Media Kit:
Book Details
Publisher:Casagrande Press
Publication Date: June 15th, 2007
Paperback: 256 pages
Language: English
Size: 6” x 9” (inches)
ISBN: 0-9769516-2-2
ISBN 13: 978-0-9769516-2-9
Price: $16.95 (USD)
Illustrations: 42 b/w photos including a bike crash photo section.
Availability: bookstores, online retailer and bike shops
For a media review copy, send your name, publication name, organization name and address (no PO Boxes, please) to casagrandepress AT aol DOT com
Cycling’s Greatest Misadventures editor, Erich Schweikher.
News Feature Story
Paul, how did you choose which stories to include?
We placed a call for submissions in bike magazines and on cycling related websites. We got in over 300 stories from everyday riders. Additionally, we contacted professional riders, cycling journalists, magazine editors, and authors of cycling books.
Paul, how long did it take to compile this collection of stories?
We spent a year and half gathering and editing the stories.
Erich, what are most of the stories about?
These nonfiction stories are almost all first-person accounts of attempts to accomplish something. The attempts typically end in comic irony, catastrophe, absurdity or adrenaline-pumping calamity. What unites all the stories is that they have a fast pace, plenty of narrative tension, and they explore the psychology or culture of the writer, that is, what in this particular cyclist’s character, put him or her in the path calamity? There are no such things as accidents, are there?
Erich, who is audience for this book?
This book is meant for cyclists and for non-cyclists who have an interest in the sport. The stories have compelling and universal themes that anyone can enjoy without having a lot of bicycling experience or knowledge of its jargon.
Erich, what stories are particularly powerful for you?
To me, the three most powerful stories are:
1. “Cycling in a New World” by Stan Green. In this story Green, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager, takes us on a guided tour through the ravaged post-Katrina streets of New Orleans. A native of New Orleans, Green watches as his father succumbs to cancer two days before Katrina makes land fall. Green’s bike ride is an attempt to do something “normal” in the face of both the loss of a parent and his beloved city. The story is at the same time heartbreaking and hopeful.
2. “The Jungle is Hungry” by Aaron Teasdale tells the tale of two mountain bikers lost on a crumbling Incan trial in the Bolivian jungle. As darkness descends their sense of direction is further compromised and panic begins to set in.
3."Resisting the Inevitable in the French Alps" by Randall Stafford. Stafford, a kidney transplant recipient, chronicles his attempt to climb three of the most grueling ascents of the Tour de France. The authors’ transplanted kidney is failing, and before he forced back to the dialysis machine, he is determined to ride in the footsteps of the great Tour de France riders. Suffering through the side effects of kidney disease while riding, Stafford’s story is a humorous and inspiring tale of willpower and attrition.
Erich, what is your greatest fear while you’re riding your bike?
I don’t think it’s fear, but more frustration. I would have to say that it is having an unfixable mechanical breakdown. Recently I had my rear derailleur break 8 miles in on a trail. What should have been a 3-hour ride turned into an all day hike back to my car.
Paul, what is your greatest fear while you’re riding your bike?
Usually, I am afraid of getting a traffic ticket because I never stop at stop signs. My friend, Glen Taco, recently got a ticket for speeding and running a stop sign while he was on his commuting bicycle here in San Diego.
Paul, what would you say the message of this book is?
I have never liked to sharpen stories to a moral point. We got a lot of story submissions that contained bullet-pointed lessons or tips at the end of the story. We rejected all of those stories because we were more interested in stories that had universal themes, rather than stories that were tightly cycling specific. Anyway, the book’s message is what you make of it.
Erich, have you had an encounter on your bike that has made you question what you’re putting on the line while seeking a wheeled thrill?
When I was in high school in Phoenix, Arizona a woman ran a stop sign and clipped my rear wheel as I was making a left turn. She hit me hard enough to send my bike and me into a concrete retaining wall. My head and my front wheel hit the wall simultaneously. The wheel tacoed and my helmet cracked down the middle. That wasn’t the worst of it; a peanut size piece of gravel was lodged in my stomach. Three hours later I was standing at my front door, a bloody mess, exhausted, with what was left of my bike hanging from my shoulder. Our neighbor, a nurse covered me in Neosporin and used a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the gravel. At the time I told myself it was the injuries that kept me from getting back on the bike, but I was clearly in shock. It would be three weeks before I rode again.
Questions for Erich:
How did you come up with the idea to write this book? (1 Minute)
What are three of the most compelling stories in this book? (2 minutes)
Was it difficult getting submissions? (30 seconds)
How did you get envolved in cycling? (1 Minute)
Did you ever race competitively? (30 seconds)
This book has stories about animal attacks, sabotaged races, freak accidents and other calamities, are you trying to scare people from riding? (1 minute)
Is this book of interest to people who don't ride a bike? (30 senconds)
Do you have any safety advice for cyclists? (1 Minute)
Publisher:Casagrande Press
Publication Date: June 15th, 2007
Paperback: 256 pages
Language: English
Size: 6” x 9” (inches)
ISBN: 0-9769516-2-2
ISBN 13: 978-0-9769516-2-9
Price: $16.95 (USD)
Illustrations: 42 b/w photos including a bike crash photo section.
Availability: bookstores, online retailer and bike shops
Media Contacts
Paul Diamond, casagrandepress AT aol DOT com, 858-405-6765For a media review copy, send your name, publication name, organization name and address (no PO Boxes, please) to casagrandepress AT aol DOT com
About the Editors
Editor, ERICH SCHWEIKHER has always preferred wheels—his earliest memory is that of being pulled around the neighborhood in a Radio Flyer wagon. A BMX bike replaced the wagon and the obsession began. While he has only one competitive race under his belt (he finished dead last due to a disqualification), he rides every chance he can get, mostly commuting to and from work in Portland, OR, where he teaches composition at Portland Community College. When not on the bike or in the classroom he spends his down time writing poems, a number of which have been published in national literary journals.
Co-Editor, PAUL DIAMOND grew up in Washington, D.C. where he had his own break dance crew while he did an internship for Bob Dole (the senate majority leader at the time), then Diamond sang in a punk band (in that order). He worked as a photojournalist for United Press International in Pittsburgh and later taught writing at Ohio University and then at Tulane University. He now lives in Solana Beach, CA and works as a writer and editor most of the year. He tries to surf everyday, but some days when there are no waves he pulls out his Cannondale road bike and goes for a ride wearing his board shorts.
Co-Editor, PAUL DIAMOND grew up in Washington, D.C. where he had his own break dance crew while he did an internship for Bob Dole (the senate majority leader at the time), then Diamond sang in a punk band (in that order). He worked as a photojournalist for United Press International in Pittsburgh and later taught writing at Ohio University and then at Tulane University. He now lives in Solana Beach, CA and works as a writer and editor most of the year. He tries to surf everyday, but some days when there are no waves he pulls out his Cannondale road bike and goes for a ride wearing his board shorts.
Cycling’s Greatest Misadventures editor, Erich Schweikher.
News Feature Story
Over the Bars! Cycling calamities compiled into a new book
Erich Schweikher’s first real kiss was on a bike. He and his bike toppled over during the kiss, and drama and bruises unfolded from the episode. Now, years later, his love affair with cycling has led him to create Cycling’s Greatest Misadventures, a book that presents twenty-seven of the most intriguing, terrifying, bizarre and comical stories from cycling fanatics worldwide.
Schweikher and coeditor, Paul Diamond, spent a year gathering these true stories from bicycle aficionados, journalists, magazine editors, professional racers, and everyday cyclists. These riders share the episodes when they’ve found themselves in over their heads, facing danger and the unexpected.
The writing is economical and fast paced in these collected stories which take the reader on a gripping ride through the uncharted terrain of freak accidents, animal attacks, sabotage, idiotic decisions, eerie events, and other jaw-dropping, adrenaline-pumping calamities. Each story brings to life the strange possibilities that await cyclists once they step on the pedals of a bike.
Here is a taste of the curious but true stories contained within:
* In Australia, a former pro cyclist decides to spread tacks on women’s race course in an attempt to get a date.
* In Pennsylvania, an enthusiastic computer programmer crashes a stationary bike during his first spin class.
* Also in Pennsylvania, a man accidentally cycles deep into a prison yard and then has to make an escape.
* In Washington DC, a woman is attacked by a large rat that jumps on her bike and slaps her repeatedly with its tail.
* In North Carolina, a man is “attacked” and knocked from his bike by a flying, dead dog.
* In 1897, twenty African-American’s complete the first group Transamerican ride on iron bikes with wood rims, and they all ride armed with rifles.
Some of these stories might make your cringe or laugh; most will make you shake your head with disbelief.
Schweikher and Diamond’s selection often goes beyond thrills and spills, as it explores the culture and psychology of cyclists. There’s something remarkably moving about cyclists reflecting on and writing about how they got themselves into deep trouble. In the end the stories stay with you, and you find yourself repeating them to friends.
SOURCE: Casagrande Press/ NOTE TO EDITORS: Erich Schweikher and Paul Diamond are available for interviews. Review copies of the book are also available./ CONTACT: Paul Diamond, +1-858-259-0813, casagrandepress @ aol.com, for Casagrande Press/
Schweikher and coeditor, Paul Diamond, spent a year gathering these true stories from bicycle aficionados, journalists, magazine editors, professional racers, and everyday cyclists. These riders share the episodes when they’ve found themselves in over their heads, facing danger and the unexpected.
The writing is economical and fast paced in these collected stories which take the reader on a gripping ride through the uncharted terrain of freak accidents, animal attacks, sabotage, idiotic decisions, eerie events, and other jaw-dropping, adrenaline-pumping calamities. Each story brings to life the strange possibilities that await cyclists once they step on the pedals of a bike.
Here is a taste of the curious but true stories contained within:
* In Australia, a former pro cyclist decides to spread tacks on women’s race course in an attempt to get a date.
* In Pennsylvania, an enthusiastic computer programmer crashes a stationary bike during his first spin class.
* Also in Pennsylvania, a man accidentally cycles deep into a prison yard and then has to make an escape.
* In Washington DC, a woman is attacked by a large rat that jumps on her bike and slaps her repeatedly with its tail.
* In North Carolina, a man is “attacked” and knocked from his bike by a flying, dead dog.
* In 1897, twenty African-American’s complete the first group Transamerican ride on iron bikes with wood rims, and they all ride armed with rifles.
Some of these stories might make your cringe or laugh; most will make you shake your head with disbelief.
Schweikher and Diamond’s selection often goes beyond thrills and spills, as it explores the culture and psychology of cyclists. There’s something remarkably moving about cyclists reflecting on and writing about how they got themselves into deep trouble. In the end the stories stay with you, and you find yourself repeating them to friends.
SOURCE: Casagrande Press/ NOTE TO EDITORS: Erich Schweikher and Paul Diamond are available for interviews. Review copies of the book are also available./ CONTACT: Paul Diamond, +1-858-259-0813, casagrandepress @ aol.com, for Casagrande Press/
Reviews
Reviews coming soon! Other Publicity
Publicity coming soon!Q & A with Editors Erich Schweikher and Paul Diamond
Paul, how did you choose which stories to include?
We placed a call for submissions in bike magazines and on cycling related websites. We got in over 300 stories from everyday riders. Additionally, we contacted professional riders, cycling journalists, magazine editors, and authors of cycling books.
Paul, how long did it take to compile this collection of stories?
We spent a year and half gathering and editing the stories.
Erich, what are most of the stories about?
These nonfiction stories are almost all first-person accounts of attempts to accomplish something. The attempts typically end in comic irony, catastrophe, absurdity or adrenaline-pumping calamity. What unites all the stories is that they have a fast pace, plenty of narrative tension, and they explore the psychology or culture of the writer, that is, what in this particular cyclist’s character, put him or her in the path calamity? There are no such things as accidents, are there?
Erich, who is audience for this book?
This book is meant for cyclists and for non-cyclists who have an interest in the sport. The stories have compelling and universal themes that anyone can enjoy without having a lot of bicycling experience or knowledge of its jargon.
Erich, what stories are particularly powerful for you?
To me, the three most powerful stories are:
1. “Cycling in a New World” by Stan Green. In this story Green, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager, takes us on a guided tour through the ravaged post-Katrina streets of New Orleans. A native of New Orleans, Green watches as his father succumbs to cancer two days before Katrina makes land fall. Green’s bike ride is an attempt to do something “normal” in the face of both the loss of a parent and his beloved city. The story is at the same time heartbreaking and hopeful.
2. “The Jungle is Hungry” by Aaron Teasdale tells the tale of two mountain bikers lost on a crumbling Incan trial in the Bolivian jungle. As darkness descends their sense of direction is further compromised and panic begins to set in.
3."Resisting the Inevitable in the French Alps" by Randall Stafford. Stafford, a kidney transplant recipient, chronicles his attempt to climb three of the most grueling ascents of the Tour de France. The authors’ transplanted kidney is failing, and before he forced back to the dialysis machine, he is determined to ride in the footsteps of the great Tour de France riders. Suffering through the side effects of kidney disease while riding, Stafford’s story is a humorous and inspiring tale of willpower and attrition.
Erich, what is your greatest fear while you’re riding your bike?
I don’t think it’s fear, but more frustration. I would have to say that it is having an unfixable mechanical breakdown. Recently I had my rear derailleur break 8 miles in on a trail. What should have been a 3-hour ride turned into an all day hike back to my car.
Paul, what is your greatest fear while you’re riding your bike?
Usually, I am afraid of getting a traffic ticket because I never stop at stop signs. My friend, Glen Taco, recently got a ticket for speeding and running a stop sign while he was on his commuting bicycle here in San Diego.
Paul, what would you say the message of this book is?
I have never liked to sharpen stories to a moral point. We got a lot of story submissions that contained bullet-pointed lessons or tips at the end of the story. We rejected all of those stories because we were more interested in stories that had universal themes, rather than stories that were tightly cycling specific. Anyway, the book’s message is what you make of it.
Erich, have you had an encounter on your bike that has made you question what you’re putting on the line while seeking a wheeled thrill?
When I was in high school in Phoenix, Arizona a woman ran a stop sign and clipped my rear wheel as I was making a left turn. She hit me hard enough to send my bike and me into a concrete retaining wall. My head and my front wheel hit the wall simultaneously. The wheel tacoed and my helmet cracked down the middle. That wasn’t the worst of it; a peanut size piece of gravel was lodged in my stomach. Three hours later I was standing at my front door, a bloody mess, exhausted, with what was left of my bike hanging from my shoulder. Our neighbor, a nurse covered me in Neosporin and used a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the gravel. At the time I told myself it was the injuries that kept me from getting back on the bike, but I was clearly in shock. It would be three weeks before I rode again.
Radio Interview Questions
Questions for Erich:
How did you come up with the idea to write this book? (1 Minute)
What are three of the most compelling stories in this book? (2 minutes)
Was it difficult getting submissions? (30 seconds)
How did you get envolved in cycling? (1 Minute)
Did you ever race competitively? (30 seconds)
This book has stories about animal attacks, sabotaged races, freak accidents and other calamities, are you trying to scare people from riding? (1 minute)
Is this book of interest to people who don't ride a bike? (30 senconds)
Do you have any safety advice for cyclists? (1 Minute)