Jerry Holl

What is it about these long-distance cyclists who think they need to fill a book's pages with incessant yammering about life's big questions? This could have been a decent book, Holl does give some accounts of the scenery he's biking through, and recounts some conversations with people he meets, but he can't write dialog to save his soul and every conversation in the book ends with him telling someone to "just go for it." He doesn't do any preparation of any kind other than buying a new bike (which he manages to wreck by the end of the book...), doesn't prepare by doing rides at home, doesn't plan a route, doesn't learn how to do basic mechanics, doesn't even do a test ride with the fully loaded bike before day 1. And this is all because of his new mantra that we should all just jump right into new adventures without hesitation (nice that he can afford to do that). There's another reason there's no in-depth conversations or descriptions of locales...he completes the entire 3600 mile journey in a mere 51 days, a few of which were rest days. That's averaging 70+ miles a day! I have to admit to some disgust as well, because Holl spends the first several pages repeating the idea that he's never done anything like this before. Then we learn he once hitchhiked across the country, and climbed some major mountains, and went surfing in the Pacific, and rode his Harley across the country, etc. etc. Overall, unfortunately, just another average bike-across-the-country book.… (lisätietoja)