Robert Penn's It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels is a paean to the humble bike; it's the story of why we ride, and why this simple machine holds the power to transport us all. Robert Penn has ridden a bike most days of his life. He rides to get to work, to bathe in air and sunshine, to stay sane and to feel free. This is the story of his love affair with cycling and the journey to build his dream bike; a freewheeling pilgrimage taking him from Californian mountain bike inventors to British artisan frame builders, and from perfect components to the path of true happiness. 'A gem of a book ... a joy' Economist 'Infectious, exhilarating, highly engaging' Independent 'Be swept along by Penn's enthusiasm, humour and refreshing candour' Sunday Telegraph 'Enriches your enjoyment of a ride' Sunday Times 'As a depiction of a world you might vote for, Penn's does not sound bad at all' Observer Robert Penn writes for the Financial Times, Observer and Condé Nast Traveller, as well as a host of cycling publications. He is the author of The Wrong Kind of Snow. Robert lives in the Black Mountains, South Wales with his wife and three children and commutes to work across a heather moor on a mountain bike.

It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit Of Happiness On Two Wheels

Sports & Outdoors

Penn, Robert

Individual Sports

Penguin Uk

An exuberant tale of craftsmanship for nature lovers and rugged outdoor types everywhere Robert Penn cut down an ash tree to see how many things could be made from it. After all, ash is the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. Journeying from Wales across Europe and Ireland to the USA, Robert finds that the ancient skills and knowledge of the properties of ash, developed over millennia making wheels and arrows, furniture and baseball bats, are far from dead. The book chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood.

The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Particular Books

Slow Rise: A Bread-Making Adventure

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Baking

Penguin

About the Author\nRobert Penn is a journalist, woodsman, lifelong cyclist and the author of several books including the Sunday Times bestseller It's All About the Bike and The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees. He lives in the Black Mountains, South Wales with his wife, three children, two spaniels, twelve bicycles and a collection of axes. He bakes his own bread in a wood-fired oven.\nOver the course of a year, Robert Penn learns how to plant, harvest, thresh and mill his own wheat, in order to bake bread for his family. In returning to this pre-industrial practice, he tells the fascinating story of our relationship with bread: from the domestication of wheat in the Fertile Crescent at the dawn of civilization, to the rise of mass-produced loaves and the resurgence in home baking today.\nGathering knowledge and wisdom from experts around the world - farmers on the banks of the Nile, harvesters in the American Midwest and Parisian boulangers - Penn reconnects the joy of making and eating bread with a deep appreciation for the skill and patience required to cultivate its key ingredient. This book is a celebration of the millennia-old craft of breadmaking, and how it is woven into the story of humanity.

Rain gave us Inspector Morse and the sliding tackle. Fog gave us the Cat's Eye, Impressionism and chains on front doors. Wind brought a Protestant monarchy. Hail gave us the Norwich Union insurance company. Storms gave us the pencil, the lifeboat, the Norfolk Broads and the first weather forecast. And cold, grey days? Penicillin. In Britain, what isn't affected by the weather? Since the first chilly Roman sat on Hadrian's Wall and pulled his socks on before his sandals (yes, they're the culprits), British life and British weather have been inseparable. This is the story of a people forever caught out in the rain (or by the wrong kind of snow). But it's also the story of a country that knows how to appreciate a fine day. It's about an obsession with fresh air - and the thousands of ways we've devised to make the most of it. Because, beneath our restless skies, there's something only we know: in Britain, there's no such thing as a dull day.

The Wrong Kind of Snow: The Complete Daily Companion to the British Weather

History

Woodward, Antony

Europe

Hodder&Stoughton

The British are, as a general rule, obsessed with the weather, an unsurprising fact given the unpredictability of English weather systems and the huge impact they have played on national history. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 was as much a result of a devastating storm as the strength of British forces, and the steamy summer of 1858 caused the Great Stink of London, resulting in the construction of the city’s sewage system. From the massive floods of 1930 to the Great Freeze of 1963, each of the 365 entries in this intriguing compendium illustrates an important day in the weird and wonderful history of British weather.

The Wrong Kind of Snow: How the Weather Made Britain

The story of how one man cut down a single tree to see how many things could be made from it.
Out of all the trees in the world, the ash is most closely bound up with who we are: the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. One frigid winter morning, Robert Penn lovingly selected an ash tree and cut it down. He wanted to see how many beautiful, handmade objects could be made from it.
Thus begins an adventure of craftsmanship and discovery. Penn visits the shops of modern-day woodworkers―whose expertise has been handed down through generations―and finds that ancient woodworking techniques are far from dead. He introduces artisans who create a flawless axe handle, a rugged and true wagon wheel, a deadly bow and arrow, an Olympic-grade toboggan, and many other handmade objects using their knowledge of ash’s unique properties. Penn connects our daily lives back to the natural woodlands that once dominated our landscapes.
Throughout his travels―from his home in Wales, across Europe, and America―Penn makes a case for the continued and better use of the ash tree as a sustainable resource and reveals some of the dire threats to our ash trees. The emerald ash borer, a voracious and destructive beetle, has killed tens of millions of ash trees across North America since 2002. Unless we are prepared to act now and better value our trees, Penn argues, the ash tree and its many magnificent contributions to mankind will become a thing of the past. This exuberant tale of nature, human ingenuity, and the pleasure of making things by hand chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood. 8 pages of illustrations

Reference

W.W.Norton&Company

The story of how one man cut down a single tree to see how many things could be made from it.
Out of all the trees in the world, the ash is most closely bound up with who we are: the tree we have made the greatest and most varied use of over the course of human history. One frigid winter morning, Robert Penn lovingly selected an ash tree and cut it down. He wanted to see how many beautiful, handmade objects could be made from it.
Thus begins an adventure of craftsmanship and discovery. Penn visits the shops of modern-day woodworkers―whose expertise has been handed down through generations―and finds that ancient woodworking techniques are far from dead. He introduces artisans who create a flawless axe handle, a rugged and true wagon wheel, a deadly bow and arrow, an Olympic-grade toboggan, and many other handmade objects using their knowledge of ash’s unique properties. Penn connects our daily lives back to the natural woodlands that once dominated our landscapes.
Throughout his travels―from his home in Wales, across Europe, and America―Penn makes a case for the continued and better use of the ash tree as a sustainable resource and reveals some of the dire threats to our ash trees. The emerald ash borer, a voracious and destructive beetle, has killed tens of millions of ash trees across North America since 2002. Unless we are prepared to act now and better value our trees, Penn argues, the ash tree and its many magnificent contributions to mankind will become a thing of the past. This exuberant tale of nature, human ingenuity, and the pleasure of making things by hand chronicles how the urge to understand and appreciate trees still runs through us all like grain through wood.

The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees: The Ash in Human Culture and History

This definitive guide features sections on body image, aging, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and AIDS, hepatitis B, safe sex, steroids, bisexuality, domestic violence, and much more. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to gay men's organizations. 20 illustrations.

Gay Mens Wellness Guide

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Men's Health

Henry Holt Co.

Robert Penn has saddled up nearly every day of his adult life. In his late twenties, he pedaled 25,000 miles around the world. Today he rides to get to work, sometimes for work, to bathe in air and sunshine, to travel, to go shopping, to stay sane, and to skip bath time with his kids. He's no Sunday pedal pusher. So when the time came for a new bike, he decided to pull out all the stops. He would build his dream bike, the bike he would ride for the rest of his life; a customized machine that reflects the joy of cycling.It's All About the Bike follows Penn's journey, but this book is more than the story of his hunt for two-wheel perfection. En route, Penn brilliantly explores the culture, science, and history of the bicycle. From artisanal frame shops in the United Kingdom to California, where he finds the perfect wheels, via Portland, Milan, and points in between, his trek follows the serpentine path of our love affair with cycling. It explains why we ride.It's All About the Bike is, like Penn's dream bike, a tale greater than the sum of its parts. An enthusiastic and charming tour guide, Penn uses each component of the bike as a starting point for illuminating excursions into the rich history of cycling. Just like a long ride on a lovely day, It's All About the Bike is pure joy-enriching, exhilarating, and unforgettable.

It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels

Tantor Audio

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Penn, Robert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Penn, Robert

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Penn, Robert. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit Of Happiness On Two Wheels

The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees

Slow Rise: A Bread-Making Adventure

Slow Rise: A Bread-Making Adventure

The Wrong Kind of Snow: The Complete Daily Companion to the British Weather

The Wrong Kind of Snow: How the Weather Made Britain

The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees

The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees: The Ash in Human Culture and History

Gay Mens Wellness Guide

It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels