Neil M Hanson

AMAZING!! First off I received this book from the author through Good Reads First reads> (I hate that I have to even say that!!) This book is not just about a cyclist making a cross country trek, It's WAY MORE!! Neil has written beautifully!! Not only does this book talk about his journey and the people he meets along the way, It reminds you to slow down, to stop and smell the roses so to speak. I learned many things about myself while reading this WONDERFUL book. Things in life often slip right past us because we are caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I am very glad I chose this book as my vacation book. In this story you not only can vividly picture the description of the trip but you can feel the heat of the hot desert sun, hear the wind blow and feel the pain Neil felt. I could go on for days talking about this FANTASTIC book. It is certainly a book I will keep in my personal library until it falls apart or until I do one. I will reread it over and over again. Small town America is where I want to be for sure!! Thanks Neil for an OUTSTANDING read!!… (plus d'informations)

There were parts of the book that I liked and parts that I did not enjoy.

As a cyclist, I was looking forward to the story of the epic bike ride across the country. That's why I took the publisher up on the offer for a review copy of the book. The bike ride was epic. At least this half of it. The other half of the ride from the West Coast to the middle of the country is in a separate book.

I found the introspective thoughts on the ride, and what compels him to ride, and what keeps him pedaling to Atlantic Ocean to be thoroughly enjoyable.

I didn't like the dialogue. Dialogue is hard to write. It's hard to write in fiction. It's even harder to write in non-fiction when you are trying recreate the scene and the message. I found the dialogue to be distractedly wooden. Bad enough to have stop reading the book at several points.

But like any long journey, you just have to keep turning the pedals. He does capture the joy of long bike rides:

"On one hand, this has been the adventurer of a lifetime, and I don't want it to end.... On the other hand it this unexpected sense of accomplishment that's building inside me with each pedal stroke. The accomplishment needs a ribbon tied around it, a point of completion."… (plus d'informations)