Books
A Ride Across America: A 4,000 mile adventure through the small towns and big issues of the USA
A Ride Across America follows award-winning travel writer Simon Parker’s 10-week, 10mph journey, cycling 4,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
In the lead-up to the 2024 US Presidential Election – arguably the most divisive in the country’s history – Simon meets hundreds of ordinary Americans. The ‘Middle Americans’ often overlooked by the media.
The Bookseller: ‘Parker is excellent company, the pace and perceived lunacy of his journey perfect for starting conversations.’
The Guardian: ‘Parker magnificently chronicles the America he encounters, a divided, disfranchised collection of states he fears for but comes to love for their generosity, community spirit and sense of hope.”
Justin Webb, BBC: ‘America’s charming oddness summed up in a blast of entertainment and information. A wonderful companion to America. Thoughtful, fun and always willing to be surprised by a nation of dizzying complexity.’
Riding Out: A Journey of Love, Loss and New Beginnings
The remarkable and inspirational true story of how one man battled grief and anxiety, one pedal stroke at a time, on a 3,500-mile adventure around Britain.
In March 2020, as Britain entered its first lockdown, Simon Parker’s life fell apart; his travel journalism career vanished overnight and shortly afterwards he received the tragic news that a close friend had died. With a long-suppressed anxiety disorder starting to rear its head, he turned to the only therapies he knew and trusted: travel and exercise.
Riding Out is a story of optimism and hope, and a ground-level portrait of Britain as it transforms from a country in crisis to a nation on the mend. From Shetland to the Scillies, Dover to Durness, Simon learns that life’s sharpest corners are best navigated at the gentle pace of a bicycle.
Levison Wood described the book as: ‘A truly inspiring journey that celebrates the healing power of adventure. A must-read.’
Alastair Humphreys called Riding Out: ‘A fine demonstration that adventure and transformation begins on your own doorstep.’
