Journey in Bhutan: Himalayan Trek in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon

Remember when you were a kid and you got your first bicycle? After a few weeks of mastering the dynamics of balancing, steering, and pedaling, all at the same time hopefully, your father released his protective, steadying grip on the seat and you went wobbling off on your own. It was probably your very first taste of independence and freedom and you knew you liked that feeling very much. Few things in life have ever compared to that first solo ride.

Almost 40 years after my first solo bike ride, I was able to recapture the excitement and passion of that momentous occasion when I pedaled out of Anchorage, Alaska bound for Tierra del Fuego-the very tip of South America. No matter that it was 17,500 miles distant and would take 3½ years to get there I vowed I would achieve that goal if it took the rest of my life.

The result was a twomonth bicycle ride across Canada from the Pacific at Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia and the Atlantic. In the next summer, he topped it off by going to the end of TransCanada Highway, Mile 0, in St. John's, Newfoundland. The adventure took him through all ten of Canada's provinces, including Prince Edward Island.

In addition to keeping a continuous chronicle, he took panoramic photos with his Widelux camera. The resulting pictures visually encompass scenes of 140 degrees to portray the sweeping breadth of Canada.

In the autumn of 2002 and at the tender age of 47, I set off alone on a bicycle intending to ride across the USA. From San Diego, California I rode 3,112 miles to arrive 72 days later in St. Augustine, on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Usually, I camped or slept rough in the deserts and mountains, exploring the back roads and delighting in the magnificent solitude and wild empty spaces. This is a book about traveling alone by bicycle. It is not a how-to-do-it manual or a travel guide but a story of pure adventure; a story born out of frustration and middle-aged dread, written by someone whose value set may now be a little different from yours. It is an account of a journey; one that will appeal to anyone of a certain age who has ever said 'I wish'. Every word of it is true.