From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads (Hardback)
A Bowie Odyssey
James Briggs
James Briggs had never known what David Bowie's Life on Mars? meant. And twenty-five years later with a career stealing his soul, a relationship in stasis and a hairline in furious retreat, life on earth had him cornered.
So when a lightning bolt of inspiration strikes, he leaves everything behind to cycle one of the song's lyrics, 'From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads' to discover what life, love and Life on Mars? really mean.
What followed was life-affirming, inspirational and often hilarious. Criss-crossing Europe, he visited French chateaus where Bowie recorded, Spanish Olympic stadiums he played, former communist states where his music was banned, and the Berlin Wall he helped topple – all while navigating angry Soviet ballerinas, suspicious village mayors, and an irate Cliff Richard fan.
James found kindred spirits and a new love (and occasionally hatred) for cycling as he discovered what happens when, instead of following the crowd, you follow the lyrics and music of the greatest artist of the 20th century. As the world reconsiders its priorities, From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads is a clarion call to embrace the strange, blaze your own path, and live as fearlessly as the Starman himself.
When two of the greatest things collide (Bowie and Bikes), there's only one possible outcome. I love
this story. I'm rather jealous that I didn't think of it first.
There's a fine line between midlife crisis and sacrificial offering to the memory of your pop hero.
And if you're James Briggs, it's the cycle route from Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads – or, depending on
which way you look at it, from one end of his perineum to the other. I wholly enjoyed following the
former, but maybe I'll give the latter a miss.
