Peter Murphy
Lynette wrote that Powell's said,"No, we don't do booksignings out on the
front porch."
Wow! Then how do they get get all those signed copies of books that they
sell in the main lobby? Or the fact that I (and about 500 people) got Billy
Corgin (of Smashing Pumpkins fame) to sign the book of poetry about 2 months
ago?
Well, I got Billy's signature at the Powells on Hawthorne, maybe Powells can
have you speak there?
Pete Murphy
From: Lynette Chiang <LYNCH-@YAHOO.COM>
Reply-To: LYNCH-@YAHOO.COM
To: ob-@topica.com
Subject: [OBRA Chat] DELETE: This post has zero racing content
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 00:07:27 -0800
I hope you like my clever and considerate Subject Line!
Just felt I had to say muchas gracias to the dozen or so people who wrote
back to say they did not mind me cc-ing my Powell's plea to the OBRA list,
who supplied places to speak and even said they'd come and take a gander
(Australian for 'take a look') at my show. What a neat community - I
appreciate it. So how come you zip right past me on your carbon fiber
TREK/Cannondale/Litespeed/Serotta/Calfee and don't return my wave?
It's too cold and wet to race, so it is nice to be able to stay in cycling
state of mind from the comfort of your loungechair and DSL connection.
FYI: In case there are budding bicycle authors out there who do not have
'Armstrong', 'Matheny' or 'Pruitt' in their last name, here is Powell's
answer:
No, we don't do booksignings out on the front porch.
If you have another book coming out in the future, please feel free to
contact us. For this title the answer is no.
Thanks to the folks who say they like hearing about new cycling books. Some
people do take exception to anyone striving to be creative or individual
and heaven forbid, letting people know about it, and even worse, garnering
a small following ... which is hard to believe in this land of fierce
individualism and enterprise. I was chastised for commercialism, yet the
same folks cheerfully go pour their dollars into Walmart, Safeway and other
generic and exploitative giants. I do confess that the $2 or so I make from
each Amazon sale of The Handsomest Man in Cuba (when that generic giant
eventually pays me) will go towards this month's rent. Waaah, please don't
hit me!
Which reminds me - go patronize that corner store - even if you have to pay
a few more cents for your milk. Like cycling, they are one of the last
bastions of community and if you don't, one day they won't be there.
Consider doing a percentage of your Christmas shopping and your Mom and
Pop's, if your budget can handle it.
It's getting cold, dark and wet here in Eugene and I suspect no-one is
doing much racing in the Northwest. I can tell because of the number of you
who wrote long and kind replies to my post. HOWEVER, if you are in Eugene
around 12 noon M-F there is a noon fast ride leaving from Bike Friday ALL
YEAR ROUND. Nothing sabotages this ride. And I mean fast. 25+ mph no
prisoners. I try to do it at least twice a week. Alan Scholz is an animal
and always rides - even though he is still recovering from a broken
collarbone last summer. He quotes Matheny ... you can train too much, but
you can't ride too much. To stay in shape, you have to ride your bike every
day. ALSO, I helped set up a YAHOO group for the Hutchsgirls who ride Wed
in Summer, Sat/Sun in winter, for all women roadies in Eugene:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hutchsgirls. Ride like a girl!
The beauty of touring and commuting when not racing is that you can
maintain your fitness - base miles and all that. Speaking of base miles,
when I came back from Peru I foolishly went on two rides in SF the next
day, yet noticed I was able to ride faster and farther as a result of all
that climbing at altitude (at least for the first half of the ride before I
flaked out - read about that here: http://tinyurl.com/3u7g2).
OK I lied. This post does have some racing content - a tip I got from Lon
on the Peru trip:
Have you ever experienced sore balls - erm, of your feet - after riding a
long time? I did on one of the hot, humid, 75 mile days. If you look at
Lon's shoes he re-drills them so the cleat is way back behind his balls -
of his feet, almost to the instep - to alleviate pressure. He says Andy
Pruitt disagrees with him because this represents a 2% loss of efficiency -
but Lon says he'd rather that and cycle way farther. He says he's told
Shimano time and time again but they aren't interested in his findings. I
repositioned my cleats as far back as they would go and it improved things.
But it was not far enough. Apologies if you all knew about this already.
I think I'll approach Lon to write his bio - he's such an interesting dude
- and maybe Powell's will have me speak then.
Well, if you've read this far don't hammer me for chatting because I gave
you a chance up front to hit delete.
I'll post this on my Livejournal and you can comment there to save the
racers from all this naval-gazing.
http://www.galfromdownunder.com
Nice chatting with you on this cold and dark Eugene night. Brrrrrrr.
PS Next talk: 16,000 Feet on a Friday reality video screening at World
Cafe, Dec 19, 6pm, Eugene. They have great pumpkin pie. Today Eugene,
tomorrow... the world, or at least Portland....
Lynette Chiang
http://www.galfromdownunder.com
PERU trip: http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/galfromdownunder-peru2004
THE HANDSOMEST MAN IN CUBA USA Edition
http://www.galfromdownunder.com/cuba
"One of the best on-the-road travel books of this generation." - Martin
Stevenson, the Launceston Examiner
"The only time you will put it down is when you finish it." - Australian
Cyclist magazine.
ISBN: 0-9755816-0-0, $14.95, available from Bike Friday, 1-800-777-0258,
serv-@bikefriday.com | Amazon.com
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