Chased by Pandas cover art

Chased by Pandas

My Life in the Mysterious World of Cycling

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Chased by Pandas

By: Dan Martin
Narrated by: Matthew Biddulph
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About this listen

This is Dan Martin's long-awaited autobiography.

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.

This audiobook reflects Dan's generous and outspoken spirit, his resilience to pain, crashes, bad luck and, finally, his acceptance of destiny. Each chapter's title has a sub-title based on a typical cyclist's fear: the fear of losing a race, the fear of retiring from the sport, the fear of mountains or downhills, the fear of doping and, ultimately, the fear of death. Dan also discusses every aspect of the professional cyclist's life—food, discipline, money, dreams, friendship and betrayal. Dan is unashamed when it comes to exposing these dark feelings, his weaknesses and how he tried to deal with them, his attitude exemplifying Mark Twain's quote: 'Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear'.

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.

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.

©2022 Dan Martin (P)2022 Quercus Editions Limited
Cycling Sports Outdoor Racing Cycling Biography
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Critic reviews

'This is Dan Martin's long-awaited autobiography, full of 'the warmth, sharp insights and vivid colour of his 14-year career' (Guardian)

'[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)

What listeners say about Chased by Pandas

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Love Dan's Interviews but the book is boring

I was expecting a lot more as I enjoy Dan's honest interviews and perspective. Also the narrator wasn't up to standard, Dan would've done a better job himself.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting, but terrible narration

I did enjoy the stories, although I found it hard at times when it jumps about the timeline.

The narration is pretty terrible though. About 20 minutes in I had to stop to look up if it's an AI, then I saw all the reviews...

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Pronunciation and narration

Like others I found this a hard listen, awful pronunciation of words ranging from Champs-Elyse’s to puncheur and place names in Framce and Italy.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Spoilt by the narration

A refreshingly different insight to life of a pro cyclist. As a fan of Dan Martin and knowing some of his family, I was was looking forward to this listen.
The narrator ion however, was more concerned with over exaggerated pronunciation of French place names, European races and other riders and yet repeatedly mispronounced Geraint Thomas ( it’s not a difficult name) The I ternation and emphasis was poor and you really had to tune into what was being read rather than how it was being read- detracted from the overall experience.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A glimpse of what it takes to be a pro cyclist!

I remember Dan and Tom as kids chasing MotoGP racers for autographs while his dad and I had a coffee in Motul hospitality. Dan’s story give an idea of the determination and drive air takes to become and remain a top class pro cyclist. I thought the narrator was a little awkward transmitting the story but it didn’t detract from the enjoyment. Little in the book of Dan’s life off the bike but that may have been a definite decision to keep some things private. In saying that there’s plenty of detail on the physical and mental struggles encountered in Dans racing career. The gene pool has n his makeup was undoubtedly a positive to draw on but hours and hours of training and discipline was Dan’s own hard work that took him to the top level. Top stuff

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Solid content, poor narration.

This is a sound account of the life of a professional cyclist (as far as I know!) but the narration is hesitant, poorly paced and altogether sub-par. A shame really.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Dreadful editing and narration

It is only because I am a fan of Dan’s that I managed to listen to the end. The narration is not the best, made dramatically worse by exceedingly poor editing. The pitch and tone of each sentence varies due to corrections being poorly spliced in. A shame- the story is of one of passion and hard graft, especially interesting for cyclists.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, spoiled by narrator

the narrator shows very little engagement with the subject matter. no attempt at correct pronunciation.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Glimpse into the lives of Pro Cycling

Dan Martin has given a great insight into the life of a pro cyclist and shows the sacrifices they make to make grade

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Bunny Fingers

At first the actor’s delivery is baffling and it sounds like there have been many edits. But I perservered and eventually realised he takes long pauses around words in inverted commas. Imagine him making bunny fingers as he says them. It helps.

Geraint should be pronounced like Hair-Pint, not Her-Pint or Graint. Its a shame that Welsh pronounciation was not given as much respect as the French.

The panda narrative device is odd.

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