The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold

November 21, 2016
Moore (Gironimo!) uses the Iron Curtain Trail (Euro Velo 13) to riff and muse on the state of the Eastern Bloc region a quarter century after the Bloc’s demise. The British travel writer and everyman cyclist undertakes a quixotic 20-country adventure on a two-wheeled Rocinante—an East German–era shopper bike that proves a capable and symbolic partner for personal and political discovery. His honest takes generally include respect for all (except Russians) amid the “cheek-by-jowl diversity” he encounters. In central Europe, Moore provides a potent mix of western nostalgia and apologia with disdain for the cynical Communist experiment. The deepest insights come between entering Russia’s doorstep after an eternal trip through frozen Finland and unexpectedly seeing the first trickle of Syrian refugees at the Serbo-Hungarian border. Moore also gives readers inviting glimpses of pivotal Cold War sites such as Gdansk, Poland; Berlin; and Sopron, Hungary. After Serbia, man and bike limp to the Black Sea finish line in this bittersweet memoir.