The Man Who Cycled the Americas

In the autumn of 2002 and at the tender age of 47, I set off alone on a bicycle intending to ride across the USA. From San Diego, California I rode 3,112 miles to arrive 72 days later in St. Augustine, on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Usually, I camped or slept rough in the deserts and mountains, exploring the back roads and delighting in the magnificent solitude and wild empty spaces. This is a book about traveling alone by bicycle. It is not a how-to-do-it manual or a travel guide but a story of pure adventure; a story born out of frustration and middle-aged dread, written by someone whose value set may now be a little different from yours. It is an account of a journey; one that will appeal to anyone of a certain age who has ever said 'I wish'. Every word of it is true.  

Remember when you were a kid and you got your first bicycle? After a few weeks of mastering the dynamics of balancing, steering, and pedaling, all at the same time hopefully, your father released his protective, steadying grip on the seat and you went wobbling off on your own. It was probably your very first taste of independence and freedom and you knew you liked that feeling very much. Few things in life have ever compared to that first solo ride.

Almost 40 years after my first solo bike ride, I was able to recapture the excitement and passion of that momentous occasion when I pedaled out of Anchorage, Alaska bound for Tierra del Fuego-the very tip of South America. No matter that it was 17,500 miles distant and would take 3½ years to get there I vowed I would achieve that goal if it took the rest of my life.

On July 22, 2012, Bradley Wiggins made history as the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. Ten days later, at the London Olympic Games, he won the time trial to become his country’s most decorated Olympian. In an instant, “Wiggo”—now Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins—became a national hero.

Two years previously, however, Wiggins had been staring into the abyss. His much-hyped attempt to conquer the 2010 Tour de France had ended in public humiliation. Poor results and indifferent form left him facing release from Team Sky. And then he was hit with the tragic news of the death of his grandfather, George, the man who had raised him as a young boy. At rock bottom, Wiggins had to reach deep inside and find the strength to fight his way back.

Outspoken, honest, intelligent, and fearless, Wiggins has been hailed as the people’s champion. In My Time, he tells the story of the remarkable journey that led him from his lowest ebb to win the world’s toughest race. He opens up about the personal anguish that has driven him on and what it’s like behind the scenes at Team Sky: the brutal training regimes, the sacrifices, and his views on his teammates and rivals. He talks too about his anger at the specter of doping that pursues his sport, how he dealt with the rush of taking Olympic gold, and above all what it takes to be the greatest.

The other side doesn't play by the rules much anymore.

There’s thinking, in some circles,

that we need to play by a different set of rules too …”

James Bond, in his early thirties and already a veteran of the Afghan war, has been recruited to a new organization. Conceived in the post-9/11 world, it operates independent of MI5, MI6 and the Ministry of Defense, its very existence deniable. Its aim: To protect the Realm, by any means necessary.

A Night Action alert calls James Bond away from dinner with a beautiful woman. Headquarters has decrypted an electronic whisper about an attack scheduled for later in the week: 

Casualties estimated in the thousands, British interests adversely affected.

And Agent 007 has been given carte blanche to do whatever it takes to fulfill his mission . . . 

The new thriller by Master of the Mind Game

JEFFERY DEAVER

featuring

JAMES BOND