Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle [Hardcover]

David Lamb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1996

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.  The result is a highly personal account of coming to grips with middle age in the tradition of Howell Raines Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis.

Lamb did no training for his cross-country feat, failed to curb his addiction to either cigarettes or junk food, and along the way encountered an America all but invisible to those unfortunate travelers held hostage by the interstate.  The journey took him three months, and Over the Hills is the magnificent result: a literary travelogue, funny and celebratory, a story about people met and physical challenges overcome.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As he cycled from his home in Virginia to Santa Monica, Calif., the 54-year-old author, a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, discerned a corollary between writing and his attempt to complete this feat: in both you are intimidated at the start, eventually a rhythm sets in, you perform every day and, in due course, you get there. And it's the getting there, the focus on reaching the destination, that preoccupies Lamb here-which, given his writing skills but neglected powers of observation, ultimately makes his account tedious. We learn about his developing stamina, daily progress, road and weather conditions, nightly chores of laundry, servicing his bike, updating his journal and writing freelance pieces, but we get little of the look or feel of the townscape. Lamb eschews wandering, engages in few conversations despite his periods of loneliness. He finds the heartland to be inherently polite, although people are troubled about "meanness in the land." As a test of self, the trip-two months and 3012 miles-was a superb success. As a book. it's not.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

A highly respected journalist and self-confirmed middle-ager, Lamb decides to set off one day on a cross-country journey from Washington, D.C., to Santa Monica, California. In a reportorial style, he gathers facts about bicycling from friends and magazines, piecing together what he thinks is the sufficient equipment and information to make his trip easier. But Lamb doesn't map out a real plan, research his route or terrain, or prepare physically for what becomes a major, life-altering trek. The difficulties he meets in weather, accommodations, and road conditions seem insignificant in comparison to his interior journey, brought about by encounters with history, people, and places. Clearly a man with a strong will, Lamb defies the odds and reaffirms his life and youth. Like one 3,145-mile meditation, Over the Hills certainly bears resemblance to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and will appeal to many readers, even those for whom a solitary cross-country trip will remain a dream. Janet St. Joh^In

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (April 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812925793
• ISBN-13: 978-0812925791
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #776,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a Lamb but a Tiger, February 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle (Large Print) (Hardcover)

Over the Hills is the product of a seasoned communicator relating an adventure that many may consider but few pursue. Though he portrays himself as an ordinary guy, riding alone on his Trek from Virgina to California is a high accomplishment. He aptly describes the physical and psychological demands of such a long time on the road. He also deftly weaves the history of cycling, his professional life as foreign correspodnet with the Los Angeles Times and his experiences on the road to provide a very entertaining book for both the general reader and those that have suffered through a multiple-day tour.

I put down his book while he was in Arizona because I wanted the book to last. He could have circled north to Seattle or just turned around and gone back to the East Coast and I would have eagerly read his tale. Lamb, or his editor, shows the good sense to not provide a day to day diary. He excludes a daily recounting of mileage, weather and road conditions, diet and equipment reports. Instead he gives us bits and pieces that really convey the feel of the trip. We come to appreciate how hard it is to get on that bike day after day. He also shows us a part of America that you never see unless you are on a bicyle.

So in the end it not only a story about David Lamb's great adventure, it is another telling of the unsatiable spirit for new horizons and a cultural tour of the country. Lamb's observations of the Heartland versus the Coasts couldn't be more relevant than it is today, most recently seen on the blue and red presidential electoral college map. His accounts of his encounters reinforces that the kindness of strangers is abundant.

He left me wondering as to some of his motivation, what he did in the months prior to his trip and his life with his wife. Yet all in all it was a most enjoyable read.

I thank him for his work and welcome a sequel!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine book: cycling through a vanishing country -- the US, June 14, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle (Hardcover)

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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK cycling book. Not all that exciting, November 3, 2006

By 

Bob Neubauer (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle (Large Print) (Hardcover)

I liked the idea that David Lamb rode across the country without getting in shape, buying all the latest gear, obsessing over his diet, etc. And the fact that he did not bore us with reports of his daily mileage figures, equipment details, etc. was refreshing. Yet I expected more of a story out of a reporter. He does meet some people and give details about them and their towns, but somehow his trip is just not that exciting. I would have liked to learn more about the people he met and their lives.

Granted, he does provide interesting observations of rural America and some nice history on the sport of bicycling and past pioneers in the cross-country biking realm, but as a story about a bike trip, this one does not entirely satisfy.

That said, I could identify with many of his observations (e.g. any time a non-biker describes the road ahead they are ALWAYS wrong). And he does give a good sense of what goes through a long-distance cyclist's mind (loneliness, the desire for people to find him interesting and ask about his trip, aprehension of the long distance ahead). The history of cycling, though interesting, didn't always fit and took me away from his narrative. At times I was rushing through it to get back to his story.

I also wish he had spent more time mapping out a route along interesting back roads rather than being forced through lack of planning to ride on interstates. How boring.

It is an OK account of a cross country trip through the south, but not the best account by any means.