Random House Digital, Inc. (Loveswept)
Published: February 13, 2012
ISBN: 9780345534507
207 pages; 1927KB
Rating: 4 ½ stars
Tom Geiger works at Salem Cycles. He’s going to ride his bike on the Trans-America Trail. Follow this link if you are interested in learning more about the trail (
http://www.transamtrail.com/
). The journey will start from Astoria Oregon and end in Yorktown Virginia. Tom has a concerned sister, Taryn, that doesn’t want him to do the trip alone. You can’t help but be a little jealous of all the places that he has traveled to.
The person that will be traveling with Tom is Alex Marshall. And does Tom get the surprise of his life – and he is not happy. Alexandra does a good job of describing what he looks like. I’d want him for my traveling companion minus the attitude. And their trip is off to a smashing start.
At one point in the trip, Alex describes the air and I could almost smell it. Our e-readers need to come with smell-a-vision. With the description of this trip, I’m hoping that Ruthie has inspired some of you to take the challenge and take this trip. Or to try some of the many trails that this country has to offer. You may want to check out
http://www.adventurecycling.org/landing_routes_a.cfm?gclid=COvju8vAwrACFUZN4AodX1jwXQ
. You can also check out your local library to see what books they may have available.
You’ll love the interactions of the main characters as they travel along the trail. I will never think of camping the same way again. When I go to work every morning I see lots of guys in their biking outfits and I can see some of them as Tom. Some of them don’t belong in bike shorts – sorry about the visual.
Ruthie also mentions another author’s work. If you want to learn more about Ruthie’s story, you may want to check out Tom Wolfe’s “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”. The book came out in 2008 and it is available in paperback or in e-book form. Plus you can always try to get a copy from your local library if you don’t want to purchase a copy. You will want to add “Ride With Me” to your collection. This is a book that you will want to read more than once.
If you love this book as much as I did, you will love Lexi’s birthday celebration – that’s as much of a spoiler as you’re going to get. You will just have to read the book to find it and then you will understand. This is one of those books that you will not want to put down until you have finished.
At the end of the story, Tom mentions taking another trip – would love to know if Ruthie will turn it into another story. A series maybe. After my experience with this book, I’m a fan of Ruthie’s. I will definitely want to read what Ruthie comes out with next. And just to let you know, her next book “About Last Night” comes out on Monday. Make sure to snag a copy. 
I have to thank Susan Grimshaw and Ruthie for sending me a paper copy of this book. I greatly appreciated getting it in the mail.
