World’s Longest Cycling Race

ENTERTAINMENT - Last week (January 18th) the world's longest cycling race began, starting in Cairo Egypt and ending at Cape Town South Africa. Tour d’Afrique is a trek of 12,000 km across treacherous terrain, intense heat, salt flats, sandy desert and unpredictable weather.

The 61 racers will cycle through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa and the journey will take approx. 120 days (about 96 cycling days and 24 rest/maintenance days).

The journey isn't just a test of speed and endurance, but also your maintenance/repair skills.

Tour de France? Pfff. That is a mere 3,500 km and 21 days.

Bicycle Sleuths

ENTERTAINMENT - Can't get enough of the latest Sherlock Holmes movie? Maybe you're a CSI buff and love a good murder mystery? (I personally am addicted to CSI Vegas, MacGyver, Magnum P.I. and Simon & Simon episodes.)

Here's one just for bicycle enthusiasts: Abby Faria Mysteries.

Written by Torontonian Vivian Meyer the two books (with more to come) follow Abby Faria, a bicycle courier in downtown Toronto, as she solves one mystery after another. The books are "Ragged Chain" and "Bottom Bracket".

Take one part V.I. Warshawski (by American author Sara Paretsky), one part Zodiac (by American author Neal Stephenson) and see what you get.



If you like bicycle oriented mystery books also check out:

"A Bicycle Built For Murder" by Kate Kingsbury

"Bicycle Shop Murder" by Robert Burton Robinson

"Murder by Bicycle" by Veronica Heley

"The Green Bicycle Murder" by C. Wendy East

Mon dieu! It really makes bicycles sound rather morbid... Maybe I should point out that according to Amazon.com there are 10 times as many murder mystery books with a car as part of the central plot.