The Belgian Hammer: Forging Young Americans into Professional Cyclists
Daniel Lee - 2011
Only thirty-six Americans have competed in the Tour de France since the world’s greatest bicycle race began in 1903. That’s not too many more than the twelve Americans who have walked on the moon. It’s far fewer than the hundreds of Americans who have reached the summit of Mount Everest.But rising stars such as Lawson Craddock of Texas, Benjamin King of Virginia, Taylor Phinney of Colorado, Daniel Holloway of California, and Tyler Farrar of Washington state are doing just that as they endure crashes, cold rain, cobblestones, crosswinds, and culture shock on their road to cycling stardom, which starts in Belgium.This is the story of the next generation—of riders not yet tainted by drug scandals, of riders still bursting with hope and potential. This is the story American cycling fans need right now. -------------------“People, get ready for great stories written well. The Belgian Hammer captures cycling culture.” —Benjamin King, 2010 U.S. Pro Road Racing Champion“The Belgian Hammer is the unique story of professional cycling that hasn’t yet been told until now. Daniel Lee has revealed the road map for the next generation of Americans hoping to become successful in Europe, where cycling is king.” —Jim Ochowicz, President/General Manager of the BMC Racing Team.“All of us who left our tire prints on the European circuits remember how racing there shaped us forever. With passion, Daniel Lee gives substance and perspective to the experience of young Americans trying to make it in Europe; and bicycle racing is illuminated by his craft.”—John Howard, three-time Olympic cyclist, who set a bicycle speed record of 152.2 mph in 1985“For those who admire images of cyclists flashing with arms spread wide in triumph over the finish line on blue-sky days, Daniel Lee gives us an insightful, forceful, and gritty account of the rigorous―and frequently perilous―route that cyclists take to force their way up the ranks and develop skills to win. A former racer himself, Dan Lee puts his passion for the sport into his newspaper reporter experience and writing talent. In The Belgian Hammer he follows Taylor Phinney, Benjamin King, Daniel Holloway, and other legends in the making on the USA Cycling national team living in Belgium, where the young bloods from around the world go to test themselves against the best of their generation. They compete in tight packs exceeding 150 riders pumping over narrow wind-blown roads slick from rain while threading through the countryside at unrelenting speed. To spectators cycling matches the grace of ballet. Daniel Lee reveals its uncompromising demands and brutality and heroics.” ―Peter Joffre Nye, author of The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America’s Jazz Age Sport and a Trustee of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame
Coastal Tuna (Coastal Adventure Series Number 4)
Don Rich - 2020
Marlin sees this as a perfect opportunity for the fishing foundation to educate people across the country about the importance of protecting another fishery. He also knows that Mallard Cove Marina on Virginia's Eastern Shore will make the perfect new home for the show, and that its resident charter boats and crews will be part of a great new cast. While he is prepared to deal with the big egos of some of the old cast members, he hadn't figured on having a shadowy saboteur that wanted the show cancelled, and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it cancelled...permanently. Nor is he ready for the old cast members that will also stop at nothing to get re-hired and bring the show back south.So, follow the Mallard Cove gang as they deal with those old cast members, and they race to put a stop to the sabotage before someone else gets killed or the show becomes history!
The Armageddon Protocol
Rob Jones - 2017
A desperate hunt for the truth... Millions of lives at stake... When Professor Pablo Reyes is brutally murdered in his Madrid apartment it triggers a desperate hunt for his missing research. His lover Dr Lucia Serrano is accused of his murder and is now on the run from both the Spanish authorities and those really responsible for his death. With nowhere to go, she runs to the only man she can trust – former army officer and MI6 agent Harry Bane. As Harry and Lucia decode the Professor’s cryptic clues and race through the night, they slowly uncover a dark and menacing conspiracy dedicated to a genocide of terrifying scale. Fast-paced and with a touch of humour, this novel races from museums in Madrid to Parisian jails and the ski slopes of the French Alps, and along the way Harry and Lucia meet up with other lost strangers who must all pull together if they are to stand a chance of ending their enemy’s insane plans.
Indigo Abyss (Buck Reilly Adventure #9)
John H. Cunningham - 2021
Once a world-renowned archeologist and treasure hunter who lost everything, Buck had fled to Key West to operate Last Resort Charter and Salvage aboard a pair of antique amphibious aircraft. Finally tired of being broke, Buck digs out his old maps, clues, and research to some of the world’s most lucrative missing treasures to start afresh.Until one of his worst enemies shows up to demand help in finding the missing Queen’s Dowry that sank with eleven Spanish Galleons in 1715 off Florida’s east coast. They have his brother hostage and will kill him if Buck refuses or fails.The ensuing odyssey pits him against the people who had cost him his former success, family, wealth, and led to his self-exile to Key West.But there is no escaping this time. The rocky road takes a surprise and brutal path that leads to mind blowing discoveries and a life-or-death confrontation that blows Buck’s reclusive world irrevocably apart.
Galleon's Gold (Alicia Myles Book 5)
David Leadbeater - 2019
After a shipwrecked Spanish Manila galleon is discovered off the coast of Acapulco the investigators are stunned when its newly found treasure is stolen from under their noses. Alicia Myles and the Gold team are asked to investigate. Through the Swiss and Italian Alps and Mexico, they confront, chase and capture the ruthless thieves who are, in turn, being hunted by a far deadlier criminal kingpin. They are told that, to find the galleon’s principal treasure, they must follow a series of clues set down in ancient diaries, shadowing the poignant journey of one of the shipwreck’s few survivors. With intense danger looming on all sides, Alicia and her team end up tracking the treasure across a vast enemy encampment, through a highly dangerous and menacing ship-graveyard, surrounded by adversaries and finally forced into a decisive, deadly sea battle. . .
Kisses From Nimbus: From SAS to MI6 An Autobiography
P.J. 'Red' Riley - 2017
His is the story the establishment doesn’t want you to read.br>Captain P. J. “Red” Riley is an ex-SAS soldier who served for eighteen years as an MI6 agent. Riley escaped internment in Chile during the Falklands war during an audacious top-secret attempt to attack the Argentinian mainland. He was imprisoned in the darkness of the Sierra Leonean jungle, and withstood heavy fire in war-torn Beirut and Syria. In 2015, he was arrested for murder but all charges were later dropped. In this searing memoir, Riley reveals the brutal realities of his service, and the truth behind the newspaper headlines featuring some of the most significant events in recent British history. His account provides startling new evidence on the Iraq war, what Tony Blair really knew about Saddam Hussain’s weapons of mass destruction before the allied invasion, and questions the British government’s alleged involvement in the death of Princess Diana. Chaotic, darkly humorous and at times heart-wrenchingly sad, Kisses From Nimbus charts the harrowing real-life experiences of a soldier and spy in the name of Queen and country.
Forgotten Emperor: The Complete Campaigns
Paul Bannister - 2018
His father was a respected warrior chief, a leader of men. As a centurion in the Empire’s mighty Army, he earns the respect of his men: soldiers who will fight, and die if necessary, at his command. But, just like his father before him, he is surrounded by enemies... Arthur Imperator The Roman fleet has been defeated and the threat of invasion removed. Arthur Britannicus has taken the throne as Imperator – Emperor of Britain. He is a symbol of hope, uniting the fractious tribes of Britain who have been oppressed and mistreated for so long. However, as the threat from Rome retreats, the intimidation from Saxon warlords intensifies. Arthur must draw his sword and muster his forces again if he is to keep his island under British rule. While Arthur builds his cavalry and trains up his army, his old enemy, Maximian, Augustus of the West, plots his downfall. Seething over Arthur’s execution of his general, Constantius, Maximian will look to take Arthur’s kingdom - and his life. Arthur Invictus Londinium. Britain has lost its battle with Rome and the city lies in ruins. But the Romans, under threat in their homeland from barbarian invaders, have retreated. The war is not over. As Emperor of Britain, Arthur Imperator must reunite the fractured British tribes to lead them back to victory - and reclaim the kingdom. The Roman emperor Maximian is bound to strike again. But instead of waiting passively for him to attack, Arthur resolves to risk everything by leading his men to the Roman border and confronting the enemy head on. A King’s Cavalry King Arthur, Britain’s triumphant ruler, is turning his cavalry into the finest war horses the world has ever known Though he is a pagan at heart, he has embraced the new Christian religion in the hope of uniting his country under one faith and one cause. Yet, when he receives a summons from Constantine, the Emperor of Rome, he is worried that the traditional Gods have abandoned him for publicly announcing his Christian beliefs. The Emperor appears to want peace. But Arthur killed Constantine’s father -- and he is wary that this summons might be his own death warrant. With Constantine growing ever more threatening, Arthur’s time is running out.
Oregon Dreams: 10-Book Box Set of Sweet, Clean, Mail Order Bride Western Historical Romance
Montana Ross - 2020
Across the Wilderness
Pamela Ackerson - 2014
A time-travel romance where a Sioux warrior from the 1800's meets a contemporary woman doctor, Across the Wilderness is a love story that transcends time, bringing two soul mates together on a journey interwoven with romance, revenge, and intrigue.
Hell in the Nations: The Further Adventures of Hayden Tilden (Hayden Tilden Westerns Book 2)
J. Lee Butts - 2016
Until Hayden Tilden caught up with him.Smilin’ Jack Paine is one face from the past that Hayden would rather forget, but the man’s sinister grin is permanently etched in his memory, along with the chilling thoughts of Paine’s unspeakable crimes. There seems to be no other way to put that demon to rest than to tell the whole story—from the day Hayden first heard the man’s name to the day he finally wiped the grin off Paine’s face for good.Praise for Lawdog: The Life and Times of Haydon Tilden“Lawdog should assume its rightful place beside other Western classics.” —Peter Brandvold, author of Once Hell Freezes Over“Lawdog has it all. I couldn’t put it down.” —Jack Ballas, author of West of the RiverAbout the Author:J. Lee Butts is the author of 22 published books and numerous magazine articles and short works. His book Brotherhood of Blood was runner-up for the Western Writers of America Spur Award in 2005. He’s worn many hats over the years (teacher, administrator, pool manager, IBM supervisor, and western author), and he and his late wife lived everywhere from Los Angeles to Dallas. Currently he’s hanging those hats back in White Hall, Arkansas.
EMP Primeval
S.A. Ison - 2019
The prize is five million dollars to survive sixty days. The location was chosen as one of the most remote places on earth. The games begin, until an EMP strands the eighteen and the production crew with no chance of rescue. Now they are fighting for their lives, and they are fighting each other. Will mother nature kill them or will they kill each other? The only prize is life in the world Primeval.
Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie
Andrew P. Sykes - 2011
But while sitting on his sofa watching the exploits of the cyclists at the Great Wall of China at the Beijing Olympics, he realised the error of his ways and resolved to put a bit more adventure into his life. Two years later, accompanied by his faithful companion Reggie (his bike) but only a rudimentary plan, Andrew set off for a trans-continental cycling adventure that would take him along the route of the Via Francigena and the Eurovelo 5 all the way from his home in southern England to Brindisi in the south of Italy. There were highs and lows, rain and shine, joy and despair and they are all recounted here in a light-hearted, brisk style.
Team 7-Eleven: How an Unsung Band of American Cyclists Took on the World - and Won
Geoff Drake - 2011
Founded in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz and Olympic medalist Eric Heiden and sponsored by the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores, the team rounded up the best amateur cyclists in North America and formed them into a cohesive, European-style cycling team. As amateurs, they dominated the American race scene and won seven medals at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. As professionals, beginning in 1985, the team went to Europe and soon received invitations to the Tour of Italy and then the Tour de France, putting Americans on the podium in landmark victories that would change the face of American cycling forever. Prepared with the enthusiastic cooperation of the team members and co-authored by the team’s founder, Jim Ochowicz, 7-Eleven is not only the most important missing piece in the story of American cycling, but the book that American cyclists have been waiting for ever since the 7-Eleven cowboys snagged that first yellow jersey.
Lance Armstrong: Images of a Champion
Lance Armstrong - 2004
His heroic survival from deadly cancer and his hard-fought triumphs in the bicycle race that is thought to be the most grueling endurance test in sports are a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. Filled with never-before-seen pictures--including photos of his historic seventh Tour win--and revealing insights by the people who know him best, this treasured keepsake celebrates in words and photographs Armstrong's indomitable will and champion's heart. See inside Lance's tour with intimate pictures of Armstrong in competition and off the bike, as well as stunning full-color views capturing the grandeur of the sport, by cycling's top photographer, Graham Watson.
Riding in the Zone Rouge: The Tour of the Battlefields 1919 – Cycling's Toughest-Ever Stage Race
Tom Isitt - 2019
It covered 2,000 kilometres and was raced in appalling conditions across the battlefields of the Western Front, otherwise known as the Zone Rouge. The race was so tough that only 21 riders finished, and it was never staged again.With one of the most demanding routes ever to feature in a bicycle race, and plagued by appalling weather conditions, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille was beyond gruelling, but today its extraordinary story is largely forgotten. Many of the riders came to the event straight from the army and had to ride 18-hour stages through sleet and snow across the battlefields on which they had fought, and lost friends and family, only a few months before. But in addition to the hellish conditions there were moments of high comedy, even farce.The rediscovered story of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille is an epic tale of human endurance, suffering and triumph over extreme adversity.