Over the Hills:: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle

by David Lamb

Book Overview

David Lamb's journey--on a sleek 21-speed touring bicycle--carried him 3,145 miles, from his home near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., all the way to the pier in Santa Monica, California.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812925793
• ISBN13: 9780812925791
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Hey, lets go for a bike ride

Buy it, read it, then do it!! I really wasn't sure what to expect but what a perfect book. He kept everything in balance. He told enough about himself and what he does. I don't like when reading a book like this and the author doesn't tell much of his background but Lamb does it perfect. He tells of America and his thoughts, which are accurate if opinions are. Several times I was laughing out loud which automatically gives it 4 stars. It got 5 stars because I thought it was so well written. It is not a "how to" book which is good because "how to" books can get old. I opened this book every chance I got. Even if you have no desire to do a trip like this it was simply a fun read.

Go West Young Man for your Mid-life Crisis

I'm one of those people who has always fantacised about riding a bike across the country. Of course, I haven't done it, but I've read a lot of books by people who have. Lamb's book is the best one I have read. Rather than just telling the reader how many miles he covered per day and how much it rained, etc., he covers the histories of several of the towns through which he passesd and indulgies in many tangents that refreshes the story. Clearly he is a writer first, and a biker second. He also doesn't dwell on how fit one has to be to do what he did. Actually, he is a smoker and indulges quite a bit in drinks along the route. Nike might want to talk to him aobut a Just Do It campaign. Anyway, great book. Unqualified recommendation.

A sleeper

Mr. Lamb's writing is one of those books that starts out very quietly, but by the fifth page, you're travelling with him. He isn't out to impress us, just to tell us about his trip. His writing style reflects his journey; it reads like poetry. Along the way, he tells about his views of America, relating his contacts with the many folks he met on his long trip. We begin to understand why he made the trip. As well, he gives us interesting information along the way about the history of the bicycle. His story will become more poignant as the years go by, as the automobile may become the paramount mode of transportation. But the bicycle is still the most efficient.

Hope for all of us Middle Aged Dreamers

Over the Hills: : A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle by David Lamb is a book for folks who like to read travel writing, people trying to do their personal best, or real adventure books. This is a great story about a person who made a promise to himself despite the misgivings of family and friends. His description of how this trip affected his fitness and details of towns and cities are wonderful. It shows what one man can do, for himself. You feel like your peddling right along with David Lamb. A great book, a fast read, and a great literary adventure. Buy this book.

A fine book: cycling through a vanishing country -- the US

Not really a book about "cycle touring" because it doesn't have the technology-and-technique stuff that cyclists love, Over the Hills is an "active meditation" on several themes: the spirit of adventure, vanishing rural America, and the delights (and problems) of meeting life on the road. I particularly liked it because, at least in part, it's a celebration of the bicycle, an almost forgotten device that is coming into its own as an efficient, simple vehicle -- and a hell of a lot of fun. Lamb has the direct, salty style of the journalist-sportswriter that he is, and the sympathetic perceptiveness of a guy who obviously likes people. I enjoyed the book immensely