VeloPress Publishes A Dog in a Hat by Joe Parkin, foreword by Bob Rolll

"A Dog in a Hat is the most authentic book ever written about making a living as a pro cyclist in Europe." -Bob Roll, Versus TV cycling commentator

Boulder, CO, USA - August 28, 2008 - A Dog in a Hat is the remarkable story of American bike racer Joe Parkin. Parkin was an amateur racer in California in 1987 when he met Bob Roll, a pro with the powerhouse Team 7-Eleven. To become a real pro, "Lobotomy Bob" advised Joe to go to Belgium, host to cycling's most grueling race scene. What follows is the amazing memoir of a blue-collar cycling career carved out of the rain-soaked trenches of Europe. The book is now available in bookstores, bike shops, and online.

Parkin's memoir reads like a novel. In plainspoken, fast-paced prose, Parkin describes the true life of the professional bike racer, putting the reader into the whirlwind of this hardest of athletic educations. A Dog in a Hat begins with Parkin's terrifying first visit to his team doctor, where he is strapped to a table and monitored by humming electrodes as men in white lab coats coldly divine his future as a pro.

A Dog in a Hat celebrates the glory of bike racing, but Parkin also lays out the hard reality of the life-the drugs, the payoffs, the betrayals by teammates, the battles with team owners for money and contracts, the endless promises, and the exhaustion of racing day after day.

Despite the pain, despite the suffering, A Dog in a Hat is a beautiful book. It is one American's story of his love affair with professional cycling, set in the hardest place in the world to be a bike racer. It is a story untold until now, and one that Parkin's readers will never forget.

A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium
By Joe Parkin, foreword by Bob Roll
Paperback with color photosection
6" x 9", 232 pp. | VP-DOG, $21.95 | 978-1-934030-26-4

Joe Parkin represented the United States at the World Professional Cycling Championships and the World Cyclocross Championships. Following his road racing years in Belgium, he returned to the United States and began a successful second career as a pro mountain bike racer.

For media review copies, author interviews and events, please contact:
Dave Trendler, Marketing and Publicity Manager, (303) 245-2138, dtrendler@competitorgroup.com

Retailers and distributors, please contact:
Jen Soulé, Sales Manager, (800) 811-4210 x169, wholesale@competitorgroup.com

VeloPress is an endurance sports and fitness publisher focusing on the sports of cycling, triathlon, and running. VeloPress is the book publishing division of Competitor Group, Inc., publisher of VeloNews, Triathlete, Inside Triathlon, and Competitor magazines; producer of Elite Racing marathons and half-marathons and the Muddy Buddy adventure series; and owner of VeloGear, an online and catalog retailer. For more information, please visit velopress.com.