Customer Reviews

Riding with the Blue Moth

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"Riding With the Blue Moth" by Bill Hancock chronicles not only the grief of losing a son, Will, in the Oklahoma State basketball team airplane tragedy but also the amazing conquest of a cross-America bicycle trip. Bill Hancock gives his heart and soul to a spirit-cleansing ride as well as getting the support of his wonderful wife, Nicki, daughter-in-law Karen, and the entire immediate family after this gut-wrenching loss.

Bill's honesty and coping with the struggles of Will's loss and the hazards of trekking from California to Georgia are absolutely inspiring and refreshing. This book is a `must read' for anyone dealing with the loss of a loved one, a great personal challenge or even the casual reader who wants to get a great spiritual lift from a wonderful volume.

Bill Hancock has written an exquisitely crafted memoir out of his heartbreak. Pedalling across the country was a means of coping with unbearable pain, and in doing so, he exorcised (as far as was possible) some of the agony of losing his son, Will. His odyssey is also an accidental biography of the nation, in the small, incisive portraits of some of the people he encountered on the way. Taking the back roads as a means of avoiding the worst traffic, he encountered backyard America in all its variety. In writing "Riding With the Blue Moth' he has given us a memoir, a valentine to his son, and a legacy for his granddaughter.

After the death of his son in a highly-publicized plane crash,Bill Hancock flees the blue moth of sadness in a bike ride across America. He talks with ordinary people in their workday worlds and his account of them becomes a lyric love song to America. He gives an inside glimpse into the world of college sports and an intimate glimpse into a loving family where sports and music compete. His witty travel journal is also a journal of personal grief and sustaining grace, written with a reporter's clarity and a poet's heart. It is funny, tragic and beautiful.

I feel so lucky to have heard an NPR interview with Bill Hancock about this book. Or maybe it was one of those magical coincidences that isn't a coincidence at all...

Dealing with the loss of his oldest son Will, Bill Hancock writes a beautiful account of his observations during his long bicycle ride from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. He describes pain and comfort, challenge and resolution, fury and peace, and the goofy humor that can pop up at the most unexpected times. Through Bill and Nicki, readers will meet interesting characters who unwittingly become "angels" who help Bill and Nicki and, if we just pay attention, we will see the angels that can help us all along the way.

Several years ago I lost someone very dear to me and as anyone who has faced a loss can attest, each person's grief is unique, impossible to describe, and always evolving so it's difficult to share with those you love. The pain can be brutal and rage for days then gracefully exit for weeks only to arrive again, unannounced and in a different style of dress.

Bill's stories about his family, his daring adventure, and emerging life perspective, can help those of us who spend time with the Blue Moth feel less alone and open up to what life has in store for us. I loved this book and would recommend it to everyone.

Bill tells the adventures of his bike ride across America and the pain he went through that led him to his journey. This book will make you smile, cry and want to spend as much time with your loved ones as possible. Since it grips you like a vice from the beginning it won't take long to finish it and it may even inspire you to buy a bike!!!

Riding the Blue Moth is an adventure that takes the reader well beyond the mileage. The pure physical toil grows insignificant to the emotional heartache. But like the challenge of every new day, when the sun comes up, Mr. Hancock accepts what lies ahead and perseveres. He shows that human spirit and love of family, however beaten in his grotesque loss, rises above all else. By the end of the journey, it is clear that peddaling was the least of Hancock's effort and merely wetting his feet in the Atlantic was the least of his triumphs. The only thing more remarkable than the ride is the man.

I've been reading this book at night for a week now. I shed tears nearly every night, and find myself at the bedside of one or both of my kids thanking God for the privilege I have of being their Dad. This book has almost become a devotional for me. The depth of the writing is stunning.... My prayers are with you Bill and Nicki. Thank you for letting us glimpse enough of your pain so that we can better treasure all that it means to Live.

This is a book that is about real life...and about death and the issues surrounding trying to get back to normal. If you don't shed a tear or two you are not human. (men included)

I felt like I was along for the ride with Bill Hancock in "Riding With the Blue Moth", experiencing the emotional highs and lows, chuckling at the amusing experiences he had along the way, and shedding more than a few tears. Nothing strikes fear into the heart of a parent more than the prospect of losing a child. The Hancocks experienced every parent's nightmare and the healing of the cross-country bicycle ride was great both for the reader and, I suspect, for the author as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to anyone who has lost an offspring or is close to someone who has.

This is an extraordinary story of a man and how he coped with the death of his son. Bill Hancock fights the blue moth off as he rides his bicycle from coast to coast to deal with the loss of his son. This is an inspiration book for anyone who has lost a loved one. The book is full of great stories about the human spirit.