“If you want to sell books, you’ve got to stir up some shit.”

Salman Rushdie.

Ok, I might have made that quote up, but there’s a possibility the master of fatwa sex once said something along those lines. Maybe Phil Gaimon goes by that mantra, though I highly doubt it, having just finished his latest book Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While). Even though the cycling media would have had you believe otherwise with some sensationalist headlines in the wake of the book’s release, Draft Animals is just an honest account of a Pro struggling to make it on the World Tour, and that honesty is what makes it such a compelling read. Sure, Gaimon pulls no punches, but if you were to believe the hype you’d think the book was full of slanderous libel, which it isn’t. It’s warts and all, with most of the warts growing on the sport itself, its overseers and the cattle who do the work for them.

Gaimon’s transformation from fat kid to pro racer doesn’t take up too much of the narrative, leaving plenty of space for the focus of the book, the struggles of fighting for a contract, the ignominy of racing second tier events while probably deserving A team status, and the dirty tricks played out by everyone trying to survive in a ruthless, cold sport. There’s no glamour and glitz or grand victory tales here (well, except for his San Luis win in his first World Tour race), which is way more interesting to this observer of cycling than some of the “how I won insert race here” tomes I’ve been reading lately. The travails of living on the road or in a foreign city while trying to maintain a long distance relationship and some semblage of form just so you can get beaten down again makes the story more personal and relatable for the reader who has a better understanding of everyday battles off the bike than racing at the highest level. The way Gaimon presents his anecdotes in his unique writing style puts you in his mindset, and reminds us that Pros are people too.

Now that the pre-mentioned controversy has subsided and then re-ignited since I read the book, and despite Phil not really wanting to put any focus on that, he’s taken up the challenge of one Mr Cancellara for a bit of a ‘race’ (or chase to be precise), a stunt that is somehow supposed to disprove motor doping eight years ago. Proving the pen is mightier than the sword, it seems like a few words can define a whole book, especially for those who haven’t read it. Those folk claim it’s all a ploy to sell books, something I’m sure Gaimon isn’t too worried about if they’re selling. Draft Animals though should be appreciated for more than one line that became a behemoth, because it really is a great read and a brutally geniune account of a life lived somewhat on the edge of pro cycling, while still being fully immersed in it.

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