing up in Holland, I first saw Tim as an announcer in a comedy show. You could compare it with Dennis Miller in SNL. While his brother became one of Holland's popular actors, here best known for the villainous doctor in "the Fugitive", Tim became best known as a writer and chess/cycling enthusiast.
I first bought a copy of this book in 1978 at a book signing, almost a decade before racing around the Dutch churches myself. Since then I have reread it twice, most recently in this English translation. Appreciation of this book will be very much linked to the reader's own racing experience. Only when you have raced in a series of (Dutch) road classics will you be able to appreciate how uncannily authentic the descriptions in this book are. With minimal means the writer describes what a race is like when all hell breaks loose. Throughout the book Krabbe describes an unfolding amateur race through the French mountains, a retrograde description of his cycling career and some history of the sport. Yet, the book derives its real strength from the writer's existential quest to find out what motivates him to this senseless act of self torture.
One blur on the back cover mentions: "To say that the race is a metaphor for life is to miss the point. The race is everything. It obliterates whatever isn't racing. Life is the metaphor for the race". I rest my case.
Finally, a short note on the translation. In evolutionary theory "the prisoner's dilemma", the paradigm of survival through cooperation, occupies a prominent position. Due to the effect of drafting, that allows a rider following in the wheel of another to ride at the same speed with 40% less energy expenditure, this "dilemma" gets taken to another level. In the original Dutch version Krabbe described the issue that a rider pursuing a break away with somebody else in his wheel as the "double suicide". This is based on the fact that if he keeps on pursuing he will help the guy in his wheel to victory, while stopping the pursuit will cancel his chances on victory as well. Double suicide, what an appropriate expression! Unfortunately, and inappropriately the translator chose the English non-equivalent of "mutual self destruction". I'm sorry, but this is nothing but a pathetic blunder.
Still, the Rider makes a great read. Lance has remarked that the press' description of his climbing as "dancing heroism" gives little notion to the amount of physical and mental agony that he exposes himself to in the act. Those who want to get a first hand experience of what it really feels like: look no further.
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