Joe Parkin has been a member of the Castelli family since 1998, when the brand was re-launched in the United States. Joe left home and the USA at age 19 to pursue a career as a professional cyclist in Europe – as career that spanned more than a decade. It was after retiring from the sport, where he often found himself coveting other riders’ clothing that was adorned with the Scorpion logo, that he helped launch and build Castelli in North America.
Joe took a hiatus from the Italian brands in 1995 to pursue another passion – motorsport, and to write his first book A Dog in a Hat, but has since proudly returned to the Scorpion family.
I finished reading the book (unblinking) during the eight hour oversea flight back to Europe. Its almost impossible to put Parkin’s book down before you’ve come to the final page. It for sure occupies a primary spot on every bike racers bookshelf!
Its n
ot only Parkin’s story what makes the book so good, but his perspective. His acceptance and choices, his training, team-mates, and you hope for him, all the while knowing that there is no glorious win, no big-time contract.
I had the oppotunity to meet Joe at the Interbike show in September, where he gave me a copy of his book A Dog in a Hat, which is a memoir of his time as a professional racer in Belgium in the 80s. It gives you a great inside look at the culture of racing at the time. For anyone else’s, it would be tragic, but Parkin reminds the reader what real success is: the acceptance of our friends. That’s the true measure of a man.
A Night With Belgian Beers and Books.
On October 5th, Joe and Castelli US prensented his second and new book Wafels en Wielrennen (Waffles and Bike Racing) at Oregon Manifest Bike Union. The place was packed with people who came to purchase his new book, and to view Castelli’s special heritage jerseys and shorts (including the world’s first pair of aerodynamic Lycra shorts).
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