Category: book

Book giveaway: Hell On Two Wheels

Richard MasonerJanuary 2, 20137 Comments on Book giveaway: Hell On Two Wheels

Update: James in Austin wins, in spite of my misspelling of Gubish’s name. Watch for more book giveaways in the coming days.

My first book giveaway of 2013 is Amy Snyder’s Hell On Two Wheels, which chronicles the author’s trip across the United States with the solo leaders of the 2009 Race Across America (RAAM).

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2012/pa-4-foot-law-ticket/

I’ve met Snyder in person. She’s an intense person with a passion for fitness and competition who thought she knew what pushing herself to the limits is all about. Her ride along in a RAAM support vehicle watching these ultra-athletes as they pushed themselves far beyond those limits, however, clearly changed her life, and she wrote this book to help get more exposure to this elite group of individuals who spend their own cash and race 3,000 miles across the country with little in the way of fanfare, sponsorship, advertising, marketing, or media exposure.

This book can be yours for free, but first a trivia question: Who is Richard Gurbish Gubish, and why did he win a gold star from cyclists everywhere in April 2012?

Correctly answer that question and leave a comment and I’ll ship Hell On Two Wheels to you. Free shipping to USA destinations. If you need help answering the trivia question, I reported on Gurbish Gubish’s deeds last April. I’ll accommodate international winners only if you pre-pay shipping via PayPal. Leave your email address in the comment form so I can get in touch with you.

(With apologies for the earlier misspelling, which our winner James caught and noted in his winning entry.)

If you don’t win the book, it’s still worth a read. Snyder’s pop psychology is simplistic, but then I’m married to a mental health professional, so perhaps I’m just a little pretentious about it.

Update: Amy points out that when when you’re out there on a bike for several days in a row with little sleep, “things get very, very simplistic.” Good point.

In a race where there can literally be days between contenders, we saw real drama in the 2009 race with just minutes between the two leading contenders, Jure Robic (who was killed by a car while training in his native Slovenia 2010) and Swiss road cyclist Danilo Wyss.

Watch for another book giveaway tomorrow.

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The Cockroaches of Transportation in Disasters: The Book

Richard MasonerDecember 17, 20121 Comment on The Cockroaches of Transportation in Disasters: The Book

According to Bike Portland, 2012 has been the year of using bicycles in disaster response. Elly Blue’s next edition of Taking the Lane features True Life Stories where a bicycle was instrumental in saving people during disasters large and small.

One of the stories comes from my dad, who was among the first outside responders who arrived with aid and supplies after the disastrous 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan. 6,500 people perished in this 8.6 magnitude quake, which caused US$100 billion in damage, or approximately 2.5% of the Japanese GDP then. 150,000 buildings collapsed, as did freeways, subways, and shinkansen tracks. 70% of the railroads in the Osaka-Kobe were unusable because of quake damage.

How did my dad make use of bikes to get to Kobe? You’ll need to buy Elly’s book to find out! There’s only three more days of funding for this Kickstarter project. I personally want to see this one published so please pledge a few dollars and spread the word. Thanks!!

Kickstarter: Disaster! Bicycling through the apocalypse by Elly Blue.

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