Bicycle book a labor of love

Jim Joyce likes to move. Whether he’s working as a mobility instructor for the blind or taking… Jim Joyce likes to move. Whether he’s working as a mobility instructor for the blind or taking a long ride on his bicycle, movement is a constant part of his life. In fact, about the only time the Pitt alumnus remains stationary is when he’s writing – about bikes.

“I always had what I refer to as ‘a writing jones,'” said Joyce, editor of the new book The Bicycle Book: Wit, Wisdom ‘ Wanderings in an interview with The Pitt News. “Back when the Internet was new, my biggest hobby was cycling, and I thought it would be fun to start a small online magazine.”

Joyce, who studied journalism and English at Penn State before earning his graduate degree in education for the visually handicapped from Pitt in 1987, started bikexchange.com in 1996. He invited people to contribute articles and cartoons and, after a few years, noticed that the site was receiving about 2,000 hits a day.

“At that time, I thought, ‘This is great, but a book would be really neat,'” he explained. “Over time the manuscript started getting better, and I started pitching it to various publishers. Last July, I found someone who wanted to run with it, and the book was released the day after Thanksgiving.”

The Bicycle Book is an amalgam of personal anecdotes, humorisms and cartoons on the art and artistry of cycling. And while it would certainly catch the attention of any avid cyclist, Joyce claimed that he didn’t put it together with a specific audience in mind.

“I wanted to show people all the different types of bicycling there are, whether riding around the block or for a hundred miles, and it’s all good,” he said. “I wanted to do it as a tribute to cycling.”

Contributions to the book came from a wide array of sources. Some were from nationally prominent names in cycling writing, such as Pulitzer-Prize winner Thomas Hylton. Some sprouted from Joyce’s work with his online magazine, such as the snippets of Gianna Bellofatto’s “Life is a Bike” series that originally appeared on the website.

Some stories originally came from “Wire Donkey Bike Zine,” a small-circulation magazine put out by Mason St. Clair of Nashville, Tenn. St. Clair is an 80-year-old biologist who has been producing the “Donkey Bike Zine” for 17 years and commuting by bike for much longer.

“I got on the mailing list of the zine early on,” Joyce said, “and that’s where I found many of the stories.”

Others, Joyce explained, were sourced from more personal connections. “One contributor who’s been with me all along is Andy Wallen,” he added, of the writer who regularly contributes an “Ask the Mechanic” column to Joyce’s website and included bits of that column in the book. “He was my bike mechanic when I started.”

Even Joyce’s brother Bill contributed to the book in a roundabout way. Bill’s story about a bike-ride gone awry, titled “California Angel,” originally appeared in Joyce’s inbox.

“He’s a great writer,” Joyce said of his brother, “and his story was actually an e-mail to me. It was so good I said, ‘I’m putting it in the book.’ He said, ‘You can’t put it in the book, it’s an e-mail.’ And I said, ‘Too bad.'”

Perhaps the most impressive quality about the project, however, is Joyce’s sense of humility and gratitude to those who contributed. He dedicates the book to his entire family and takes a page and a half to inscribe acknowledgements before readers even reach the table of contents.

And then there are his royalties, of which he’s giving 15 percent to three different charities – The League of American Bicyclists, Soldier Ride and The United States Association of Blind Athletes.

“You don’t often get to do a book in your life, and I wanted to make sure that I gave [back],” he explained. “The USABA is especially close to my heart. I was actually a coach when I worked at the Blind School [in Pittsburgh] in the mid-’80s.”

“Soldier Ride is something that came to my attention a few years ago,” said Joyce, whose own father was a WWII veteran. “It’s a bike race that originally started to raise money for wounded veterans and morphed into a ride that itself now includes injured veterans and those who use prosthetics. This is a way I can contribute to the people who give a huge sacrifice.”

It’s evident, whether speaking with him or reading his work, that Joyce is simultaneously proud and humbled by his work as writer and editor of his projects. He maintains that his first love and responsibility is working as a mobility instructor for the blind.

“This book and website are my hobby,” he emphasized. “I wouldn’t be able to have a hobby I love without a job I love.”