Local author Jeff Sambur recently won a gold medal in the travel essays category at the Independent Publishing Awards for his book Destroying Demons on the Diagonal. ($13.95, 334 pages) It is about "a firefighter's San Diego to Maine bicycle ride into retirement."

Some interesting facts about his ride: He biked 6,518 miles; passed through 17 states; spent 17 weeks and 5 days on the road; had two weeks of non-cycling days. He writes, "We live in a beautiful country ... go out there and see it before you are so old, that walking the pug dog is the highlight of the day."

A book summary and bio are below the cut:

Book summary (written by Sambur):

Don’t let the title or the cover scare you off; the book is a light-hearted account of my San Diego to Maine bicycle ride into retirement.
Come along with me as we pedal to: The Salton Sea, the Colorado River, Route 66, the Continental Divide, the Santa Fe Trail, the Lewis and Clark Trail, the headwaters of the Mississippi, the five Great Lakes, the highest points in three states, and fifteen baseball stadiums.
Along the way, we’ll meet farmers, felons, friends (new and old ones), vagabonds and heaps of good-natured American folks. There’s history, geography and a few of my musings and opinions. Heck! You might even learn a few fun factoids for the next Trivial Pursuit game.
The book is now available online at Amazon.com.

Author bio (written by Sambur):

Jeff Sambur’s few worldly possessions live in Tucson, Ariz., throughout the year. Jeff pays them a visit for a few months each winter. The rest of the time he is on the road in Barley, a customized Ford van. Barley is fitted out with three backpacks, two bicycles, one laptop, heaps of maps, a comfy bed, fig bars, books, bananas and of course, cold beer.
Jeff can be reached for questions, comments and funny stories at jeffsambur@gmail.com.
This is Jeff’s first book.