Riding Outside The Lines: International Incidents and Other Misadventures with the Metal Cowboy [Paperback]

Joe Kurmaskie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2003

Like a modern-day Don Quixote, Joe Kurmaskie—bike adventurer, writer, and twelve-year-old boy trapped in a man’s body—wanders the world on two wheels, often with hilarious results, in Riding Outside the Lines.
A jaunt through such far-flung locations as Ireland, Australia, Mexico, South America, and beyond, here is a collection of tales woven together with one central theme: the world is a much smaller place when you view it from the seat of a bicycle.

Whether he’s weekending in the buff after accidentally stumbling into a nudist colony wedding, knocking back red wine in tin cans with a gun-toting ex–bounty hunter, combing the countryside in a quest to find the all-girl bagpipe squad he met in his dreams, or playing a rousing game of ice golf on the frozen tundra, Joe Kurmaskie writes of his gonzo global trek in a spirit infused with insight, good humor, and optimism. Riding Outside the Lines encourages travel buffs and armchair explorers alike to get on your bike and see the beauty of our planet and the colorful souls who populate it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A columnist for Bicycling magazine, Kurmaskie (Metal Cowboy) valorizes the unexpected vista or encounter above all else: "I like to think of the world as a grab bag, one that I rarely peek inside before the party gets rolling." Structured as a series of short trips rather than a single extended trek, this breezy, unpretentious volume covers such far-flung locales as Ireland, Peru and New Zealand. Inevitably romanticizing the material, Kurmaskie adopts the persona of your affable, "extreme" pal who's good with words. The emphasis is less on the physical toll of cycling than on the people and places encountered along the way. Kurmaskie runs into some noteworthy characters, including a former insurance agent turned Acapulco dumpster diver and an Vietnam vet turned Mexican bounty hunter. While Kurmaskie's escapades sometimes feel like tall tales, his occasional willingness to pad the text with personal if irrelevant reveries about, for example, a fondly remembered Bruce Springsteen concert, enhance his credibility-if every chapter beggared the imagination, readers would have more reason to look askance. Thankfully, some of his anecdotes (e.g., his quest to track down an Irish all-female bagpipe squad) don't work out according to the expected script. A chapter on curious syntax in signs reinforces the author's similarities to Bill Bryson, but the mode here is bubbly enthusiasm rather than dyspeptic weariness. All in all, Kurmaskie's gregarious willingness to play the role of a "ramshackle traveling carnival" makes for a highly amusing read.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The author, a columnist for Bicycling magazine, follows up his first book, Metal Cowboy (1999), with this collection of essays chronicling his life and adventures as a devoted cyclist. Here we find the author in Ireland, tracking the elusive all-girl bagpipe squad; in Acapulco, Dumpster diving with a fellow called Sammy D.; in Alaska, touring Kicking Horse Pass. Kurmaskie, for whom cycling is not a hobby but a vital part of life, takes readers on a world tour, inspiring us to get off our butts and into the saddle. The book, like its author, is full of energy and wit, a celebration of the two-wheeled wanderer, of a lifestyle where every corner, ever hillcrest, can lead in wild new directions. The world looks different from a bicycle seat, and, with his unique point of view and distinctive voice, Kurmaskie fills us with the cyclist's spirit of adventure. Recommend this one for fans of Tony Hawks, Tim Moore, and other writers of offbeat travel literature. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (May 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400047986
• ISBN-13: 978-1400047987
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #680,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great short stories about cycling and life, March 7, 2004

By 

Jim (WanderingTheWorld.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riding Outside The Lines: International Incidents and Other Misadventures with the Metal Cowboy (Paperback)

His first book, titled 'Metal Cowboy', was a collection of bike stories from his many road trips. With 'Riding', Joe's still has tons of hilarious stories to make you snort milk out of your nose laughing. It's not so much a book about cycling, but snapshots of this wonderful world in which we live in and those we meet along the way. This is some of the best short-story non-fiction I've ever read, ever! How's that for my Highest Recommendation!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Someday I'll Learn, July 25, 2003

By 

Larry Varney (Cold Spring, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Riding Outside The Lines: International Incidents and Other Misadventures with the Metal Cowboy (Paperback)

Someday I'll learn not to read Joe Kurmaskie's books. Or his magazine columns, for that matter. I enjoy them immensely, they are funny, they are thought-provoking, they are much more than just descriptions of places visited on a bicycle. They let us see through his eyes, share his thoughts on travel, people, the past and the future. I find myself putting off reading the last few pages, because I want it to last.

So why should I not read any more of Kurmaskie's stuff? Because I'm jealous. I would like to be out there riding the world, and writing about it. Why is he doing it, and I'm not? Because it takes not only writing skill, but the nerve to get out there and do it.

I'm glad that he does it, though, and that he writes about it so well. Someday I may follow his advice of "on yere bike". But until then, I'll be reading about Joe's adventures.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the "why to" book of bicycle touring., June 16, 2003

By 

Chip Haynes (Clearwater, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riding Outside The Lines: International Incidents and Other Misadventures with the Metal Cowboy (Paperback)

Joe won't tell you HOW to go bicycle touring, but his books sure show you WHY. His stories from almost every point on the globe have shown the best reasons to get out and get on your bike. He's not going to tell you what bike to buy or what equipment to bring, but you will learn the importance of getting a head start on chasing after all-girl bagpipe squads and maybe getting a second opinion before harvesting cantaloupe. Joe's world is an exciting place filled with wonderful characters and great places to be. After reading both "The Metal Cowboy" and this most recent work, "Riding Outside the Lines", I can't help but ask myself: "What am I doing here??" Get the books, read the books, GO FOR A BIKE RIDE!