We are done (well, almost)!

300 Miles Desert Ahead Sign

Book writing update:

This week we completed rough drafts of the last two chapters of our upcoming book, “Bicycling Historic Route 66,” Chapter 8 – State of Arizona, and Chapter 9 – State of California. The trip across the Mojave Desert was daunting. It feels so good to be done with the trip narrative and to have sent it off to our editor. Ironically, the writing of the final days of the trip have coincided almost perfectly with the actual dates of the trip, July 11-21, 2016. Our Facebook memories have been showing us pictures from the trip and it has been a good motivator to keep pushing.  

Mr. Editor Guy has been really busy lately finishing another book, so we have been trying to give him some space. Although, we have been a bit concerned about the timing for completing the book. Our hope is to have it printed for the Midwest Tandem Rally, which is Labor Day weekend (forty days from today).

After many delays on our part (trips, home remodeling, etc.), we now have an aggressive timeline for finishing the book, but we did not know if our editor/publisher could keep up. Recently, however, we have noticed increasing activity in our shared book folders. We all finally had a chance to talk earlier this week, and he is almost done with his other book. Yes! Now, it is full steam ahead to the end. We hope we can keep up!

The book design for Chapter 5 – State of Oklahoma and Chapter 6 – State of Texas are also complete! Now we are rocking.

Marketing:

Endorsements for the book are rolling in and we have started adding “Advance praise for Bicycling Historic Route 66” to our weekly social media lineup.

“Two gritty athletes give us a peek behind the curtain to see what it would be like to pedal great swaths of the country on a tandem bike. Along the way, we come to realize how unassuming and friendly they really are, which helps resolve one of the great mysteries of the book: how they manage to stay married through it all.”

    -Steve Horrell, retired reporter for the Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer

This should complement our fun facts and this blog nicely. It has been fun to watch our following for these offerings grow over the past eight months. Wow, we have been working on this thing for a while.  

We will be venders and presenters at the Midwest Tandem Rally (MWTR) in Fort Wayne, Indiana Labor Day weekend. This is a great way to market our books, and to a target audience, fellow tandem riders! We have been venders at the past two MWTR Rallies and book sales have been brisk. 

The Grand Canyon Hotel, Williams, Arizona

“The Grand Canyon Hotel opened its doors in January 1891 and is the oldest hotel in Arizona. Williams was a logging, ranching, mining, and fur-trapping town. In 1905 the Santa Fe railroad opened a spur up to the Grand Canyon, making Williams “The Gate Way to the Grand Canyon.” The Grand Canyon Hotel was the only hotel close to the Grand Canyon at the time.

It is a European-style hotel… … (In) the guest registers from 1904, … are such famous guests as General Pershing (who was a Captain at the time) and The Vanderbilts. The King of Siam and John Muir (founder of the Sierra Club) stayed here 4 times. Other guests from the ‘40s and ’50s reveal the rooms were rented more than once the same night (Ummm).

The hotel closed about 1970 after interstate 40 bypassed Williams and sat empty for 35 years. New owners purchased the hotel in 2004 and started the complete remodel, re-opening for business in June of 2005. Including all new electricity and plumbing.

The Grand Canyon Hotel is located in the center of Williams at the crossroads of Route 66 and Second street.” https://thegrandcanyonhotel.com/history/