Pello Ruiz Cabestany. Mi bicicleta y otros animales: Historias de un joven ciclista en la convulsa San Sebastián los 80

Peio Ruiz Cabestany is one of the great names in cycling from the 1980s. An atypical cyclist, he won the affection of thousands of people during those early televised stages and went from being an anonymous kid to an international cycling figure in just a few months. In this autobiography, he recounts his youth and early years in professional cycling, a time marked by political unrest in his native Donostia, where ETA, street riots, and police repression coexisted with his first rides. His rise in the sport was meteoric, achieving milestones such as victory in the Six Hours of Euskadi while still an amateur cyclist, competing against top-tier professionals. However, his career was nearly cut short by a false positive. During that transition from amateur cycling to the professional era as we know it today, Cabestany recounts what relationships were like among the cyclists themselves, as well as with managers, sponsors, and team directors. In his case, figures like Peli Egaña and Patxi Alkorta were the ones who stood by his side during those first steps in the jungle of cycling, and he soon achieved the ambitious goal of winning the Tour of the Basque Country ahead of Kelly, LeMond, Hinault, and other major world stars of the time. This book is an honest account in which Peio reveals many secrets never told before. From sincere thanks to people who selflessly helped him progress to deals, betrayals, and other maneuvers that are suspected but almost never admitted in cycling. He also shares also shares other, more personal experiences. From his parents' initial lack of understanding regarding his dedication to cycling to his first loves, personal, political, and sporting themes intertwine in this work, which portrays -- indirectly yet with a lucidity that borders on discomfort -- that Basque Country of the "years of lead."