Customer Reviews

One Mile at a Time: Cycling through Loss to Renewal

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One Mile at a Time is a unique chronicle of the cycling journey of a man in his 60's who decides to take a ride around the perimeter of the U.S. after enduring tragic family losses. Smith used a throat mike while he was riding, thereby adding a fresh perspective to his descriptions. His dry humor and broad-minded outlook on our country is not only entertaining but also thought-provoking. The physical and mental stamina required to complete such a journey is inspiring and will make the reader want to drag his/her bike out of the dusty, old garage and take a spin - at least around town.
Lynnita Mattock, author of Abductee

This book has some of everything. As he cycles around the perimeter of the U.S. (he was in his sixties, so that is incredible), he describes a lot about the environment and the people he meets. It is amazing all the different climates, weather patterns, cultures, fears, beliefs, and animals there are in this country. There is also interesting info about "Old Faithful" his bike, how he took care of it, and prepared for the trips. This book is amazing.

Some will see this as an interesting story concerning one man's ride around the perimeter of America. Most will find in these pages, the story of how a man faced some of the most discouraging challenges life presents and worked through them. Dwight Smith writes about his journey in a manner that is as interesting as it is inspirational.

Dwight Smith's book is very readable bicycling adventure and is a personal, fresh eyewitness account of Dwight's experience cycling around the perimeter of the U.S. Although not published until 20 years after the event and although highly distilled from over 2500 pages of notes to 246 pages digested into 1 and 2 page thumbnails per story, Dwight kept a first hand account by dictating his notes via recorder when his observations were first made.
Unfortunately Dwight plays his cards close to his chest and never really clearly reveals how, when or where he overcame the death of his wife, having been previously battered by the prior accidental deaths of two teenage sons, which losses he seemed to have never completely dealt with until possibly the bicycle trip. We really don't know how Dwight cycled through loss to renewal, although it is clear that he did. Hence, the reader feels cheated by the subtitle. Dwight never admits to nor reveals any kind of epiphany, healing moment or realization of healing. You will not learn how Dwight healed by reading this book. One also wonders why his new love, Elizabeth, never fully flowered, when obviously there was considerable mutual attraction and regard. Elizabeth sort of appears as part of the renewal without much explanation and fades away with a similar lack of explanation. Nor is Elizabeth's part in the renewal described or even explored. It's like your child telling you half the story and you both know it.
A nice book on bicycling, an anecdotal and idosyncratic description of a very small part of American society (when he described my hometown, his description hardly captured who we are), and a nondisclosure or nonstory of a man's travel from loss to renewal.