Four Fifty-Plus Fools Flit Fru France

by Michael Newton

Four over-fifty year old cyclists fly into Biarritz, have a days rest to acclimatize then set off back to Teesside passing through sixteen towns twinned with British towns and arrive in Caen after eighteen days. The route included the Pyrenees, the Dordogne, the Loire Valley and Normandy. Money was raised for five charities. The reader of Four Fifty-Plus Fools Flit Fru France will find the book wonderfully entertaining and full of amusing and interesting digressions. The route was certainly challenging for old legs and their "biffons" were severely tested, with one cyclist suffering from "white penis syndrome". Letters and emails were sent out to all the twinned towns mayors in hopes that crowds would line the streets as they arrived. The reception from all the French people that they met on the way was outstanding. They were greeted by dancing in the main square in Biarritz and bunting on display in many towns that they passed through. The latter part of the ride passed through towns historically rich in Second World War stories.A quote from a The book is superb, very well written, so good in fact, I almost feel as though I am there with you guys. I feel quite envious, whilst some of the days sound as though they have been quite tough in cycling terms.

230 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

From Wikipedia:
"Michael Newton (born 1951) is an American author best known for his work on Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan series. Newton first began work on the Executioner series by co-writing "The Executioner's War Book" with Don Pendleton in 1977. Since then he has been a steady writer for the series with almost 90 entries to his credit, which triples the amount written by creator Don Pendleton. His skills and knowledge of the series have allowed him to be picked by the publishers to write the milestone novels such as #100, #200, and #300.

Writing under the pseudonym Lyle Brandt, Michael Newton has also become a popular writer of Western novels. He has written a number of successful non-fiction titles as well, including a book on genre writing (How to Write Action Adventure Novels). His book Invisible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Florida won the Florida Historical Society's 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for Best Book in Florida History. Newton's "Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology" won the American Library Association's award for Outstanding Reference Work in 2006."

Pen names: Lyle Brandt, Don Pendleton, Jack Buchanan

Bibiliography available here.