
(Just As Well) It's Not About The Bike
A Journey Across Southern Spain
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Narrated by:
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Chris Atkin
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By:
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Chris Atkin
About this listen
Discover the untold stories of one of the world’s most popular coastlines.
Part sporting travelogue, part political history, (Just as Well) It's Not About the Bike follows journalist Chris Atkin's 1,300 km cycle from Valencia to Gibraltar. En route, he travels through Spain’s most picturesque towns. And Benidorm.
Along the way, he learns about the region’s history, from the time four hydrogen bombs fell over Spain to the politician who shot General Franco’s daughter in the bottom yet rose to become one of the country’s most powerful men. While riding across Spain, Chris also meets an array of eccentric characters, such as the man who lives in a cave and the Airbnb host who admitted to strangling her previous guest.
People told him he was crazy to leave his job and his girlfriend behind to jump on the cheapest bike he could find. After a series of mishaps including one that almost sparked a mountain rescue mission, it would appear they were right.
©2021 Chris Atkin (P)2022 Chris AtkinEntertaining and informative
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Well written and great fun. If you love travelling or sport... or to laugh along as you go about your day... THIS IS FOR YOU! I loved listening to Atkin's first hand experience through the audio book.
Brilliant listen!
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But he went, filling two paniers with essentials for the journey, and biked his way along tarmac roads, through farm land and wilderness, and up and down mountains, for about a thousand miles. He'd booked his airb&b accommodation in advance so had to make his destinations on time and took very little money too pay for those extra frivolities like food. Plus, he barely spoke Spanish. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, one thing was choosing to read his own book. His voice is clear, quite well modulated but he is just reading, not involving himself, and consequently the reader, in what he has written. A professional narrator could have done a much better job, carrying the listener with him through the (literal) ups and downs of the journey. There are some interesting snippets of history mixed in with the personal incidents of the journey, the aching thighs, the exhaustion of her another uphill stretch and, my personal favourite, completely losing the road on a mountainside and getting trapped there, with almost no food or water and definitely no one likely to come by to pull him out of the frightening situation. He gets lost a lot. And, although some places are described, they don't quite excite as much as the joy of finding a supermarket.
There are some interesting, quirky people encountered and Chris is rightly proud of the improvement in his mastery of Spanish - but why did he have to inflict so much of his stumbling conversations in that language, repeated after in English, on the reader?
This is a book which is I interesting but could have been so much better. To me, it seemed that Chris Atkin was as glad to reach the end of his journey as was I to come to the epilogue in his book. I'd enjoyed the journey but the struggle had been rather exhausting. Perhaps it would be better to travel on the printed version, rather than the Audible, just as a gentler vehicle than a bicycle might have allowed for a less bruising heads down, journey.
My thanks to the rights holder of, It's Not About the Bike, who, at my.request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy, via Audible Unleashed.
"Bananas for lunch."
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Interesting, done his research.
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It got me inspired to think about going to Spain.
I was given a free copy by the author but the review is entirely my own.
Not my usual genre but quite fun
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Hilarious, excruciating and interesting.
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A fun listen with lovely dry tone
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Listener received this title free
Great listen; worth downloading!
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Average travel writing saved by Spanish memories
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