That was 2003 (if you’re one of those people who forever bangs on and on and on about 1989 – the year, not the Taylor Swift album – I’ll bet that makes you feel really old) and Martin was still British, not yet Irish (the following year, 2004, he came the British U18 national road race champion). So instead of going to Lourdes like everyone in Ireland, that Pyrenean holiday saw him and his family going to Luz-Saint-Saveur, 30 kilometres south and a shrine of a different kind, situated as it is at the base of the Tourmalet. That’s something I can understand, and I feel like too many cycling books I’ve read seem to centre on the themes of either suffering or doping. With its descriptions of the profound boredom that oozed from Monaco, or the Tourmalet’s telluric faults and anarchic curves (“like a piece of spaghetti through pesto”), Chased by Pandas is definitely one of the better written chamois memoirs – even if it is another of those chamoirs where the subject’s voice is often lost behind that of the ghost – but at heart it is as light and as trivial as most of the others. Given that both Martin and Carrey have strayed further into the sport’s dark places in interviews and articles, it seems even lighter still. The modern chamois memoir, though, is more an exercise in PR and image management than it is an exploration of a sport forever telling us to ignore what goes on in the shadows and just enjoy the spectacle.

Chased by Pandas by Dan Martin | Waterstones Chased by Pandas by Dan Martin | Waterstones

Written with his long-time friend and best-selling author Pierre Carrey, this is the story of a rider who never sought to conform to modern cycling's norms and someone who, in many ways, embodies an age in cycling which has long since disappeared. Martin’s freewheeling approach to cycling, it extended to the dinner table, where he rejected cycling’s myth of monk-like existence. He enjoyed a glass of wine when he wanted to and didn’t obsess over every grain of rice on his plate. Chased by Pandas is pleasantly unusual in the way it talks about food. Martin may well be a 60-something kilo whippet, but he loves his food, and he loves talking about food. Here he is on a private training camp in the French Basque Country ahead of the 2018 Tour, just him and his wife, Jess: But, personally, I didn’t really see any difference in the testing process throughout my career. From 2011 to 2021 it didn’t really change. I presume that testing has got more advanced but it’s hard to know if it’s working.

What we’re into this week: Pumpkins!!!

Chronicles the former Irish road champion’s journey through the ranks of professional cycling’– Cycling Weekly The opening chapter is about the fear of crashing and reprises Martin’s wipe-out on the final bend of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he’d given his rivals the slip and was just about to overhaul Giampaulo Caruso only to slide out in sight of the finish line. Here Martin reveals a mystical side:

Chased by Pandas: My life in the mysterious world of cycling

Curiously, while Chased by Pandas paints Martin’s story in pretty pastels, Carrey’s 2017 article was a more nuanced study in light and shadow. It was explicit in the way it talked about doping, that was an important part of the article, it justified why Carrey saw Martin as a hero, he was a guy who chose to reject doping, with Carrey linking that stance to the careers of Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot. This is the celebration of a true cyclist's career, which will appeal to anyone who's embraced the weekend ride whilst dreaming of the mountains. PK: Another area of abuse is anti-depressants, tranquilisers and painkillers - Tramadol. So again, what is clean? This is the celebration of a true cyclist’s career, which will appeal to anyone who’s embraced the weekend ride whilst dreaming of the mountains. DM: No, a long mountain stage. I didn’t know what Tramadol was before that race but again, it’s the cultural thing, “Try this.” I didn’t feel happy doing it.

Summary

Martin’s favourite current cyclist is Tadej Pogacar – whom he calls “a miraculous rider”. They first rode together in January 2018, when the Slovenian was 19, and since then Pogacar has won the Tour de France twice, in his first two attempts at the race. I was surprised when the owner of the Auberge Basque, the hotel where we were staying, had offered us a place for dinner, but had gratefully accepted; it would save us the trouble of finding another restaurant in town, a town that we soon realised was as tiny as it was pretty. On arrival we discovered that there was another good reason for making a reservation: the hotel’s restaurant was celebrated for its gastronomic qualities, which were underlined by a Michelin star. An enjoyable read from an idiosyncratic rider who did things his way. As an autobiography this saunters through Martin’s career and given plenty happened there’s a lot to cover. The most interesting aspect is Martin and his approach the sport and there are often moments in the book where you wish for more, as if you could pause the autobiography and ask for more opinion but hopefully there’s a second career ahead for this.

Cycling Book Reviews: Chased by Pandas, by Dan Martin

Many riders have their superstitions, such as putting their right shoe on first and so on. Martin seems to be on a higher level, there are later examples of him having premonitions of victory, sending messages to his family to say “I’m going to win today”. On a recon ride in the Alps ahead of the Giro he explores the Sega di Ala climb and a gets a “very strong premonition”. Sure enough Martin won. the most rational hypothesis was that there was an oily residue on the road at that point and the dampness in the air had made it slippery. The irrational hypothesis was that it was down to fate. This explanation was both comforting and unsatisfactory, but I liked it. It was written that I would win in 2013 and lose in 2014… It sounds like he has sympathy for young cyclists today. “My sympathy lies with the guys who have to make more sacrifices than I ever did just to be in the peloton. Just to be on the start line in the Tour you have to do altitude training camps, honed nutrition, you need to be super, super, skinny. You have to be doing what Team Sky did. But I got top 10 in the Tour de France, training out of my front door every day. Today that’s not possible.

Ketone Shots by Ketone-IQ

Ah, the innocence of youth, when you actually believed the things you read in cycling books. Hold onto it as long as you can, folk, you’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Chased by Pandas: My Life in the Mysterious World of Cycling Chased by Pandas: My Life in the Mysterious World of Cycling

Away from such murky terrain, Martin sounds blissfully happy with his family in Andorra where he is working in a new investment business and about to publish his first book. Known, thanks to his racing style and attitude, for being one of road cycling’s last romantics, Dan has always shied away from revealing too much about himself and his story. Now, having retired at the end of the 2021 season aged 35 and no longer bound by the constraints of the racing circuit, Dan feels the time is right to tell his story in the same forthright and honest manner that he rode his bike. Look at Tom Dumoulin. He continued racing the last two years, but he wasn’t the same. He essentially retired two years ago at the age of 29. Fabio Aru, an incredible talent, also retired at 30. These guys made this huge commitment and sacrifice, and were phenomenal young riders, but it was unsustainable. Guys like me had a sustainable way of racing that meant you could stay competitive for a long time. Those days are over. Chased by Pandas] is not a conventional study of wins, losses and conquering mountains but overcoming the mental challenges of a sport into which he was seemingly born' The Times You see pictures of me when I was a first-year pro in 2008, 22 years old and looking like I’m 15. In modern cycling I might never have made it to where I did – because I wouldn’t have been allowed the time to develop. How many talented riders are we going to lose now?”

Known, thanks to his racing style and attitude, for being one of road cycling's last romantics, Dan has always shied away from revealing too much about himself and his story. Now, having retired at the end of the 2021 season aged 35 and no longer bound by the constraints of the racing circuit, Dan feels the time is right to tell his story in the same forthright and honest manner that he rode his bike.