Description

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On a journey begun twenty years earlier, Daryl Farmer, a twenty-year-old two-time college dropout, did what lost men have so often done in this country: he headed west. Twenty years later and seventy pounds heavier, with the yellowing journals from that transformative five-thousand-mile bicycle trek in his pack, Farmer set out to retrace his path. This is his story of pursuing that distant summer and that distant dream of home, where home is endless space, a roof of big sky, and a bed of dry earth. Just as the years altered the man, so, too, have they altered the West, and Farmer’s second journey affords a unique perspective on these changes—as well as on what lasts. Whether caught in a Colorado snowstorm or braving a Yellowstone herd of bison, kayaking with orcas in Puget Sound, trading Ninja moves with a homeless man in San Francisco, or getting the lowdown on aliens on Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway, Farmer charts a moving landscape of people and places. This is the West where the natural world and personal character are inextricably linked, and where one man’s ride into the past and present takes us to the heart of that ever-evolving connection.

About the Author

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Daryl Farmer has published essays, short stories, poems, and reviews in several journals including South Dakota Review and Prairie Schooner.

Praise For…

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“Daryl Farmer lyrically meshes his traveling experiences of 1985 with 2005 in his book. . . . With writing that compares favorably to Paul Theroux, William Least Heat Moon, and John Steinbeck, Farmer assures us that the American spirit hasn't been completely deflated.”—Lee Gooden, ForeWord magazine

“The book isn’t just bicycle talk. Much to Farmer’s credit—and the fact that he keeps journals—he gives us some historical background of the towns and places he visits. He also shares his personal life and his feelings, such as loneliness, anger and moments of happiness. All in all, it’s a good read for anyone contemplating a long-distance bicycle journey or some other adventure.”—Algis J. Laukaitis, Lincoln Journal Star

“Ride along with Daryl Farmer to learn more about living.”—Sports Literature Association

“Farmer succeeds in finishing an epic adventure, and a fine book.”—Western American Literature



“Bicycling beyond the Divide did what all great books do: it told me about me. In its tale of a journey made by two different men—both of them Daryl Farmer—this book offers us not only moving vistas and meaningful people, but also hope, that rarest of literary commodities these days. I didn't want this to end.”—Bret Lott, author of Jewel

“Reading Bicycling beyond the Divide was the best vacation I took all year—in a year I traveled to Mexico, France, and Italy. Even if you have never ridden a bike or set foot in the West, this book will make both a part of your life as vivid as any trip you have taken. Daryl Farmer’s journey—into the heart of a land, of a time, into the very nature of memory and experience—is one I will never forget.”—Jesse Lee Kercheval, author of Space