Leon McCarron

Leon McCarron is different to most. Not only has he walked from Mongolia, right across China to Hong Kong, he has crossed the Empty Quarter in the footsteps of Sir Wilfred Thesiger and has cycled right the way across America. So if you were to ask people to list places where they'd like to take a walk, then the Middle East is unlikely to be at the top of that list. McCarron though relishes a challenge, so a 1000 mile walk from Jerusalem to the heights of Mount Sinai begins.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Lao Tzu

He will be following a set of trails that have been recently re-established but trace their origins back to the ancient trading and pilgrimage routes that crisscross the landscapes of the West Bank, Palestine and into Jordan. It is a hotly contested region, that is still subject to aggression and violence, especially in the West Bank. He is accompanied by friends and guides along the way and sees some of the most beautiful landscapes as he walks through. Apart from one tiny incident with some exuberant teenagers, all the people that he meets are warm and welcoming and generous with their time and experience.

I suspect that the mind, like the feet, works at about three miles an hour - Rebecca Solnit


These troubled lands are affected by the volatile mix that is geopolitics, cultural differences and religion, but as McCarron finds on his walk, people are the essence of this place that can trace its history back thousands of years. There are some people who want to ensure that the differences are amplified and use that to drive wedges between people, but there are many others who want to live in peace in their own country and trade with their immediate neighbours. One nice touch to the book is the photo of all those who walked with him on his journey to Sinai. This book is a great insight into a troubled land that could only have been achieved at the speed of a walk.… (lisätietoja)

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.… (lisätietoja)

The Road Headed West
Author: Leon McCarron
Publisher: Herman Graf Book / Skyhorse Publishing / Summersdale Publishing
Published In: New York City, NY
Date: 2014
Pgs: 349

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
A 6000 mile cycling odyssey from New York City to Seattle and points south.

Genre:
Adventure
Autobiography and memoir
Biking
Biography
Cycling
Exercise
Non-fiction
Science and nature
Society
Travel guides
Travel writing

Why this book:
The description reminds me of The Incredible Voyage by Tristan Jones, one of my favorite books of all time. It’s not just the description. The story reminds me very much of Jones’ adventure.
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Favorite Character:
Lola, the bicycle with the trailer trundling along.

Least Favorite Character:
The crazy redneck gun nut that tried to kill him in an Iowa tornado.

Character I Most Identified With:
Leon comes across in this book. You could sit down and have a beer or a jar of peanut butter with him and it’d be alright.

The Feel:
This is a great adventure.

Favorite Scene:
After a whiskey fueled night before, he drags himself down to the ground floor, going back and forth to get his bike and trailer down, then, checking his room and the apartment that isn’t his home anymore to make sure he’s gotten everything, makes his way downstairs a final time, steps outside, realizes that he has locked his bike and trailer inside the lobby, and left his keys upstairs for his roommate’s new roommate. My small doubts about the story, all but, disappeared at this point.

The encounter with the gun toting, drunk Iowan and the tornado giving him a lesson in the dangers of the road after the long flat monotony of the Iowa backroads.

Pacing:
Well paced, short chapters.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
The lack of planning, considering the scope of his epic journey, is daunting. The bad things happen potential is huge.

Hmm Moments:
The incidents where McCarron crossed out of the US into Canada and back make me question the wisdom of the author. Attempting to cross the international border in a post-911 world considering America’s security profile and the state of his paperwork just wasn’t smart. He busts TSA border guard Rankin’s balls in the text, but if I were Rankin, I wouldn’t have let him across the border either. After he talked to a supervisor, McCarron did manage to recross the border into the US and continue his journey.

The gap that Leon perceives between him and Susie, his temporary riding mate, when they visited Jack Larsen, former General Motors employee. Larsen waxes nostalgic about working for GM. And Leon notices that while he is enjoying the reverie as an insight into the American character, Susie seems to be bored by it. The implication seeming to be that she sees it as standard bourgeois nostalgia.

The ferry ride across Lake Michigan from Muskegon, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin makes a wonderful break between Parts 1 and 2. Feels very natural.

Why isn’t there a screenplay?
There could probably be a heckuva movie made of this.
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Last Page Sound:
Well done. The denouement telling about his onward journeys after the Mexico border south of San Diego. His marriage to Clare. Good stuff.

Author Assessment:
If there was a book of his continued adventure, I’d read it. But it sounds like instead of this being a bicycle trip around the world, that his journeys have been more a disjointed swag around the world in search of further adventures.

Editorial Assessment:
Well edited.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic

Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library
South Campus

Dewey Decimal System:
917.3
MCC

Would recommend to:
friends, family, kids, colleagues, everyone, genre fans, no one
______________________________________________________________________________… (lisätietoja)