Bike Scribbles Cross Atlantic!
“City Cruise”

While I can’t believe I’m saying this I must admit I am thoroughly smitten with Twitter. At first it seemed like just another techno-gizmo time suck:

But I gave it a couple of weeks and POW it started to work its magic. I now swear by it as one of the most brilliant networking tools in existence. I’ve started meeting all kinds of local creative people and bike people as well as reaching all the way across the US and the Atlantic. Which brings me to the point of this post: The Bike to Work Book by Carlton Reid and Tim Grahl.
One night I was reading the Twitter roll and saw that a British man I knew only from his internet efforts in the cycling world was asking for Americans to look over the rough draft of his new book and make constructive comments. While just breakfast time in the UK it was the wee hours of the morning here so I think I was one of the very few Yanks still awake at the time. I offered and he sent me the pages in an email. Along the way he mentioned that he had seen my website and liked my artwork. Then I had an idea. I sent over a bike Scribble and made a suggestion. Long story short, he accepted. I drew some custom scribbles and in really a head-spinning short time – TA DA! The book is almost here and my Scribbles are part of it!

It is a very timely volume indeed. The perfect manual if you want to sock it to Big Oil in style. Fun to read, energizing and packed with information, these guys have covered every possible question. I’ve learned several things about biking that I didn’t know before and learned about some really cool products that assist in making bike commuting a breeze. And those are from just the first few chapters. The only downside is that when you’re done with the read you will be plum out of excuses to drive a car for much of anything!

I am intensely proud of being involved in this project. Carlton Reid is a really good guy (with an amazing 11-year-old cycling son Josh, by the way). I hope this book gets all the smashing success it deserves. Do check the link for a preview and you can leave comments if you like as well. I’ve never seen an author so gracious about getting critiqued!

Many thanks to Donna Tocci, Tim Jackson and Kris Keim for coaxing me into this fine pot of jam! And thanks to photographer Carson Blume for the digital assistance.