The Bike Path [Paperback]

Wayne Eliot Lankford (Author), Bruce Hyer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2003

Experiences, both physical and metaphysical can be profound out on The Bike Path. This ride will take you from the top of a very small hill to the outer reaches of the universe then back down into the vastness of the human soul. As you explore the activity of mountain biking through Lankford's eyes you will perhaps begin to see deeper into an understanding of Nature and the evolving spirit of humankind.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Bike Path is the first of a series of books about mountain biking and universal connectivity. Already a coffee table edition of this work is being planed which will incorporate the Author’s digital ink renderings into the storyline. The blending of metaphysics, spirituality, mountain biking and nature come across genuinely through the heart-felt stages of a discovery process, which occurred for the author himself, out along the winding path of a single-track mountain bike trail. We believe that there is an artfulness in this work that will not only allow the reader to marvel at the images contained herein, but also find enjoyable a stream of consciousness style of writing that’s both inspiring and captivating. This is a one of a kind book, or we hope, the first of a one of a kind series of books that simply reflects from the adventure of life itself.

From the Author

While I’ve been writing my whole life about the things I’m most attracted to, the Bike Path is the first work I’ve done that seemed to take on a life of its own. The experience of mountain biking itself somehow rekindled, or reconnected me to sources of inspiration I’d misplaced. When I look back on my career I realize that for most of my life I had been writing all along. A lot of my past work was always comprised of creating things, thinking up stuff to promote and describe the companies I worked for ideas in a way that non professional could easily understand. That was how I spent most of my time. Then at night, or on the weekends, I still felt compelled to write about things that were important to me, just for me. Then this bike path thing came along and it was like I didn’t have any choice about it. It made me do all this. It put itself into my word processor and led me directly to the people who could help me with its distribution. It said it was a book that a lot of people would want to read.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Oak Valley Press, Inc. (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974512508
• ISBN-13: 978-0974512501
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,467,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great ride, a great read, December 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bike Path (Paperback)

Librarians will have a tough time trying to categorize The BikePath because it could easily fit on several different shelves, though not for long. Yeah, it's about self-discovery, but it's not a self-help book. It's about mountain biking, but not how-to. It's about spirituality, but not religious. It's funny, but not .... well, you get the picture. The BikePath deserves its own kiosk, because it is, simply, like nothing you've read before. The BikePath is about the metamorphosis of a man, a soul, a writer. The author begins as a two pack smoker, 6 pack drinker - out of shape, out of control. In fact, the author's writing style very closely parallels his mountain biking skills. Awkward and slow at first, but by mid-book, the biker is becoming a master of the trail, while the writer is becoming gifted artist. It's really fun to watch the evolution of both. Whether or not you are motivated to try mountain biking isn't the point. Doing SOMETHING is.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely unique, November 30, 2003

By 

V. Burnside (Wedowee, AL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bike Path (Paperback)

Is The Bike Path about mountain biking? Yeah, and Moby Dick is about sailing.
Imagine if you would: In a last ditch effort to save their sanity, Jack Kerouac and Deepak Chopra take up mountain biking, then inexplicably decide to collaborate on a book abou the experience. It may be redundant to call something absolutely unique, but The Bike Path by Wayne Eliot Lankford falls squarely in that category. We are along for the ride as Lankford jumps from the corporate treadmill onto a mountain bike and begins to see life not as a continuing series of problems, but as a continuing adventure. Soul searching on a 17-mile loop around Oak Mountain, Lankford explores where he is in his life and how he got there. This book combines the lyrical rhythm of a songwriter with insights and wisdom that come only after serious reflection. Highly recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take the journey!, March 2, 2004

By 

Chris Salzer (Gainesville, GA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bike Path (Paperback)

If you are looking for some didactic manual on how to ride a mountain bike, then, well, you've come to the wrong place. If you are, however, searching for a good book that both inspires and illuminates the mind while chronicling both enthralling and humorous mountain biking anecdotes, then, without doubt, you have come to the right place. Wayne Lankford, not unlike most of us, was a working stiff who spent most of his free time doing seemingly important stuff and on the couch watching TV. Then, much to his credit, the author began to think, in more ways than one, outside of the box.

Mountain biking, in all of its beautiful simplicity, takes one away from the box and the all-too-familiar surroundings of your plush sofa and gigantic TV and deluxe surround sound setup of one's TV room into a far more rewarding and fulfilling milieu called The Bike Path. One may find The Bike Path, as in all new endeavors, an unfamiliar and, due to lack of use, unworn path, yet one that ultimately, if given the opportunity, will lead to an extraordinary destination.

For someone like me who is not an avid mountain biker, I can attest to the fact that this is a journey that anyone can enjoy -- regardless of your love for mountain biking. Once you've begun the journey, you all but envelop yourself in the book and are transported to a place of introspection that you are sure to find both transcendentally cathartic as well as indelibly rewarding.

"We are, you and I, at some sort of intersection right now. This one's called the Bike Path. You are invited to follow. Who knows what you'll find just up the trail from here."
-Wayne Lankford