30th Anniversary Review: #126 Racing To Disaster

tomswift2002 · May 06, 2025, 05:27:52 PM

Published: July 1994
Publisher: Minstrel Books (1994-1999)
Author: Unknown as of May 2025

Plot: Wheels Are Turning...Bikes Are Flying...And The Hardy's Are Spinning Out Of Control!

A High-Speed, High-Stakes Chase Puts Frank and Joe On A Deadly Downhill Course!

America's top mountain-bikers have come to Southern California for the annual Wolf Mountain Annihilator competition, and Joe Hardy has just made the cut. But he and Frank quickly learn that the rivalries in teh race are cutthroat. Someone is determined to come out on top---no matter who gets annihilated along the way!

The race is on, and the Hardys are in gear for the action, kicking up plenty of dirt and danger. In a wild ride tot eh finish line, Frank and Joe take on gunfire and brush fires, rock slides and water rapids. They're hot in pursuit of the mountain-bike saboteur, speeding down a treacherous trail in which every curve is a killer!

Review:

I first read this book in the winter of 1995 after getting it from a book fair in January/February 1995. I recall that back then I found that it was alright, it wasn't a favorite, but it was okay. I've read it a few times since, and just thinking back, in a way it's kind of a repeat of #86 Mystery of the Silver Star, but it's different enough from that book to be a different story.

It just occurred to me that this is the first and only one of two Hardy Boys stories to carry the number 126, with the other being the Hardy Boys Casefiles book Fire In The Sky that would appear on the market just over 3 years later in November 1997. Since then, we haven't had another Hardy Boys 126.

MacGyver · May 06, 2025, 09:38:07 PM

I can't remember much of anything about this except that I'm pretty sure I got it as a Christmas or birthday gift. The description indicates it's about sabotage at a cycling competition. I seem to recall that The Mystery of the Silver Star involved a special prototype bicycle of some sort getting stolen and/or that The Hardy Boys were guarding it. So yeah- some similarities in themes but different enough storylines.
Yeah- I think it says something that the Original series/Digests and Casefiles are the only Hardy Boys series to run long enough to have at least 126 titles. In my opinion, they are by far the best. (Though I also love short-lived series that are connected to the Casefiles- like the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermysteries and the Hardy Boys/Tom Swift Ultra-Thrillers.)

tomswift2002 · May 07, 2025, 05:11:23 AM

Quote from: MacGyver on May 06, 2025, 09:38:07 PMI can't remember much of anything about this except that I'm pretty sure I got it as a Christmas or birthday gift. The description indicates it's about sabotage at a cycling competition. I seem to recall that The Mystery of the Silver Star involved a special prototype bicycle of some sort getting stolen and/or that The Hardy Boys were guarding it. So yeah- some similarities in themes but different enough storylines.
Yeah- I think it says something that the Original series/Digests and Casefiles are the only Hardy Boys series to run long enough to have at least 126 titles. In my opinion, they are by far the best. (Though I also love short-lived series that are connected to the Casefiles- like the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermysteries and the Hardy Boys/Tom Swift Ultra-Thrillers.

The Mystery Stories even had a number of short story anthologies. The Detective Handbook (which, surprisingly is now out of print, since it was part of the court case) the Survival Handbook, the Campfire Anthology and the Super Sleuths!, plus the 6 volume "Be A Detective" series.

MacGyver · May 07, 2025, 04:11:05 PM

Quote from: tomswift2002 on May 07, 2025, 05:11:23 AMThe Mystery Stories even had a number of short story anthologies. The Detective Handbook (which, surprisingly is now out of print, since it was part of the court case) the Survival Handbook, the Campfire Anthology and the Super Sleuths!, plus the 6 volume "Be A Detective" series.

Yes- I love those short story anthologies too.

tomswift2002 · May 08, 2025, 04:36:52 PM

It's been 20 years since I read the Undercover Brothers book Extreme Danger, however, Racing To Disaster especially in Chapter 1, seems to be similar to Chapter 3 of Extreme Danger from what I recall, especially with Chet. But with Racing To Disaster having been published in 1994, and Extreme Danger being published in 2005, ED is the one that would've been ripping off RTD.

MacGyver · May 09, 2025, 10:13:49 AM

Quote from: tomswift2002 on May 08, 2025, 04:36:52 PMIt's been 20 years since I read the Undercover Brothers book Extreme Danger, however, Racing To Disaster especially in Chapter 1, seems to be similar to Chapter 3 of Extreme Danger from what I recall, especially with Chet. But with Racing To Disaster having been published in 1994, and Extreme Danger being published in 2005, ED is the one that would've been ripping off RTD.

Maybe the same author wrote both. In that case, maybe he just pulled from his old book about bike racing and he was just re-cycling.

tomswift2002 · May 10, 2025, 03:02:27 PM

I'm kind of wondering why Chet is even in this book? He seems so miscast and his characterization is very off. Chet has gone biking in the earlier books, since I remember that Chet and Phil were doing a bike tour of the UK & Ireland in The Witchmaster's Key and Chet built a rocket-powered bicycle in The Sinister Signpost (1968 Revised text), however in this book, Chet just seems off.

MacGyver · May 10, 2025, 08:49:07 PM

Quote from: tomswift2002 on May 10, 2025, 03:02:27 PMI'm kind of wondering why Chet is even in this book? He seems so miscast and his characterization is very off. Chet has gone biking in the earlier books, since I remember that Chet and Phil were doing a bike tour of the UK & Ireland in The Witchmaster's Key and Chet built a rocket-powered bicycle in The Sinister Signpost (1968 Revised text), however in this book, Chet just seems off.

Maybe Chet's just there to fill the chum quota for the book. Lol Or maybe the author just didn't have the best grasp on his character.

tomswift2002 · May 11, 2025, 02:41:56 PM

So I finished Racing To Disaster this afternoon. I'm not sure if the author had a major crime in mind, since they had two of the biker's causing all the trouble, and for one it was because they were trying to get through to their father that they didn't want to be a biker, while the other was just that the racer would do anything to be number one and retain their sponsorship. In a way, it felt like the ending to Sabotage At Sports City where it came down to which way a neck tie was tied.

I remember back in 2002, when #173 Speed Time Five (written by Stephen D. Sullivan) came out, they were finding that it was essentially a clone of Racing To Disaster and were not that impressed with it. Unfortunately, in terms of where I am in the Mystery Stories series, I've entered a draught where none of the authors are known. This lasts from #125 to #159 (April 1994- February 2000).

Rating: 5/10