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Summary: Along for the ride with Jeff Graft
Review: I'm a moderate day biker, 25 to 30 miles on flat land, so I was intrigued by Jeff Graft's fine book, Ride, in which he describes his 4,000 mile cross country ride across the US. I enjoyed the trip, and I didn't get sore. In fact, I sped through the book in one sitting, met a lot of nice folks, learned a few things about fishing and about biking long distances, mulled over a few life "lessons" which Jeff tacks onto the ends of his chapters, appreciated the fact that he was making the trip--not me. I praise the book's great layout design with its maps of the trip, Jeff's photos along the way, the journal style with dates and days marked, clean typeface, lots of white space. An easy read for a good cause--raising funds for conservation.
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Summary: The Ride of Your Life!
Review: In Ride, author Jeff Graft does what many of us only dream of doing: He tosses off the shackles of the work-a-day world, jumps on his bike, and pedals his way across the country. That he does so for a great cause--to raise money for trout stream conservation--seems almost beside the point. What propels this book, from beginning to end, is the author's drive to live each moment to the fullest, to appreciate completely the raw country, and sometimes raw characters, he encounters on his journey. This book is about following a dream as much as it is about following the road.
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Summary: Superbly written, unique travelogue for biking enthusiasts.
Review: Ride is the story of Jeff Graft's experiences as he biked from just north of Seattle to peddle east on what was to become a 4,000-mile trip, reaching the Atlantic Ocean just sixty-eight days later. Before this, the longest bike ride Jeff had made was 25 miles. Often taking the most mountainous routes in order to stay close to trout streams, he slept out in the open because he'd sacrificed the weight of a tent to he could carry a fly rod and waders. From his bike seat perspective, Jeff got an appreciation of the country, its people and resources. Based on his daily journal, Ride is a superbly written, very unique travelogue that engages the reader from first page to last -- and may well inspire other bicycle enthusiasts to a similar sojourn.
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Summary: Time for thought, test of staminia, determination
Review: To decide to ride a bicycle across this country, sorta just boggled my mind, so I had to find out "why" someone would do this! To find a part of ones self each day, be it old or new, and the sights, sounds, and time for thought, kept me glued. First book I have finished in years! The author gives you lessons learned each day, does some fly fishing along the way, and pretty soon you find yourself pushing with him to accomplish the goals of the day and hope he catches some fish 'cause you know he's got to be hungry at times. What great satisfaction one gets from accomplishing goals and sometimes the stick-to-i-tive-ness that it takes to do so. I am sure you will enjoy the book as much as I did. Truly bought the book for my son who is a bicyclist himselt, but he had to wait for Mom to finish first. The best part of all, I personally have met Mr. Graft and attended the initial book signing. Part of the proceeds from his book are being donated to the Conservation Resource Alliance to protect our streams and rivers. You too will truly enjoy the trials and accomplishments of what must have been an awesome "Ride" Congratulations to Mr. Graft!
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Summary: Daily journals are not always interesting
Review: While this book was not completely devoid of merit, it was easily the worst travelogue I have ever read. After two pages of introduction, the rest of the book is simply a daily log of the miles travelled and the people encountered, with very few details. There is no attempt at an overall narrative, and no account of any growth on the part of the author. While throughout the book you get glimpses of the plans and logistics that were involved in the trip, the author seems to try to avoid mentioning them. It often seemed as if he was trying to give the impression that the trip was far more seat-of-the-pants than it was. The lack of personal information made it impossible to truly understand who the author was, and he seemed to note conversations regardless of their interest. Although the fact that prior to the trip he had never biked more than 25 miles is mentioned on both the jacket and in the introduction, it plays no role whatsoever in the story; he rarely mentions having any trouble on the trip. As if this were not enough to keep the story from being interesting, the author uses phrases and slang over and over, making me feel that he was repeating himself, and he includes a 'lesson' at the end of each day which usually amounts to a type of 'stop and smell the flowers' variety. These lessons have good intentions, but usually restate what has been covered in the narrative in case you missed it. If you are looking for quality writing about travelling, try Tim Cahill, Bill Bryson or David Quammen. This book does not even do a good job of describing the efforts involved in peddaling across the continent.
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