What does a top sportsman or woman do when they’ve retired? Some pass their experience and knowledge on to the next generation of aspiring stars, while others share their wisdom with the rest of us by turning to punditry.
Still others do something completely different.
While we watched him hurtling around the velodrome at London 2012, who would have predicted that Sir Chris Hoy would become both a successful author and a pretty decent racing driver?
Yet that’s just what happened. Earlier this year I was lucky enough to meet Sir Chris ahead of publication of his first book, Flying Fergus. As well as telling me the books which had inspired him (which you can read here https://www.sundaypost.com/in10/entertainment/10-books-that-inspired-cyclist-chris-hoy/), he told me of his bid to take part in the Le Mans 24 hour race.
It was a delight to learn that he is as nice in person as he appears, commenting on track racing alongside Clare Balding at the Rio Olympics, for example. Success hadn’t gone to his head, and he was genuinely delighted at the luxury hotel suite he’d been installed in by his publishers.
Piccadilly Press’s faith was justified, and Flying Fergus and Chris’s books have beeen popular, but as a keen cyclist myself, I’m keen to see his next book, due out on October 20th. This book, On Your Bike, is his first non-fiction title, and uses the characters from Flying Fergus to teach children about making the most of their bikes.
There's a book for that 