I was very happy to receive (3) motorcycle-travel books for Christmas this year. So far I have finished (2) of them, and thought that I'd post up my impressions in case anyone else may be interested.
The first book, is "American Borders" by Carla King an American technical writer from California. It documents her ~10,000 mile long road trip around a signficant chunk of the United States and southern Canada in 1995, on the then newly imported URAL sidecar rig. It was a pretty good read, though it tended to focus more on some of the people and relationships she made on her travel, and dealing with the oft-repeated breakdowns/failings in the URAL as the import company struggled to correct various design and quality problems. It was an interesting story, and I am sure that it seemed like quite an adventure while she was making the journey. The writing style and level was, in my opinion, merely average. She also seemed to be rather easily thwarted and disheartened, so I can't help but think that a more resourceful, skilled rider would have fared better overall or made some more interesting stops to include in the story. Still, for a young female motorcycle rider suffering from the angst of a failed marriage, without a large amount of mechanical experience to help her out, her tale of success and setbacks isn't bad. I'd give it a 3-star out of 5 star rating - good basic story with some pertinent (motorcycle-related) details, but I'd expected better from someone who apparently works as a professional writer.
The next book, "Lois on the Loose" was a great story and as I progressed further into the book, it became more and more difficult to put down! Lois Pryce is a young, plucky Brit who decides to get away from the drab offices and daily drudgery of her job at the BBC and embarks on an epic motorcycle journey from Anchorage Alaska down to the southernmost tip of South America in 2003/2004 on the most humble, unassuming of bikes, a Yamaha 225 Serow. About halfway through the book I had decided that if I had met up with Lois when I was younger and still single I'd have been well and truly smitten and been highly interested in traveling the world with her. Not only does her love of older (especially british) bikes, simple travel, optimism, 'never say die' attitude and desire to experience the fullness of life&adventure in all its dirty, sweaty, reality make her the perfect person for such an undertaking, but her writing style is very witty, engaging, and highly descriptive. It was a great read and I'd give it 4.5 stars out of 5. The only reason I didn't give it a full 5-rating was that at the end, it seemed that she hurried through the ending of the book - super-condensing the final 2000 mile journey from Ushiaia back north to Buenos Aires in a mere 3 pages after we have followed her 16,798 miles and 350 pages through some detailed recounting of the states and countries through which she traveled over the preceeding 8 months. Still, I was very entertained and highly recommend this book for anyone looking to undertake a motorcycle adventure from the comfort of their living room. My wife even researched the book and made the extra effort and expense to purchase the book from Great Britain as that printing includes 8 pages of color photos which are not included in the US printed version.
I am now fully primed and excited to start the third book, which also happens to be Lois Pryce's second/sequel adventure book "Red Tape and White Knuckles", which is her tale of traveling by motorcycle from Tunis, Tunisia all the way to Cape Town, South Africa. I'm really geared up for it, but have to take a short break now to do some actual paying work now that we are through the holiday break.
