James Naismith never wrote the story of how he invented basketball and the early years of the sport. Neither did the inventor of any other sport.

Until now.

What Is This Madness? is Bud Johns' story of how a historic means of transportation -- used from necessity in Colonial America and the Old West and even earlier in England -- inspired him to invent the sport of Ride and Tie. His anecdotal history of the sport's first 14 years -- during which it grew from one race to more than 350 annually in the U.S. and abroad -- shows why one observer said "If you took the Kentucky Derby and the Boston Marathon to Outward Bound, you'd have yourself a Ride & Tie."

The race involves teams of two humans alternately running and riding an equine teammate over rugged trails that may be 40 or more miles in length. The forerunner of interest in ultradistance and multi-discipline sports such as triathlon, Ride & Tie has been called "the toughest game in town,""a thinking athlete's sport,""a sport for masochists" and many other things. Its addicts credit it with creating a lifestyle, a third of its participants are women and -- as a first-time viewer said -- "these people don't whine, do they?"

"The race is a living drama, with the rewards and disappointments of life," said a college professor who once was a member of a world-record relay team. "The first four miles of Ride & Tie were the most exciting thing I have ever done, the next thirty-odd were the toughest and the last mile the most rewarding."

What Is This Madness? is the story of an intriguing, exciting sport and the amazing people who are attracted to the combination of its physical and strategic challenges whether they're competing to win or are winning by completing the difficult event. It's the story of people -- of all ages -- who participate and as such it's a wonderful antidote to the "big bucks" hype of so much modern spectator sport. Long before you finish these pages you'll understand why an internationally-known ultradistance runner and triathlete wrote "I have been bit by the Ride & Tie bite" and a former Olympian said "participating in Ride & Tie is more exciting than competing in the Olympics."

Bud Johns began his writing career as a teenaged newspaper reporter in Michigan in the early 1940s. He has four published books (The Ombibulous Mr. Mencken, Bastard in the Ragged Suit and Old Dogs Remembered are the others) and has written countless magazine articles. He invented the sport of Ride & Tie while vice president of corporate communications for Levi Strauss & Co.

$7.95 Quality trade paperback, 192 pages, liberally illustrated
ISBN 0-912184-05-1

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