Triathlon
Ironwar - Dave Scott vs Mark Allen at the 1989 Ironman

Running
The Perfect Mile - follows the story of three runners trying to be the first human to run a sub-4 mile (Bannister, Landy, Santee)
Running with the Buffalos - following the University of Colorado 1998 cross country team
Born to Run - Chris McDougal's journey to become an injury free runner leads him to the hidden tribe of super runers and a secret ultra marathon race in Mexico

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Matt

Really enjoyed The Secret Race

I agree here. Thought Hamilton's book and insights were quite good.

She Dog by Phil Knight was a pretty good read.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed Finding Ultra by Rich Roll.

Great recommendations already.

I just read “Incomplete Guide to Running” by Peter Sagal. Really enjoyed it.

The book that got me interested in cycling in the first place is French Revolutions by Tim Moore, in which he cycles the route of the Tour. It's about his own travails, with a lot of cycling history, and is laugh-out-loud funny throughout. Really well-written, too. His follow-up, Gironimo, sees him cycling a prewar Giro on a prewar bike. Equally funny.

Racing Through the Dark by David Millar is the most candid cycling autobiography I've come across, with little in the way of excuses for his past actions.

I haven't read it yet, but Life and Death by Bridie O'Donnell is supposed to be a good read, with an unvarnished look at women's cycling.

Major Taylor, story of an American champion cyclist in the late 1800’s
Road to Valour, story about TDF champion Gino Bartali and his activities during WWII

Neither cycling nor tri specifically, but enjoyed meb's 26 marathons. An insightful and light read!

Mike Reilly’s Finding My Voice. The audiobook is excellent as Mike himself is the narrator. This one has a lot of inspirational stories.

Life’s too short to go so f*ing slow. Great story about friendship and triathlon.

This Road I Ride by Juliana Buhring (The story of Julaina's 'Round the World ride)

The Man Who Cycled The World by Mark Beaumont ( Same thing for Mark)

Overlander by cycling journalist Rupert Guinness (Rupert's story of his Indian Pacific Wheel Race ride)
..
..

Running to the Edge by Matthew Futterman
The story of UCLA distance coach Bob Larsen and his athletes, including the Jamul Toads. I won't spoil it. There is a fair bit of training talk as well. It's new and well done.

cestmoi wrote:

I'm on a non-fiction book binge....and am interested in good sporting bios or memoirs. What ones in the cycling or tri world fall into good reads on this front? suggestions please (and thanks in advance)!!!

We Were Young and Carefree by Laurent Fignon. Super. Wish my French was good enough for the original.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

Into the Furnace by Cory Reese. The story of his Badwater race, Death Valley history, and the original competitors. It's a well written book by a Hurakin local who also puts on a half where you have to stop and eat donuts. Fast Cory.

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Be Uncommon

A dog in a hat.

https://www.velopress.com/books/a-dog-in-a-hat/

Yeah Dog in a Hat is a great read

Michael Hutchinson UK based cyclist (mainly TT) is a good author

Wheelmen is an excellent book to dive into Lance cycling pro racing doping story !
Very interesting book and very well documented.
DescriptionWheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever is a non-fiction book about American cycling and Lance Armstrong, as well as his teammates including Floyd Landis. The book was released in the U.S. and Canada by Gotham Books on October 15, 2013, in the UK by Headline Publishing.

I've read and really liked many of the books already mentioned above. I have some that I have liked that are tangentially related to what you were asking for that I have really liked:

North, by Scott Jurek - about his attempt to break the record for running the Appalachian Trail

Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance, by Christopher McDougal (who also wrote Born to Run) - One of my favorite books, but blends body control, no carb diets, efficient running, parkour, and also a bit of Historical fact based Fiction with Rebel fighters on Crete during WW2... It's kind of two books blended into one, but he does it well.

Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown - A group of ragtag Americans and their quest for gold in the 1936 Berlin Olympics

The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance, by Steven Kotler - Mostly about the Flow state and how it has helped the recent generation of extreme sports (Somewhat relevant for triathlon because I feel like I get into this Flow state while descending big gnarly downhills on my bike...)

The Long Run, by Chris Long - A NY City Firefighter's journey back to attempt Marathon and then an Ironman after a tragic accident where he was blindsided by a bus and should have died given his injuries and blood loss.

Running with buffs
Tim krabbe
Gold in the water which is amazing
Once a runner

There is a book called “running with the legends”. 20 or so bios of the best runners in history. It is cool, lot’s of hard knocks.

Some excellent suggestions already, I loved The Boys in the Boat as well as The Perfect Mile. I'll add Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox and Duel in the Sun by Dick Beardsley. Also The Boys of Winter by Wayne Coffey - a great read about the Miracle on Ice game from the 1980 Winter Olympics.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Feet in the clouds. A good tale of the real hardmen of British running.

https://www.amazon.com/...wdb_t1_dHKtDbPCP2K2N

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http://www.howesgreg.com

the Anquetil biography by Paul Howard, “Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape”.

If you’re entertained by these books for more than the sporty stuff, this should be #1 on your list