Sure, January and February have their downsides: frigid temperatures and icy trails that make riding bikes a tricky chore if not an impossible feat. If you’re like me though, you’re filling downtime with other pastimes like skiing, snowboarding, and reading.
It’s not my favorite time of year but it’s one of my favorites and I look forward to absorbing a variety of perspectives and stories, hopeful that will enhance my own. But, as someone who lives and breathes mountain bike information from nine to five, typically, the last thing I want to do is read more about mountain biking at the end of the day.
Albert Flynn DeSilver’s latest book, a collection of essays on mountain biking, is unlike most mountain bike content, reviews, hot tech-takes, and long-form journalism we see splattered on internet pages though.
DeSilver’s book, A Singletrack Mind, was published near the end of 2022. The book is a collection of essays that detail how the author came into mountain biking and explores the metaphysical and philosophical nature of two-wheeled, off-road riding. There is some chronology to the book early on, but it then becomes a place to find meaning in the connection of nature and community.
DeSilver opens up to readers and becomes vulnerable in the first few chapters, establishing a bond and trust and it quickly becomes about more than just bikes, as he explores the surrounding culture of outdoor enthusiasts and how this interacts with his past.
“And then my friend Keith turned me on to the Grateful Dead, pot, and St. Pauli Girl beer,” DeSilver writes. “It was all over between me and my bicycle for a few years, the bike becoming a geek-toy distraction in the wake of a good buzz and a girl chase.”
There can be a lot of chest-pounding in mountain bike writing, so getting to know an author more intimately is refreshing. I don’t mean that this doesn’t exist in the MTB media space. Singletracks is committed to publishing a diversity of essays, as well as legacy print magazines published today and a few online journals, but the short-book format of DeSilver’s shines since you can really get to know him, his writing style, and relate to his outlook on the deeper meaning of mountain biking.
DeSilver partnered with legendary mountain bike photographer Mattias Fredriksson for a handful of photos in A Singletrack Mind, and they are of course the small rider, big landscape style photos Fredriksson is known for. The photos do get a little lost in the matte print pages, but DeSilver’s writing style is vivid enough to illustrate scenes throughout the book and will have readers feeling like they’re on the trails of Sedona or Colorado with him.
If you’re looking for a quick, but powerful read about mountain biking, DeSilver’s A Singletrack Mind is a wonderful collection of essays where readers can ponder the deeper meaning of the sport we all love.
Find it on his website and Amazon.
