Metal Cowboy: Tales from the Road Less Pedaled
by Joe Kurmaskie
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Description
An excerpt Our story so far: Oh, To Be Young and Go Very, Very Fast It was 5:30 a. m. in Pocatello, Idaho, a thin sheet of icy rain masked sunrise, and I wasn't quite sure I was up for my latest bicycling adventure. Coasting through the nearly deserted streets of this small Western town, I found myself poised at a stoplight. An ingrained obedience to traffic laws coupled with a sleepy hangover from the long train ride kept me anchored in place though there wasn't a car in sight. As I waited, show more an old rancher ambled up to the intersection. The fur collar on his long coat was tattered, crusted with tobacco stains, and faded. As his cane tapped its way over my bike, I noticed for the first time that he was blind. One eye drooped shut like that of a tomcat that had seen too many late-night brawls, while the other, still open, was cloudy and distant. That eye reminded me of an African tribesman seen in the pages of National Geographic who suffered from river blindness. The old rancher continued to work his cane over me, tapping as he went. And though the light changed from red to green several times, I remained frozen, allowing this slow survey of my person. The moment felt intimate and awkward, but I did not break it. When he was done, the old rancher stood back, grinned through a ruin of teeth, and said, "Ah, metal cowboy." I was dumbfounded and surprised; first, that he had spoken at all, and more importantly, that this battered husk of man had hit upon a perfect description of me at the time, and my story. Though I looked more like a surfer, or a guy on a fool's journey, to him I felt like a metal cowboy, the bike my horse, and the asphalt my trail. "Keep the wind at your back, and find where the innocent sleep," he added. Then, without fanfare, my rancher crossed the street and dissolved into the early morning mist. A chill passed through me. I have thought about that old man many times during my travels. He was right about the wind, and as for locating where the innocent sleep, I want to believe he meant to look for the best in people along the road, and that's what you will often find. My bicycle has also brought me to the innocence and the best in myself. Collective show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A great fun book. It reads like a collection of magazine columns, which it might be. Each little story is self-contained and bite-sized. They are pretty much all human-oriented. We do hear a bit about mileage or derailleurs or similar technical details, but they are never more that sauce on the side. It's all about the people he meets along the way.
I am preparing for a big ride in a few months... this was good inspiration!
I am preparing for a big ride in a few months... this was good inspiration!
Excellent short essays on the adventures Joe encounters while riding his bike. It will make the most sedentary of us drag the old bike out, dust if off, pump up the tires and take at least a short ride! Be prepared to laugh and cry. Joe has a bit of old Bill Bryson in his story telling ability.
Joe's first book of short vingettes of the characters he encounters and the adventures he has riding his bike around the U.S. Very entertaining and insightful. A book cyclists will relate to. He is a wonderful biking ambassador.
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7 Works 231 Members
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- Genres
- Sports and Leisure, Travel, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 796.2092 — Arts & recreation Recreation, sports, and performing arts Sports Skateboarding
- LCC
- GV1051 .K87 .A3 — Geography, Anthropology and Recreation Recreation. Leisure Recreation. Leisure Sports Cycling. Bicycling. Motorcycling
- BISAC
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- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.74)
- Languages
- English
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- Paper, Ebook
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- 2
- ASINs
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