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robinsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This reminded me a bit of Bill Bryson's A WALK IN THE WOODS, in that the author is not really prepared for such a grueling physical feat but perseveres anyway. Unfortunately, it lacks the writing skills and humor of Bryson but it is still an interesting read for anyone who can't get enough of this kind of travel narrative.
If a reader wants to read a good armchair biking adventure and hasn't read Barbara Savage's MILES FROM NOWHERE or Bruce Weber's LIFE IS A WHEEL, I recommend reading them first.
If a reader wants to read a good armchair biking adventure and hasn't read Barbara Savage's MILES FROM NOWHERE or Bruce Weber's LIFE IS A WHEEL, I recommend reading them first.
mohawkm's review
5.0
I'll admit it, I loved this book. As others have noted, the author didn't prepare well for a cross-country bike ride, and didn't know that much about bikes for the duration. But I'm OK with the democratization of bike touring, and really appreciate the open attitude that develops with the practice of it. The chapters are short, and except for the oddly positioned first story, are chronological. There's some inconsistencies, such as when he determines he wants to ride alone after riding with Suzie, but then spending most of the rest of the ride with 3-4 guys. But for the most part, I get some of the same feeling as one gets with books like "Travels with Charley" or "Blue Highways" (the latter being one of the best USA travelogues out there). And he finishes with a reminder that anyone can get out there and do this, it doesn't take a lot of specialized equipment or a specific discipline about how the ride will go. An enjoyable bike travelogue.
For a newer take on riding cross country, I recommend finding "Ryan and Ali Bike Across America" also known as #lovecycles on youtube. Their incredibly positive and well-edited trip is a fun watch!
For a newer take on riding cross country, I recommend finding "Ryan and Ali Bike Across America" also known as #lovecycles on youtube. Their incredibly positive and well-edited trip is a fun watch!
library_lurker's review
4.0
armchair traveling! i liked this more than i like most bike-tour books by men. i also love that he does nearly everything wrong; that's my favorite way of bike touring--totally half-assed and just open to adventure. he's a good storyteller and a likable narrator. one thing he mentions several times is that bike touring is "often miserable, often boring, sometimes both, and the rest that's left over is divine." that's a super accurate description of bike touring, which means it's hard to write about in an interesting way, but he does a great job!
asr2b's review against another edition
4.0
Quick read and thoroughly engaging for me, entertaining dreams of setting off across America on a bike!
michaelnlibrarian's review
2.0
I got more than 50 and less than 100 pages into this, the stopped. The Irish author endeavors to ride across the country, east to west, and then describes it in this memoir.
Fine - I read "cyclist travel" books often enough. Somehow these days however I find it harder to enjoy ones ones written by persons from other countries (AKA "foreigners") about their travails in America. And that I guess is the problem - too much about travails, and not much about insights that are useful at this time. It certainly isn't as though they are telling us anything new in most cases.
Books from the public library usually are in a small competition for my attention. After an initial effort to get into this, it just sat. I finally realized my lack of enthusiasm for picking it up (and picking up and finishing several other books instead) was a message telling me it was time to return this one to the library.
Oh well, this is mostly about me, I suspect. You might like this sort of thing. The writing is breezy enough. The type font is big and even though it is over pages, it would be a quick read.
Fine - I read "cyclist travel" books often enough. Somehow these days however I find it harder to enjoy ones ones written by persons from other countries (AKA "foreigners") about their travails in America. And that I guess is the problem - too much about travails, and not much about insights that are useful at this time. It certainly isn't as though they are telling us anything new in most cases.
Books from the public library usually are in a small competition for my attention. After an initial effort to get into this, it just sat. I finally realized my lack of enthusiasm for picking it up (and picking up and finishing several other books instead) was a message telling me it was time to return this one to the library.
Oh well, this is mostly about me, I suspect. You might like this sort of thing. The writing is breezy enough. The type font is big and even though it is over pages, it would be a quick read.
halfmanhalfbook's review
3.0
For some people, the offer of a job with a regular salary is just what they are looking for. For Leon McCarron though the thought of being stuck behind a desk with no chance of adventure or seeing the world, filled him with dread. As he was in New York, he came up with the idea of cycling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, not for any reason, just for the hell of doing it. Loading up his bike and trailer with much, much more than he needed, he embarks on his 6000 mile journey. A week or so later he was still cycling in New York state, as he hadn’t realised just how vast it was.
Slowly but surely he was building his fitness up but getting around 80 miles a day under his belt. He meets other cyclists as he wends his way across the States, sharing the journey and beginning what were to become lasting friendships. A brief detour into Canada to see Niagara Fall was soured when he returned into America and was detained by a very officious immigration official. They did allow him back after a chastisement about documentation. As he drops into the Midwest he passes mile after mile of cornfields on the almost dead straight roads, the highlight of the day being the zigzags when they correct the roads for the curvature of the earth. All across America so far, he had been given a warm welcome and helped by strangers in all manner of ways. This was to change when he accepted hospitality from a guy in a bar and headed back to his ranch. His mate was there and wasn’t best pleased to see Leon, and after one heart stopping moment he has to escape really quickly. Of all the places to die in the world, he didn’t want it to be Iowa!
Hoping to eek out his journey on a budget of $5 a day, he is fuelled by peanut butter and an absence of common sense. It is an easy and relative unchallenging read, with a certain charm to it. What is does show is that you do not need loads of planning or training to achieve a goal, sometimes you just need to climb on the bike and pedal. This one is a worthy addition to the fold of cycling adventure books.
Slowly but surely he was building his fitness up but getting around 80 miles a day under his belt. He meets other cyclists as he wends his way across the States, sharing the journey and beginning what were to become lasting friendships. A brief detour into Canada to see Niagara Fall was soured when he returned into America and was detained by a very officious immigration official. They did allow him back after a chastisement about documentation. As he drops into the Midwest he passes mile after mile of cornfields on the almost dead straight roads, the highlight of the day being the zigzags when they correct the roads for the curvature of the earth. All across America so far, he had been given a warm welcome and helped by strangers in all manner of ways. This was to change when he accepted hospitality from a guy in a bar and headed back to his ranch. His mate was there and wasn’t best pleased to see Leon, and after one heart stopping moment he has to escape really quickly. Of all the places to die in the world, he didn’t want it to be Iowa!
Hoping to eek out his journey on a budget of $5 a day, he is fuelled by peanut butter and an absence of common sense. It is an easy and relative unchallenging read, with a certain charm to it. What is does show is that you do not need loads of planning or training to achieve a goal, sometimes you just need to climb on the bike and pedal. This one is a worthy addition to the fold of cycling adventure books.
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