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A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium | 
 enlarge | Author: Joe Parkin
Publisher: VeloPress
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $14.93
You Save: $7.02 (32%)
New (11) Used (6) from $10.50
Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 4907
Media: Paperback
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 1934030260
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.6
EAN: 9781934030264
ASIN: 1934030260
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
In this brutally frank book, Joe Parkin puts readers in the whirlwind of the extreme world of professional bicycling, starting with his first visit to his team doctor, where, strapped to a metal table and monitored by humming electrodes, his future as a professional racer is coldly determined. Parkin pulls no punches, celebrating the glory of bike racing at its best, but also exploring the harsh reality of the life behind it. The author covers it all from an insider's perspective: the drugs, the payoffs, the races bought and paid for, the misery of training, the physical agony of racing, the battles with team owners for contracts and money, the endless promises, and the betrayals by enemies, teammates, and friends. Set in Belgium, the epicenter of all that's daunting and dazzling about the sport,A Dog in a Hat is one American's story of his love affair with professional cycling.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 63 more reviews...
 Engaging read August 15, 2008
Michael A. Behr (New York, NY United States)
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
I got an advance copy of this book from the Vine program because I've recently become interested in cycling. I liked it a lot, and would recommend it to someone looking for a laid-back read about life as a pro-cyclist.
As an autobiography, I really have to wonder how he ever got it published: I'd never heard of Joe Parkin before picking up the book, and now that I've read it, other than the Tour de Suisse, it didn't sound like he was even on a winning team. In fact, most of Joe's stories are about NOT finishing races, forget about winning them. What he talks about all happened in the late 80's & very early 90's, so if you're looking for stories about pro-cycling as it exists today, sorry. (You'll be able to understand why everyone keeps getting popped for doping today though! Drugs seem to be very prevelent in the cycling culture.) He doesn't really have any stories about the one cyclist from that time that I have heard of: Greg LaMonde besides riding next to him in one race and telling him to pack it in! He has funny stories about other cyclists and coaches who I never heard of, maybe someone with more cycling background would know them all right off.
All that said, I was suprised to find the book a fun read - a bunch of little vingettes that each sounded like I was having a Coke with a guy who was telling me stories about racing in Europe way back when. Because he was sort of an extra, a "helper," and is one of those guys you really would never hear of otherwise, he brings an interesting perspective.
The writing tone is very conversational and easy to read, even with some confusing foreign words thrown in there. Since I got an advance copy, I hope that by the final addition they'll be able to throw in a few extra definitions for people who don't know cycling terminology. Peloton, echelon, 52x14, kermis... it helped to have Google nearby, even though I was generally pretty able to figure out the terminology.
I wish I could write a more compelling review for the book, because after reading it, I really feel like I know Joe, and like him! I would love to buy him a Coke and listen to him tell stories about what happened after he finished racing, especially between him and Charlene...
A journeyman book by a journeyman rider July 31, 2008
R. Kaufmann (San Diego CA USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is the story as told by a middle-of-the-road American professional bicycle racer, Joe Parkin. Mr. Parkin raced in Europe for a variety of professional teams, and found his biggest success as someone who would control a race for his team -- as opposed to try and win it for himself.
The book is completely linear, with no real theme or fabric that would make it more than the sum of its parts. Each chapter just tells what happened during one particular race, season or training period.
On the positive side, this book just reeks of authenticity. It's neither a whitewash nor a "tell-all." In fact, controversial subjects like doping and buying/selling race wins are discussed a flat way with very little moralizing. I came away with a real sympathy for the plight of racers, and an appreciation of the grim reality of the racing world.
After reading the book, I feel that a much better book would have been possible if Mr. Parkin's editor had made him discuss bicycle racing's current status through the lens of his own career. In fact, this book reads more like a time capsule journal that some other author will use as source material.
Bottom line: it could have been funnier, more insightful or more introspective. It couldn't have been more authentic. There's value in that!
 Inside the Peloton August 4, 2008
Andrew R. Allen (Kansas City, MO)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Anyone who has even the most cursory knowledge of cycling has heard of the Tour de France, the granddaddy of all cycling races. And for Americans in present day, the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong go hand in hand. Armstrong's books give a view from the front of the pack and what it's like to be one of the most dominant cyclists in the world. A Dog in a Hat contrastingly provides a view from inside the professional European peloton.
After graduating from high school Parkin determined to become a professional cyclist rather than pursuing college like so many of his peers. Rather than hanging around the US cycling world, he received advice to cut his teeth racing in Belgium. So, after saving up money for plane fare to Belgium, he hopped on a flight and was on his way to becoming a "for real" cyclist.
He begins as an amateur and after performing well in some races, eventually attracts the attention of pro teams. His next year is spent learning the ins and outs of the professional world and making rookie mistakes. Along with learning the cycling world he also learns the Belgian culture and begins picking up on Flemmish and Dutch which are the primary local languages.
The quirky title of the book comes from a local expression basically meaning something out of the ordinary. Parkin learns to look for "a dog in a hat" in races when someone is about to make a break, as well as in general life as he adjusts to the rigors of being a professional cyclist in a foreign country.
While Parkin hears of drug use by cyclists prior to coming to Europe, he witnesses it first hand in many races where fellow teammates and competitors regularly use performance enhancing drugs. He also learns of various sordid methods used to beat drug testing. The reader witnesses this dirty side of the sport through his rookie eyes and sees his struggle to maintain integrity while still performing at a high level.
He also learns about the somewhat controversial part of European races where races are sold. This occurs when a breakaway is in progress and one of the riders pays the others to allow him to win. Though this does not make sense to those with a squeaky clean fairness mentality, the practice occurs regularly in European bike races.
For those uninitiated with the sport of cycling, it is very much team oriented and the book does a good job at explaining the ins and outs of working as a team to get the chosen teammate to the finish line before other teams. Overall, though definitely at the pro level, Parkin is not one of the elite riders and as a result serves as a work horse to allow fellow teammates the ability to rest in his slipstream, help when the main rider has bike trouble, control the pace of the peloton, etc. Parkin works his way up from a being on a low level team to riding on a more respected team by the end of his European career.
Throughout the book, you want to root for him to do well and have success despite some of the modest results. It feels in ways like a "Rudy" story based on his desire and heart to be a great cyclist.
Whether you're a hard core cycling fanatic or are passingly aware of the Tour de France each year, you will enjoy this page turning chronicle of a young man's coming of age as a cyclist in Europe. It might even inspire you to dust off that old bike sitting in the closet and take it for a spin.
An American Cyclist in Europe August 5, 2008
Pistol Pete (Houston, TX United States)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book is a very short, entertaining read. It keeps up fast pace, moving from race to race and season to season smoothly and quickly. I enjoyed almost all of his stories and thought it was interesting to know what it was like to be an American cylclist in Europe.
If the book is a little thin, at least the author accomplishes his purpose, and does so fairly well. This book is not about the history of cycling, different Americans in cycling, a comprehensive tour of Europe's races, doping or anything like that. It is simply how one cyclist experienced the European circuit in the late 80s and early 90s. For those intrigued by this pursuit, I suggest you give it a read.
I didn't think I'd like it until I read it August 13, 2008
sanoe.net
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium is a book that I would normally never read. I'm not into cycling and I am not normally drawn to "memoirs" as I find them a bit suspect because I have a hard time believing that people can remember things in such detail after years have past when I can barely remember what happened yesterday.
So I'm prejudiced against the kinds of books that A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium represents and I expected to not like it.
But I was pleasantly surprised. The writing itself is conversational as if one were relating a tale at the dinner table. Although I had trouble with the details of stages and flats and the cycling terminology (not to mention the different names of the cyclists), I got the main gist of the sentiment which is to say, the story isn't a sentimental one.
That is Joe Parkin's strength in telling his story. Every thing is told in such a matter-of-fact style that the humorous to the horrific comes through in a natural, unvarnished way. Parkin's struggle to become a better cyclist in a strange world of European cycling and the way that the teams work doesn't try to elicit sympathy for his plight. Instead, he relates his story in a 'that-was-just-the-way-it-was' way and I enjoyed that style very much.
And what I unexpectedly appreciated was the honest way that drugs was dealt with. There is a perception that there is something dishonest in the way that cyclists use drugs and while I wouldn't say that this book encourages the use of doping drugs, I can understand why it is done. These athletes work hard, but the chosen sport is tough one. On the body and in the head. It has always been that way. So it isn't so much that they want to use the drugs as it has become part of keeping the body together. It is easy to be judgmental about such things but the way that it is presented made me understand why it happens in a less judgmental way.
All in all, this wouldn't be a book that I would have picked up, but I'm really glad that I did as it was a most enjoyable and most surprising read. (And as an added note: I gave this book to a friend of mine who is a triathlete to read and normally, he puts off reading the books I give him for months but he plowed through this book in a night. His assessment? He asked if he could keep it because he wanted to re-read it again. That's saying something!)
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