Just browsing through the CR list archives while the list was down I came across this old book review that was pretty interesting. What do you think:
Considered one of the finest cycling biographies ever written, "The Lou Deeter Story" details the tumultuous life and career of the greatest cyclist of the 20th century, Lou Deeter. Known to all as "The Colonel", Lou raced against and defeated many of the greatest cyclists of the post-war period. In his first year of professional cycling at age 16 in 1947, he defeated both Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi in Milan-San Remo. His final victory occured in 1978, when at the age of 47, he outsprinted Bernard Hinault after a long breakaway in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. In between, he consistently defeated the likes of Merckx, Bobet, Anquetil, and Gimondi.
This book also details the private life of Deeter, the messy divorces, the affairs with famous actresses, and even his improbable, but almost successful, campaign for the presidency of France in 1961. His campaign slogan that year was the memorable "Je porte toujours mon casque!".
(What's that french quote translate to?)
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, CA USA
http://www.velo-retro.com (reprints, t-shirts & timelines)