The Race Across America is arguably the most difficult bicycle race in the world. It takes riders from Oceanside, California across more than 3,000 miles of diverse terrain and finishes less than 10 days later in Annapolis, Maryland. Race participants ride non-stop, with support crews in chase, and often times go for days on end without the slightest bit of sleep.

It is no surprise then, that a book chronicling the story of the Race Across America was published with the title, “The United States Of Delirium: The Story Of The Race Across America.”

With photos by Lorne Bridgman and text by David Houghton, The United State of Delirium is an impressive collection of photos, stories, history and racer profiles, chronicling both the beauty and pure insanity that is the Race Across America.

I could go on and do my best to explain to you what the Race Across America really is and how it came about, but I think author David Houghton says it best on the book’s very first page:

September 1976

John Marino was leafing through the Guinness Book of World Records when, by chance, he came across the United States coast-to-coast cycling record. Set by Peter Duker in 1972, the record stood at 18 days, 2 hours and 20 minutes. Marino, a baseball player who’d been drafted by the L.A. dodgers before a career-ending back injury, set his mind to breaking the transcontinental cycling record. After two years of training and preparation, Marino set off on August 26th 1978, and knocked five days off Duker’s time, crossing the country in 13 days, 1 hour and 20 minutes. He then went on to beat his own record two years later with a time of 12 days, 3 hours and 41 minutes.

Lon Haldeman, a lanky endurance cycling from Harvard, Illinois, had been tracking Marino’s successes. In 1981, Haldeman beat Marino’s record with a time of 10 days, 23 hours 27 minutes. For added emphasis, Haldeman beat Marino’s best while completing a couple transcontinental, an ambitious back-to-back traverse of the United States from east to west, then west to east.

By this time, Marino had begun to entertain the idea of a head-to-head transcontinental race. The challenge was dubbed The Great American Bike Race, a name suggested by Stuart John Meyers, editor of American Bicyclist magazine. In 1982, Marino set off from the Santa Monica pier, bound for New York City, with the only three competitors willing to join him: Lon Haldeman, Michael Shermer and John Howard. Shermer, a small, bearded rider from Tustin, California, had just set a new Seattle-to Los Angeles cycling record. Texan John Howard was a three-time Iron-man champion who had been anointed Cycling magazin’es Cyclist of the Decade for the 1970s.

Haldeman won The Great American Bike Race in 9 days, 20 hours and 2 minutes. Marino had to settle for fourth place, but his head-to-head competition had knocked a full day off the transcontinental record. Renamed the Race Across America (RAAM), the race has been run every year since.

The race has grown to include many categories. The first solo woman’s division was introduced in 1984, the first four-person teams in 1989, and the first eight person teams in 2003. The race now includes a staggering array of divisions, including 2 Person Tandem Men, 4 Person Team Recumbent and 8 Person HPV (Human Powered Vehicle). YEt at its core, the Race Across America still clings tightly to John Marino’s vision. It is a race of solitary men and women struggling with internal and external forces, those they can control and those they cannot, fighting fatigue and enduring physical pain as they ride more than three thousand miles across America virtually nonstop, a notion as big and audacious as America itself.

The United States Of Delirium is a beautiful book splashed with wonderful stories, detailed historical information and incredible photographs. Half pictures and half text, The United States Of Delerium is a book that truly captures the spirit of the Race Across America - in both its wonder and its pain.

For more information on the book, or to pick up a copy of the text for yourself, head on over to www.theunitedstatesofdelirium.com

Related Posts

• Live Video Recording: Discussing The Katy Trail & More!
• Bicycle Dreams: A Documentary Film About The Race Across America

1. Get a 20% Discount On “The Bicycle Traveler’s Blueprint”

The London Cyclist did an awesome write up on my eBook, “The Bicycle Traveler’s Blueprint“. If you haven’t read it already, please do so now.

As a way of saying thanks to Andreas at the London Cyclist website for featuring my eBook on his site, I’m giving his readers a 20% discount on the book if they order it before before midnight on Saturday, August 24th. If you too would like to get a 20% discount, just click here and press the “Order Now” button you find on that page. But remember, you gotta order the book before midnight on Saturday, August 24th in order to get the discount.

2. Would You Like To Rent My Condo In Park City, Utah?

I am planning to spend 2011 in South America. But in order for me to do that, I first need to rent out my condo in Park City, Utah – one of the best resort towns in North America. If you are interested in spending a few months in beautiful Park City, please check out this page for photos, details, and more. Please contact me or leave a comment below if you are interested in renting my place for 6-12 months.

3. Touring Bicycle Book

Finally, I made the following video to help promote my material on touring bicycles. I didn’t know where else to put it, so I’m putting it here.

For more information, please visit: www.touringbicyclebook.com

Related Posts

• Learn About Touring Bicycles And Get 2 Free Bonus Gifts
• It’s Finally Here! The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles
• Folding & Coupled Bicycles Made For Touring
• Traditional Touring Bikes – Bicycles Made Specifically For Long Distance Touring
• Questions About Finding The Perfect Touring Bicycle

To get more information on “The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles,” please click here.

You probably heard about the launch of this new book when it came out just a few short weeks ago, but what you likely don’t know is that there are two super cool bonus gifts that come with the book for free when you order it.

The first free gift that is included with your purchase of “The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles” is another eBook titled, “A Buyer’s Guide To Bicycle Touring Panniers & Trailers.” Pictured to the right, this is a 56-page eBook that introduces you to all the popular bicycle touring panniers and trailers and it comes with specific recommendations on which panniers and trailers you should buy.

The other free gift that you get with “The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles” is a video recording of a webinar that I conducted not too long ago, during which I spoke at great length about touring bicycles, panniers and trailers. The video is an hour long and in it I talk about why it is so important that you use the right kind of bicycle on your bicycle tour. I also spend a significant amount of time in the video answering questions that were sent to me about specific types of touring bicycles, panniers and trailers. I talk about why certain touring bicycles are designed the way they are, how to make emergency repairs to your bicycle out on the road, what you need to do if you can’t find a touring bike on display at your local bike shop, plus a whole lot more.

I’ve done my best to make “The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles” as helpful and as irresistible as possible. So, if you are in the market for a new touring bicycle and you haven’t got a clue as for where to start your search, click here and learn more about my new eBook and the super cool bonus gifts that are included with it.

The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles - AVAILABLE HERE <<< (Click Here)

Related Posts

• Touring Bikes, A 20% Discount & My Park City Condo
• Folding & Coupled Bicycles Made For Touring
• Traditional Touring Bikes – Bicycles Made Specifically For Long Distance Touring
• Your Free Guide To Cycling In London, England
• It’s Finally Here! The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles

Inside the book you will discover:

• How to find the perfect cycling route through London
• 3 must-try London Cycle Routes – including an impressive 25 mile Grand Tour of the Grand Union and a quirky 5 mile gentle ride around some of Central London’s most unusual sites.
• How to undertake and enjoy your first long distance bike ride
• The three tricks you won’t learn at cycle training
• How to never have your bike stolen
• How to meet fellow cyclists and go on group rides
• Turning your cycle commute into a workout
• London’s coolest bike shops and cafes
• A guide to buying a second-hand bike
• Storing a bike in a “cosy” London flat
• And a whole lot more!

The “Guide To Cycling In London” is totally free and you can get it here: Free London Cycling Guide

Enjoy!

Related Posts

• Introducing The New BicycleTouringPro.com Newsletter
• Learn About Touring Bicycles And Get 2 Free Bonus Gifts
• Getting Free Hotel Rooms – A How To Guide
• The Bicycle Traveler’s Blueprint For The Amazon Kindle
• Top 50 Cycling Blogs

Click this link to learn more about it and get your copy now.

With the launch of this new book, I thought today would be a good day to talk about touring bicycles… because when it comes to bicycle touring, the bicycle you ride is pretty much your most important piece of equipment.

Pick the right bicycle for your travels and your bike tour could become a dream come true!

But pick the wrong bicycle and your trip could be over before it’s even started

I get emails all the time from people who are looking to purchase their first touring bicycle… and the emails usually look a little something like this:

“Hi Darren. I’m planning to go on my first bicycle tour. Which bicycle should I get?”

I then have to write that person back and say, “Well, it depends. Where are you going on your bicycle tour? How many days, weeks or months will you be traveling? Are you going to camp along the way or will you be staying in hotels and hostels? How much gear do you plan to carry? What is your budget? And will you be using your touring bicycle for any other purposes (such as running errands near your home or riding in races with your local bike club)?”

What many first-time bicycle tourists don’t realize is that there are several different types of bicycles made for bicycle touring.

There are touring bicycles made for short day trips around your home; fast, sporty touring bicycles made for racing and light touring; and touring bicycles that are made to carry you and your gear all the way around the world.

The type of bike you select is going to depend on a number of different factors. There isn’t really JUST ONE touring bicycle that is best for everything.

So, I get these emails about touring bicycles all the time and I know there are a ton of people out there who are struggling when it comes to selecting the right touring bicycle for their specific needs.

Because I get these emails on a daily and weekly basis, I know how difficult it can be to find the ideal touring bicycle. And that’s why I’ve gone ahead and created a resource for those of you who are in the process of looking to purchase a new touring bike.

“The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles” is a new eBook I created that takes you by the hand and teaches you about what to look for in your perfect touring bicycle.

The book not only educates you about touring bicycles, the different types of bikes, and their intended uses, but the book also features detailed information on more than 200 different types of touring bicycles made by large and small bike companies all over the world.

You’ve probably spent some time looking at touring bicycles online, but I can guarantee you have never seen this many touring bicycles in one single place!

It’s true! There are more than 200 touring bicycles inside this new book. 205 to be exact!

And from this list of 200+ bicycles, I will help you narrow down the selection and find the touring bicycle that best suits your needs.

To learn more about “The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles” and everything inside this new 238-page eBook, just visit the address below:

http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/touring-bicycles-buyers-guide/

Plus, There’s A Bonus If You Act Fast!

If you order the book before Saturday, July 31st, you can get it for only $12.95, PLUS YOU WILL ALSO GET the following free gift:

In about two week’s time I am going to be conducting a live Internet seminar where I am going to be discussing the subject of touring bicycles at great length. I’ll talk about the specific types of touring bicycles, what to look for in your ideal touring bike, and I’ll be answering any specific questions that you might have about touring bicycles in general.

This will be a live event that you can attend simply by logging onto your computer, but the event is ONLY going to be for those individuals who have ordered a copy of “The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles.”

And you need to get the book before Saturday, July 31st so you have time to look it over and be prepared to discuss touring bicycles with me during this live seminar event.

If you are still looking for your perfect touring bike, this new book and live seminar event is going to be a huge value to you. So don’t delay!

To get a copy of “The Essential Guide To Touring Bicycles” for just $12.95 USD and get access to my upcoming live seminar about touring bicycles, simply click the link below:

http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/touring-bicycles-buyers-guide/

Related Posts

• Touring Bikes, A 20% Discount & My Park City Condo
• Questions About Finding The Perfect Touring Bicycle
• Learn About Touring Bicycles And Get 2 Free Bonus Gifts
• Getting Free Hotel Rooms – A How To Guide
• Folding & Coupled Bicycles Made For Touring