Thursday, September 25, 2008

Interbike 2008: Joe Parkin Booksigning Successful!


A Dog in a Hat sold out! We've sold all 120 copies we brought to Interbike, many during Joe Parkin's autographing today. Joe signed over 60 books for about 40 minutes, all while chatting with industry friends and bike shop owners, and drinking one of Belgium's finest beers.

Joe is to the left in the plaid shirt.
















Interbike 2008: the VeloPress/VeloNews booth



Monday, September 22, 2008

media alert: VeloPress to launch two books at Interbike

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Top Cycling Publisher to Launch Two Cycling History Books at Interbike

September 22, 2008 -- Boulder, CO, USA -- VeloPress will launch two new cycling books this week at Interbike.

Campagnolo celebrates 75 years of its glorious and storied legacy with a new book: Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion. The book includes a chapter on the company's legendary Super Record group and on the new 11-speed Super Record group, which will be launched at Interbike.

A Dog in a Hat is Joe Parkin's memoir of his experiences as one of the first Americans to become a professional bike racer in Europe. Joe Parkin will autograph copies of A Dog in a Hat at Interbike on Thursday, September 25th from 5-6 p.m. at the VeloPress booth # 2139.

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

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

September is National Youth Soccer Month!

Teach Kids Good Sportsmanship with Shawn Sheep the Soccer Star

Olympic Athlete Writes Children's Book on Soccer and Being a Good Team Player

Boulder, CO USA - September 9, 2008 - Olympic athlete Erin Mirabella has written a new children's book in time for National Youth Soccer Month this September. 

Shawn Sheep is the best soccer player he knows - and that's part of the trouble. Shawn can dribble around oncoming defenders, shoot from the corner, pass, kick, and score goals better than anyone on his team, the Barnsville Sports Squad.

At least that's what he's been telling everyone. But when it comes time for one of the biggest games of the season, Shawn is so busy bragging that he irks his teammates and makes some big mistakes that could cost them the game. Shawn finds out he has a lot to learn about being a good team player. And when Shawn sees his soccer hero making the same mistakes, he knows what he has to do.

Children ages 5-8 will love this action-packed story, which emphasizes teamwork and fair play. Sarah Davis's vibrant illustrations bring all the characters to life as they run, flip, and cheer through the pages.

The Barnsville Sports Squad series introduces kids to Olympic sports and the concepts of fair play and good sportsmanship through situations that children can readily understand. Each title also includes fitness tips for kids to put into practice as they participate in their own favorite sports. Shawn Sheep the Soccer Star is the second title in the series and follows Gracie Goat's Big Bike Race (2007).

Shawn Sheep the Soccer Star
Story by Erin Mirabella, Illustrations by Sarah Davis
Hardcover with jacket, full-color interior | 8.5" x 10", 32 pp. | VP-SSSS, SRP$15.95 | 978-1-934030-16-5
Published by VeloPress | www.velopress.com | VeloPress books are distributed to the book trade by PGW.

* Soccer is the most popular youth sport in America, with 3.6 million players
* September is National Youth Soccer Month
* Book includes: "All About Soccer," a brief tutorial for kids, and a Fitness Fact on healthy eating habits
* In 2006, the U.S. Olympic Committee presented the author with the prestigious Jack Kelly Fair Play award for sportsmanship

Erin Mirabella represented the United States in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. In 2005, the U.S. Olympic Committee awarded Erin the prestigious Jack Kelly Fair Play Award, which is presented to an athlete, coach or official for an outstanding act of fair play or sportsmanship. She is the author of Gracie Goat's Big Bike Race (2007) and was a Home Depot Olympic athlete in track cycling. The Barnsville Sports Squad series is inspired by Erin's experience as an Olympic athlete, and highlights the fun, value and life-long lessons that sports offer. Erin lives near the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Sarah Davis is a full-time artist who has worked on a wide range of projects, including toy design, storyboards and concept art, advertising, and character design. She also provides the illustrations for another popular series, Childhood Heroes, which creates personalized children's books in association with some of Australia's biggest sports stars. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

Author interviews, events, media copies:
Dave Trendler, Marketing and Publicity Manager
dtrendler@insideinc.com | (303) 245-2138

Distributors and retailers may order through:
Jen Soulé, Sales Manager
wholesale@insideinc.com | (800) 811-4210 x169

Campagnolo Celebrates 75th Anniversary with a Lavish History Book, Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion

Boulder, CO, USA - September 9th 2008 - This autumn, revered cycling component manufacturer Campagnolo celebrates 75 years of its glorious and storied legacy with a new book: Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion. The book includes a chapter on the company's legendary Super Record group and on the new 11-speed Super Record group, which will launch at Interbike. 

The book will be available in the U.K at the beginning of November at good bookshops or direct from www.cordee.co.uk.

As Leica is to cameras and Ferrari to racing automobiles, Campagnolo is to cycling: designer of the finest parts for bicycles ever made. Campagnolo's jewel-like brakes, pedals, derailleurs, cranksets, and wheels have been ridden to more race victories than any other brand, yet the same components are available to cycling enthusiasts worldwide. 

Campagnolo's rich history began with the founder, Tullio Campagnolo, a racer who turned to creating better bicycle parts when he found the equipment of the day inadequate for the rigors of professional competition. Blending exotic alloys with sound engineering, Campagnolo created a series of patented designs that are still in use today as the fundamental standards upon which modern parts are based.

With its deeply researched history (much of it from the company's private archives), spectacular colour photography, rich text, and lavish presentation, Campagnolo is a book for every lover of the sport of cycling, as well as connoisseurs of the bicycle itself. Colour, black-and-white photos and illustrations throughout. 

Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion

By Paolo Facchinetti and Guido Rubino

Hardcover with jacket. | 9 1/2" x 11 3/4", 160 pp. | £27.50 | 978-1-934030-37-0

* Published to coincide with Campagnolo's 75th anniversary celebration

* Featuring archival material from the Campagnolo family and Campagnolo company that has never been previously published

* Book launch at Interbike and the London Cycle Show - cycling industry trade and consumer shows attended by cycling's most devoted enthusiasts

Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion retails in the U.K. for £27.50. Available at good bookshops or direct from www.cordee.co.uk. For trade enquiries, please contact:

Richard Robinson

Cordee

3a De Montfort St

Leicester LE1 7HD

United Kingdom

+44 (0) 116 254 3579

info@cordee.co.uk

www.cordee.co.uk



















Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Joe Parkin's Cycling Book Launches this Weekend!

Bike Racing and Belgian Beer: Come to Joe Parkin's Book Launch Party at One on One in Minneapolis!

Minneapolis, MN - September 2, 2008 - Local author and former pro cyclist Joe Parkin will celebrate the launch of his new book at One on One Bicycle Studio in Minneapolis on Saturday, September 6th at 7:00 p.m. This is a free event with Belgian refreshments provided.

A Dog in a Hat Book Launch Event with Joe Parkin
Saturday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m.
One on One Bicycle Studio
117 Washington Ave N. | Warehouse District
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 | USA
Questions? Please visit oneononebike.com or call (612) 371-9565.

Parkin's new book is A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium. The book is a memoir of Parkin's experience as one of the first Americans to race bikes professionally in Europe. The book is now available in bookstores, bike shops, and online. Parkin will autograph copies during the event.

In 1987, Joe Parkin was an amateur bike racer in California when he ran into Bob Roll, a pro on the powerhouse Team 7-Eleven. "Lobotomy Bob" told Parkin to go to Belgium to become a pro bike racer. Riding along a canal in Belgium years later, Roll encountered Parkin, who he describes in the book's foreword as "a wraith, an avenging angel of misery, a twelve-toothed assassin". Roll barely recognized him; Belgium had forged Parkin into a pro, and changed him forever.

A Dog in a Hat is Joe's remarkable story. 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 tells the hard reality of the life-the drugs, the payoffs, the betrayals by teammates, the battles with team owners for contracts and pay, the endless promises that keep you going, and the sheer physical agony 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. Parkin is a long-time resident of Minnesota.

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

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