The Future is Landis

Okay, I'm a believer. Floyd Landis is for real. He's also a really cool character. Floyd has already won three stage races this year, putting the competition away with his unconventional but effective time-trialing style, then climbing like a mountain goat. He put on a display at Brasstown Bald the likes of which I've never seen. Discovery attacked him from every conceivable angle, and he responded every time. A friend sent me a cool video snippet which you can view here. Make sure you catch the OLN coverage this weekend as well. You're not going to believe what you're going to see.

Deja Vu in Georgia

I'm at the Tour de Georgia for my third consecutive year, and the mad dash across the state is bringing back so many memories. I keep finding myself on streetcorners that I have vague memories of from year's past. This is really an amazing event, and from my perspective a headlong hurtle across the state. We typically get to sleep after 1 am and wake before 7 am. In between we set up a T-shirt booth in the start city, I plaster the area with fliers about my book, then I sell-sell-sell, then we break everything down and I collect as many of my fliers as I can before jumping into the van to head for the finish. Our van has four passengers but only two seats, so I sit in a lawn chair in the back. A wall of merchandise in cardboard boxes sways around behind me and I have to push the boxes back from time to time. If it sounds to you like an accident waiting to happen, you probably have a good sense of things. Once we arrive in the finish city our booth is already set up by an advance crew, and then I sell-sell-sell again, and finally we tear things down, re-load the vans from our supply trucks, and then drive to the next start city. Exhausting, but fun!

The Ford Tour de Georgia!

My preconceptions of Georgia were shattered two years ago when I attended the Dodge Tour de Georgia. I had never dreamed it was such a beautiful state, and I was amazed to discover what a perfect place it is to hold a bicycle race. It included some of the most selective mountain climbs I've ever seen. They aren't as long as those in the western US or Europe, but they are incredibly steep. Along the way massive crowds inspired the cyclists. The weather was perfect, and I signed lots of copies of The Race.

When I returned last year it was as if the copies I'd already sold in Georgia had germinated demand, and though the weather was anything but perfect this time (I signed books in rain and even snow), I sold out of books a day and a half before the event ended.

This year the event has a new sponsor- amazingly, a major competitor of the previous sponsor. I'm thrilled that the organizers secured the future of this great race, and I'm excited for my third annual trip to the back roads of Georgia. I can't wait to share my new novel with the fans.