There are at least two reasons in favour of the bicycle book: you only have to memorise a fraction of it and you'll be the funfact king or queen in all conversations that are even remotely about bicycles. Secondly, it's great fun to leaf through the more than 300 pages and look at the hundreds of graphics, illustrations and maps, which are full of information on everything to do with bicycles: history, body and training, cycling technology, cycling sports and races, cycle touring, mobility, business and cycling culture.
The graphics are not complicated or boring. The makers behind the book - Marmota Maps - have that down pat. They are better known for their living room maps, for example the 610 ski resorts in the Alps. Backgrounds or lists are presented graphically on one or two pages and supplemented by a short explanatory text. Amazing, for example: Only 6.1% undertake cycle tours with a road bike, gravel bikes are used by 9.8% of cycle travellers!
The bicycle book covers all types of bicycles. It covers racing bikes, mountain bikes and cycling in general. For example, the illustrated overview of fines. Did you know that even driving with your hands free costs a fine? 5 euros!
No other invention combines the useful with the pleasurable as closely as the bicycle. Adam Opel, German entrepreneur
Four double pages contain songs about the bicycle. (Almost) all the songs are listed on a timeline, starting with Pink Floyd's "Bike" from 1967 and including Kraftwerk, Queen, Fischmob and Katie Melua as well as Jan Böhmermann and Ski Aggu X Domiziana with their track "Tour de Berlin".
The bicycle book - a crowdfunding project
The Hamburg-based publishing house Marmota Maps, publisher of this book, financed the bicycle book via a crowdfunding campaign. The aim was to raise at least 5,000 euros. In the end, 189 supporters contributed 7,852 euros to realise this project.
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The author, Jan Wittenbrink, was born in 1990. He works as a freelance journalist and author in Cologne. In 2022, Wittenbrink published "Das Nordseebuch", his first infographic book with Marmota Maps. His other great passion is cycling. He doesn't own a car, but has five bikes. He usually comes up with the most creative ideas on his bike. His favourite way to collect altitude metres is on his racing bike.
The bike book - reading instead of cycling as a time-out
There is always something to discover in this book. You can read two pages or browse through the book for minutes. The price of 40 euros is not too high to give the book as a gift: for Christmas or a birthday, the bike book is the ideal present for anyone who loves cycling.
New publication: 09.10.2023
Author: Jan Wittenbrink
Size: 21 x 27 cm
Page number: 330 pages
Language: German
ISBN: 978-3-946719-46-5
Price: 39,90
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Marc Strucken
Editor
