Customer Reviews

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

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4 star:		(1)
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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!!!

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.

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!

Joe's first collection, "Metal Cowboy" showed us the makings of a rich storyteller. What stuck with me - his ability to put humor and inspiration into a barrel of adventures across America. What I hoped for in his next offering, his global trek, best case, much more of the wit and his eye for observational humor and quicky characters. I hoped for more Twain style tales like A Friendly Game of Darts - the sort that you have to imagine grow and expand inside Joe's head on quiet backroads and long days on the road. But Wow, the new book is more than I expected - I was laughing outloud during his Ireland stories, and South America gets way out there in a very ON THE ROAD way. In The Outback, When the bodybuilder with a thick accent wearing a kilt and driving a blue vestpa stands over a sleepy, out of sorts cowboy and the man is wearing a T-shirt that said "In case of the rapture I'll be off looting the homes of the righteous!" Joe had a reader for life. His writing has grown more subtle and definitely, definitely funnier.

[...]

A while back I reviewed Metal Cowboy by Joe Kurmaskie which I thoroughly enjoyed. Joe is an amazing writer with a flair for getting to the best of a situation or person and he always has a way of making me laugh out loud while reading his tales. After finishing Metal Cowboy I immediately went out and picked up the follow-up called Riding Outside the Lines.

In Riding Outside the Lines Joe tends to focus more on his international adventures which made for a nice change of pace coming off of the mostly U.S. centric Metal Cowboy. One line in and I knew I was hooked again. I wouldn't be able to put this book down until I finished it off.

The cast of characters this time around was impressive. I always wonder how he meets such interesting people time and time again. My favorite stories in Riding Outside the Lines took place in Ireland because I had spent a decent amount of time there and backpacked across the country with Laura (I hope to someday ride across Ireland but that's a whole other story).

Joe is a masterful storyteller and this book showcases that talent. His descriptions truly bring the people to life in your mind and you begin to feel like you are there with him every revolution of the pedals. In fact, I call Joe by his first name now as if I we were lifetime friends. It's pretty crazy!

From his run-in with the local lifeguard trainees in New Zealand to the the brush with death in Ireland that lead him to the best impromptu B&B in the country to the mountain biking trip that ends the journey in Mexico Joe shows us what it means to be alive and that people, while they have their problems, are generally good and kind. The book is a great read for cyclists and non-cyclists alike and I guarantee you'll become engrossed in Joe's stories within a page or two.

Needless to say I have since purchased Joe's most recent and third book called Momentum is Your Friend and am eager to read it. In Momentum Joe takes along his two young sons on the journey which should yield some interesting stories.

Why am I not jumping into that book right away you ask? Well, I picked up Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage which I am going to read first. I actually got the name of the book from the chapter in Riding Outside the Lines where Joe nominates people for cycling sainthood. Barbara is one of the nominees and in the paragraph about her Joe calls Miles from Nowhere the cyclists bible. After that kind of recommendation how could I not read it?

Please go check out Metal Cowboy and Riding Outside the Lines when you have a chance. They are top notch reads and will really get you thinking about what you want out of life. Ride on!

Riding Outside the Lines by Joe Kurmaskie

If you liked Joe Kurmaskie's "Metal Cowboy" then you'll LOVE "Riding Outside the Lines." The rider, I mean reader, is immediately transported to destinations dear and far, fast and funny, and in a word, nay, with many of Kurmaskie's wonderful words--it's a remarkable journey.

On Yere Bike, the opening chapter, is where you'll coast to a cozy pub tucked in Ireland, hob-knob with the locals, down a pint or two, and be able to kick back after a strenuous ride. All along you'll know that it's Joe's experience, but the way he tells the story, you're right there with him. Indeed, whether it's about the mad Scottish Aussie who rides a Vespa, or the Three (Unlikely) Amigos-"Riding Outside The Lines" is an armchair cyclist's dream adventure.

Kurmaskie's writing style is humorous and philosophical simultaneously. Almost Naked Lunch, the chapter that he and his companions stop at a nudist colony is exactly where Kurmaskie's skillful writing brings comedy and profound thought in tandem. You'll laugh aloud at, "We stood around for a moment, like boys in a gym shower without the shower, trying to meet each other's gazes at eye level..." Then, reflect at the conclusion, "We hit the road, fully clothed, but each of us sporting an entirely new sense of freedom."

Sure the writing is superb. But Kurmaskie's intuitive feel about life is what makes every story a gem. "Riding Outside the Lines" is bigger than the bike, it's about how to live. Bravo!
Gianna Bellofatto, columnist of "Life is a Bike"
January 2004

Kurmaskie may not have ridden in the Tour de France, but like Lance Armstrong, he pedals in a world where "it's not about the bike". This charming collection of tales from outside the lines adds depth to the carnival of characters Joe K. portrayed in his first book. This time the stories seem to have more suspense, and the characters speak more deeply about life. His story about the dumpster diver is a keeper, the riveting story of the ex-green beret working in South America could be a novel in itself, and the last chapter about his father is worth the price of the book. Bravo Mr. Kurmaskie, you are a tour de france winner on my bookshelf!

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.

I read his first book - Metal Cowboy - on a lark and found its stories to be interesting, funny, well written, and at times even poignant. This second collection of stories is more of the same. It's great if you like to ride a bicycle. But even if you do not the stories have a charm of their own for which the bicycle is merely the vehicle to get you there (no pun intended.) The guy can write. His stories make for very good reading.

Joe Kurmaskie brings you along in his panniers when he writes of his adventures; self-effacing, he does what so many of us only wish to do. He gives you a taste of it, and makes you smile at the experience.