Chased by Pandas: My life in the mysterious world of cycling

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On one level, Dan Martin’s chamois memoir (chamoir) Chased by Pandas – ghosted by Carrey – is that article stretched out to book length.

Dan also discusses every aspect of the professional cyclist's life - food, discipline, money, dreams, friendship and betrayal. What Martin is telling us in Chased by Pandas and what Martin told Kimmage five years earlier, they’re substantially the same, in both he’s telling us he hasn’t really used painkillers save for the odd paracetamol every now and again. It’s a lyrical, romantic take on Martin’s life and his time at VC la Pomme (2005-2007), Garmin (2007-2015), Quick-Step (2016-2017), UAE (2018-2019) and Israel Start-up Nation (2020-2021). Martin changed teams several times during his career and while signing announcements are usually accompanied by cheery attributed quotes, the autobiography, combined with retirement, allows Martin to be more frank. When I started watching races more regularly I for some reason developed an almost instant antipathy to Dan Martin.Along the way there are oddities, Martin’s been one of a handful to reject traditional post-race massages – they are a ritual, can be relaxing but there’s little evidence to suggest performance gains. This book scores well on the day to day detail, Dan’s personal training approach of preparing to ride a race like La Doyenne as well as the appraisal of equipment choice and bike fitting when he moved to the UAE team. Many anecdotes get a paragraph or two but could be a whole chapter although the hardback already runs to 300 pages.

I’m sure I also remember, for example seeing riders with CC Giro (Dan’s club) jerseys when on Audax rides in the area! Yes, Dan has a place for such things, but he balances it with a healthy dose of common sense along with doing things his own way. Though Dan also had successful rides in grand tour races and my feeling is he might have had even more success with greater support within his team(s)! Overlaying that is a glimpse of the frankly mystical events that have foretold a victory or just the direction his career should take. Many probably remember the video of him hobbling around, struggling to walk yet able to race on the bike.As an autobiography this book can’t explore what others thought but this unwitting pioneer angle alone makes him an interesting rider whose career spanned plenty, starting with the old-fashioned way of making his way to a French amateur climb in the hope of attracting attention via results in Europe. Interesting and insightful on the interaction between personalities, strategies, and team functioning and their impact on the riders' careers. the most rational hypothesis was that there was an oily residue on the road at that point and the dampness in the air had made it slippery. The locals hang them to dry and on the outsides of their houses in the town of Espelette, which they’re named for and where the time trial was due to finish.

Dan is unashamed when it comes to exposing these dark feelings, his weaknesses and how he tried to deal with them, his attitude exemplifying Mark Twain’s quote: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear”. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.

I’ve always aspired to race like that since (rarely succeeding thanks to adhd driven impulsiveness) but it was so clinical and enjoyable to watch him constantly positioning himself in the right place the whole way through that day. Martin may well be a 60-something kilo whippet, but he loves his food, and he loves talking about food. But about half way this tiny stripling of a lad rocketed out of the bunch to disappear up the lane ahead. Known as one of the sport's last romantics, Dan has won stages on all of the Grand Tours and has triumphed at numerous one-day classics.

Dan is unashamed when it comes to exposing these dark feelings, his weaknesses and how he tried to deal with them, his attitude exemplifying Mark Twain's quote: 'Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear'. In the 2014 edition of the race approaching the finish with the possibility of a second victory but no panda chasing him fate intervened and he inexplicably crashed in the final sweeping bend of the race. The book came as a 2022 Christmas present from my son, very fitting and of special interest for me, I used to follow Dan as a rider through the racing season. He covers this crash on the Mont du Chat in some detail, his thinking of why Porte was a good wheel for the descent, how he had an unwritten pact with Porte for the Tour that year and more.At the Auberge Basque the menu was magnificent, from the reduction of asparagus from the garden served as a starter (accompanied by a mousseline of asparagus, dried skipjack tuna and marjoram) to the savoury version of a Basque cake, with ewe’s milk cheese replacing the cream. The modern chamois memoir, though, is more an exercise in PR and image management than it is an exploration of a sport forever telling us to ignore what goes on in the shadows and just enjoy the spectacle. You look at Martin, though, and there’s no hint he’s a gourmand, there’s no hint he’s ever eaten a square meal in his whole life. A racer caught riding in a van during a stage race isn’t named, the commissaires eject the rider and conspire to say the rider was ill. Thanks for the story, and Inrng thanks for posting this, I’m really tempted to ask for it for Christmas now.