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Book update

The writing is done, the printer and e-book seller has been chosen but I am still lacking a cover.

The problem of design has largely been removed from me as I have a very generous offer from a graphic designer to produce the cover. I have an idea of the design for the back cover, this will mean getting a photograph taken (another generous offer from a professional photographer) but as to the front cover, I have no strong feeling.  The designer told me that the title will drive the design so at this stage, I am not worrying!

‘Traditional’ covers designs for this type of book usually show a long, winding road leading into the hills wioth no one else about. Once I have submitted my pictures and ideas I will leave this part of the design up to the designer; maybe ‘Point North & Pedal’ will throw out something different. It will be interesting to see the result.

I am still on track for a book launch at the back end of March, please keep popping back to www.phil-cox.net for more content and details of how to buy the book once everything has been prepared.

Now, back to writing website content!

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London Bike Show

My mate Steve had organised some tickets for the London Bike Show held at the Excel centre over the weekend of 19th/20th January, this was a chance to see some ‘real’ cyclists close up and dribble over the expensive bikes on display.

I am no fan of the city and was not looking forward to all the travel.  We took a train from Didcot to Paddington and then the underground to hook up with the Docklands Light Railway. We arrived around 10.30am and proceeded to have a quick look around the stands to see what was about. The Outdoor Show and The Boat Show were also happening, this made things very busy.

Satisfied that we could find our way around most of the stands, we opted for an early lunch of pie and mash, a dish we enjoyed at the Blenheim off road event last year. We first visited Pinarello with their Team Sky bike a tad under £15,000; the formidable engineering and sheer good looks of the bike were amazing. With bank balances unable to cope with this kind of thing, we repeated the look-but-don’t-touch-or-buy scenario at most of the other stands we visited during the day.

Having entered a competition on the Brompton stand (fold-up bike manufacturer) to win a VIP trip around their factory, we made our way to the indoor track for the Brompton race. The Le Mans style start was interesting, competitors ran 50m’s from the start line to their bikes, unfolded them and whizzed around the track for 10 laps. The dress code was a shirt and tie as mandatory to reflect the commuting connection with Brompton. Not to be outdone, Steve and I had a quick ride around on one of the demo Brompton’s; I imagine they take a bit of getting used to.

The highlight of the day for me was the pro teams’ race. The race was 30 minutes in duration and, after getting the measure of the tight, indoor corners on lap one, the riders were pretty much flat out for after that. There was really nothing to the riders but they have huge engines, I would be happy with a 10th of their stamina.

A great day out, looking forward to next year already!

Further reading…..

If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk

Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!

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LinkedIn

Explored the world of Linked In today; something I have resisted for a long time, it feels like a starchy Facebook. I’m hopeful that connections will generate some books sales but I am still reluctant to admit to ‘networking’. However, the reading I have done around marketing books suggests that this kind of thing is essential to promote the author and his/her works. We shall see.

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Developing the New Website

I have spent a reasonable amount of time thinking about what I would like to include on the new website. The usual items such as a contact page, an about me page and also some excerpts from the book were a given but it also needed to include other items that would see people returning to the site.

I had plenty of pictures from the Land’s End to John O’Groats trip but only a few that were good enough to showcase; I am no photographer and unfortunately it shows! I wanted the images to show the remoteness of some of the roads and the fantastic countryside that I had enjoyed. Pictures definitely will be of interest but there should be a few new ones added of different rides to keep the gallery fresh.

The home page is a key thing for the whole project, I’m still thinking about what to include on it. The website will be next to useless if people do not know about it, something else to consider.

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