At Speed: My Life in the Fast Lane

Mark Cavendish, with journalist Daniel Friebe (who really should be credited on the cover), has written a very interesting and entertaining book about what it's like being one of the fastest sprinters in cycling. Mr. Cavendish has a reputation as being one of the 'bad boys' of cycling to complement his well-deserved reputation as a superlative sprinter. Reading this book has softened my opinion of him somewhat as hearing his side of the story paints a fuller picture of the man. That said, it's obvious that he does not see certain things the way most of us do. The most glaring example of this is his account of his famous crash with Heinrich Haussler at the Tour de Suisse in 2010. From his (Mark's) description of the crash it seems perfectly obvious that Cavendish is at fault. Looking at videos of the crash seems to confirm this. Haussler, head down, is driving for the finish and holding a straight line while Cavendish crosses from the right side to crash right into him. Yet somehow Cavendish concludes that it was Haussler who was at fault for not seeing him and giving him room. Oh well, what can I say. On the other hand, throughout the book Cavendish is very frank and open about himself and his good/bad points, and comes across in total as a much more likable chap that I expected. I found myself liking him more and more in spite of his blind spots. He's lavish in praising his teammates, which is nice to see. He also dispenses criticism freely, but it seems to be deserved. He gives the impression of speaking freely and not holding anything back which leads to a feeling of authenticity.In sum, this is a very enjoyable book. Cavendish devotes a good amount of time to describing in detail how he and his team approached races and stages of races, and what went wrong or right in executing their strategies. This is the kind of information I like to read, and there is plenty of it in this book.

We seem to live in a time when everything an athlete says comes out of a can and leaves the fans wondering after an interview, "Did you really just race in an epic battle for 4 1/2 hours and come out with no thoughts other than, 'I had a good car on a good day with a good crew and everything went good.'?". This book is not like that. Cavendish offers praise for those who have been a positive influence and does not hold back his thoughts on those who have fallen short. Not every page or every thought is gripping, but that is ok because the book reads like a conversation with someone who most of us will never have the chance to speak with one-on-one and I appreciate that. This book is not one where you will find any incredible insights or which is particularly revealing about the world of road bike racing. Instead, it is one man's honest perspective and that is something which I really enjoyed.

Mark Cavendish is certainly a colorful character in the Pro Peleton. His book is an interesting commentary on how he experienced many of the more famous incidents and media stories of the past few years. That he is emotional and perhaps does not think before he speaks is well known; as is his effusive praise for his team mates when he wins. He genuinely seems to be a nice person and it comes through in the stories he tells in this book. However, I found a theme of "the media didn't get the story right and here's what really happened" a little overused. I'm not sure if he is trying to correct the record, spin the events in a more positive light or merely discuss them from his own personal perspective but the end result is a feeling of repetitive "woe is me" storiesOverall, there were some good stories and things I learned that made me glad to have read the book but if you have the opportunity, borrow it. Don't buy it unless you are hardcore cycling fan.

At Speed, Cavendish's second book about his life, includes some great descriptions of sprinting at the highest level. It provides a lot of insight into his perspective, both on sprinting and other aspects of life. In particular, his complete confidence that if the course is suitable and he and his team does everything right, he WILL win the race. There are very few cyclists in history who have been able to pull this off, but at least until the 2013 Tour (described here), he has.

It's very refreshing to finally read a cycling book that does not devote 90% of it' pages to kicking Lance Armstrong in the teeth. In fact, what Cavendish says about Lance in his book makes me respect Mark even more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as Cav is probably my favorite personality in pro cycling today. It's evident that he gets a bad rap from the media because he refuses to be their lap dog. Unfortunately it is becoming all too common in sports that if the athlete does not bow to the medias wishes then they simply trash them using the power of print and video.

Mark is not just a good pro sprinter, he is an interesting and insightful author to the last page. His bio and Froome’s are excellent and should inspire many cyclists.

Family life has obviously changed the way that Mark now thinks about things, and that is a good thing. It is apparent that the so called "bad boy" of cycling is not all bad and there are many others who are more worthy of that title. As an avid cycling fan I was interested in learning about the inner workings of the 2013 Tour de France and what the average armchair fanatic does not see or is aware of whilst the race is on.Mark is obviously a hard working pro who genuinely cares for his Team and colleagues. He deserves further success. A great read.

Love to read Cav's view of things and very interesting insights into the teams he has ridden for. VERY surprised to read about the not-so-perfect High Road / HTC / Columbia days. He's a driven athlete and man and I really enjoy watching him ride and now to read his thoughts about cycling is a real delight. There are more chapters to be written on this story and I'm looking forward to reading them also....

Cycling phenomenon Mark Cavendish has had more than a few ups and downs with his public reputation during his cycling career, and At Speed covers the years of his career since Boy Racer and up until the end of 2013 in a way that doesn't gloss over his faults - indeed he often makes fun of his own fallibility.Yet it also presents him as a decent person underneath it all who remembers the contributions teammates and support staff make to his moment of glory over the finishing line. Praise of others is a frequent theme during the book.Cavendish does a pretty good job of explaining how professional road racing works - the role of lead out men, the reason echelons can be so deadly in a race with strong cross-winds, and so on. Therefore you don't have to be cycling expert by any means to enjoy his account of being one of the country's most successful sportsmen.Having been such a close cycling colleague of both Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish inevitably strays into the rights and wrongs of Froome's behaviour during Wiggins's Tour de France win. Although generally sympathetic to Froome, what comes out most clearly from Cavendish's account of the tensions is how both of them (and indeed he himself) have to be hugely focused on their own personal career in order to achieve their greatness. So while all three can all be nice, friendly people at times and get along, when the tension mounts so does the fractiousness - and when it comes to the crunch they all put themselves first.The audio version of the book is brilliantly narrated by Matthew Delamere who, judging by Mark Cavendish's TV interviews, invokes just the right attitude towards life and general demeanour with his choice of tone and intonation for the narration.

I already had a copy of this book, I bought this one as a present for somebody. So I was able to compare the two side-by-side. My own copy has the name "Cavendish" in gold script on the front cover and on the spine, it was missing altogether on this one so the cover reads "Mark at Speed" instead of "Mark Cavendish at Speed". Also, there are a lot of photos in the book. My own copy has them in good quality, glossy colour finish but this one has them in black and white on normal paper. And to add insult to injury, the price of the one I already had was lower than on this poor quality copy. It looks like a fake to me, it will be returned.

Not sure if this was ghost written or had editorial input.There’s no doubting the talent that Mark possesses on two wheels, but this account hasn’t translated well on the pages of this book.It seems a bit all over the place in terms of chronology; more of a rambling diatribe than a well crafted biography.Been a huge fan throughout Mark’s career, enjoyed Boy Racer but left feeling rather nonplussed having finished this book.

In this book Mr. Cavendish does not disappoint those of us who were expecting a warts and all account of the intervening years since the publication of his previous book "Boy Racer". At times sad and at others delightfully witty, the reader is treated to the story behind the rise and fall of HTC - Colombia, the move to Team Sky and subsequent agreement for the, so far, extremely successful move to Omega Pharma - Quickstep.If you enjoyed "Boy Racer", or are a fan of the self styled "Fast Sprinter, Faster Talker" from the Isle of Man, then you will enjoy this book.

Mark talks about everything. His faults, his regrets, his loves, his achievements and his hopes for the future. He openly criticises or praises where he thinks it's deserved. Did he hold anything back? Seems not. When you've read this book you feel you really know him.Could I live with him? Probably not. He's far too "driven" for my laid-back (aka lazy) character - but I'm delighted that others can and that he has a great family. Good luck to him.