"Riding Man" Book Selling Out

He recently dropped us a note to let us know the first edition of his book is on the verge of selling out, and he hints about the development of it into a feature film.

A decade ago, Gardiner quit his job, sold everything he owned, and moved to the Isle of Man to see if a completely ordinary motorcyclist could qualify for the famed TT races. He did, and his story was told in a well-received documentary film, One Man's Island. A few years later, Gardiner published his memoir of those events. Despite a lack of advertising or store presence, Riding Man has become a cult book among motorcyclists. It's all word-of-mouth, says Gardiner. I have one reader in New Jersey who just bought seven copies, so he can give one to each of his riding buddies. That's how it goes.

With the first edition nearly sold out, Gardiner kept a few cartons so that he could still offer signed and inscribed copies from his http://www.ridingman.com/ website.

Gardiner plans to release an electronic version of Riding Man early in the New Year. If you get a Kindle or an iPad for Christmas, he says, I hope to have Riding Manavailable for download soon. The e-reader version will include a chapter that was cut from the print version at the last minute.

Gardiners tale has now gotten the attention of a Hollywood insider. Tom Guttry, an avid motorcyclist who fell in love with the story, set up a meeting between Gardiner and Mark Clayman, who was the executive producer of the Will Smith film 'Pursuit of Happyness.'

Gardiner says he'll reprint Riding Man if Clayman succeeds in attracting financing for the film. The TT's really caught a second wind in the last few years, says Gardiner. The HD coverage on Discovery has created whole new TT cult in the U.S., and the time's right for a mainstream film about it.

Gardiner's also circulating a separate feature film screenplay based on the British Army motorcycle team's escape from the Nazis during the 1939 ISDT competition.

So if youre looking for a great gift for the motorcyclist on your shopping list and youd like to help out an industry good guy, browse on over to RidingMan.com to order a copy.

And if youd like to sample his writing style, surf on over to the following articles hes written for Motorcycle.com.

2007 Isle of Man report
2008 Isle of Man report
2010 Zero MX Review
2009 Yamaha T-Max Review
2008 Zero X Review
2008 Suzuki B-King Review
2009 Honda VTX1300T Review