The Invisible Mile
David Coventry
- Based
- on
- a
- true
- story
- The
- Invisible
- Mile
- tells
- the
- poignant
- story
- of
- five
- Australian
- and
- New
- Zealand
- cyclists
- who
- in
- 1928
- formed
- the
- first
- English-speaking
- team
- to
- ride
- in
- the
- Tour
- de
- France.
- They
- were
- gallant,
- under-resourced
- and
- badly
- outnumbered
- but
- taken
- deep
- to
- the
- heart
- by
- the
- French
- nation.
- The
- novel
- describes
- in
- a
- wonderful
- poetic
- and
- visceral
- voice
- what
- it
- was
- like
- to
- ride
- in
- this
- race
- (the
- chaos,
- danger
- and
- rivalries),
- the
- extraordinary
- lengths
- to
- which
- the
- riders
- pushed
- themselves,
- suffering
- horrific
- injuries,
- riding
- through
- the
- night
- in
- pitch
- dark,
- and
- the
- ways
- they
- staved
- off
- the
- pain,
- through
- camaraderie,
- through
- sexual
- conquest,
- through
- drink,
- and
- through
- drugs
- (cocaine
- for
- energy,
- opium
- for
- pain).Added
- to
- the
- team
- is
- the
- fictional
- narrator
- who
- is
- cycling
- towards
- his
- demons
- in
- a
- northern
- France
- still
- scarred
- by
- the
- First
- World
- War.
- His
- brother
- was
- a
- fighter
- pilot
- damaged
- by
- his
- experiences
- in
- France,
- his
- sister
- has
- died,
- and
- this
- self-imposed
- test
- of
- endurance
- is
- slowly
- and
- painfully
- bringing
- him
- to
- his
- final,
- invisible
- mile
- where
- memory
- eventually
- comes
- to
- collide
- with
- the past
pro-mbooks3 : libris
