Anyone who loves to ride a bicycle, especially long distances, will enjoy meeting David Herlihy, author of "The Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale of an American Adventurer and His Mysterious Disappearance" at Nicola’s Books on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.

In the late 1880s, Pittsburgh resident Frank Lenz was a well known high wheel racer, but he dreamed of cycling around the world. He finally got his chance in 1892. By then Lenz had recast himself as a champion of the downsized “safety bicycle” that had inflatable tires and was becoming the rage. In the spring of 1892 he left his job and set out to cover 20,000 miles over three continents for Outing magazine. Two years later he disappeared in eastern Turkey.

Because of international outcry of Lenz’s disappearance Outing magazine sent William Sachtleben, another larger-than-life cyclist to find out what happened. It is Lenz’s story and Sachtleben’s heroic effort to bring Lenz’s accused murderers to justice that David Herlihy writes about.

David Herlihy is the author of "Bicycle: The History," and his work has been featured on National Public Radio and Voice of America and in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Boston, and Historic Preservation. In 1999 Herlihy received the McNair History Award from the Wheelmen, the preeminent American association of antique bicycle collectors.

For more information about this event please contact us at 734-662-0600 or at www.nicolasbooks.com.