Book Review: TT Full Throttle by Nicole Winters
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- October 2, 2013
I’ve just added a new book to my collection.
I am a serious collector of literature about epic motorcycle journeys. It all started back 10 years ago when a friend gave me a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. I’ve since added Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels, and Dreaming of Jupiter the follow up book. Simon wrote the first around-the-world motorcycle travel epilogue, in whose footsteps Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman produced the Long Way Around and Long Way Down documentary series. Race to Dakar the follow-up series produced by Charley Boorman was due to the huge success of Long Way Around, and I have a copy on that on my shelf too. I even have two copies of Mark Richardson’s Zen and Now, both a publisher pre-release copy and the paperback retail version. Richardson wrote Zen and Now after taking a leave from work and setting out to follow the path of Pirsig who wrote in great detail about his route across America, his book is considered classic literature, and a must-read by die-hard motorcycle enthusiasts…
I just added a new favorite book to my collection.
TT Full Throttle, Nicole Winters – ISBN 978-1-4594-0515-5
Cover photo: Stephen Davison. Published by James Lorimer & Company Available in Paperback, Hard Cover and EPublication.
It’s called “TT Full Throttle” and as the title suggests – it’s a story surrounding the greatest show on earth, the Isle of Man TT.
Any book that opens with a map of the TT road course can’t be bad. So I kept reading..
Nicole Winters does a fabulous job of detailing the epic adventure of a privateer team mounting a campaign to conquer the Isle of Man TT – The most dangerous motorcycle race in the world. It’s held on open roads, through villages and mountain hills on a circuit around an island that has claimed many lives of those chasing motorsports glory.
TT full throttle is a novel that follows a group of four friends, woven together by a deep love of motorcycle riding, and the recent death of the main character Scott’s Father. Scott and his Dad were long time career racers also bound by the love of speed and each other. Scott’s friends – Neil, Mags and Dean are the people you’ll meet when you finally get a hold of this page turner.
I wasn’t prepared for the depth of the character building that Nicole Winters achieved in the 260 pages of her book. If you love bikes, buy this book. If you don’t love bikes, buy this book anyway.
In addition to actually creating a realistic presentation of what it means to race a motorcycle to its edge and beyond, more importantly – this book showcases the people who do it, and how they cope with personal tragedy, victory and pain – and the balance of risk, even in the midst of love.
The book is well dedicated to the factual reality of racing, including the pursuit of adrenaline and the sacrifices that we make to win – while weaving a beautiful tale of romance between a guy and girl, both are riders –and she’s the better wrench. Meet Mags.
Picture a half-greasy big smiled girl with a great frame, pretty face and an expert mechanical relationship with pistons, gears and mapping ecu control modules. Forget Scott. I’m in love with Mags. You get the basic appeal. She’s a bike guys perfect chick, and the two of them are somewhat clumsy in their discovery of each other. Its a great read.
Anyway – not to give away the end – but they do make it to the Island … The rest is a heart stopping book in more ways than you’d ever expect, I recommend you get a copy of TT Full Throttle, and share it with all your non-rider friends, so they can ride experience riding at 180MPH for the first time – safely from the comfort of an arm-chair.
Read this book and meet these great characters – Scott, Neil, Dean and Mags – and remember, I met Mags first – so technically she’s mine. *lol*
Two Thumbs Waaaaay Up – Well done Nicole – I’m already waiting for the next one.
Andrew Shaw
Executive Producer,
HOT LAP
http://hotlaptv.com
Blogger: Read Posts
*TT Full Throttle is available in paperback at Amazon.com
Don’t believe me? Ask Charley.
I am stoked to see one of my personal hero’s of epic rides, Charley Boorman is reading my blog posts. @mobtreal @charleyboorman @hotlaptv
