In the autumn of 2002 and at the tender age of 47, I set off alone on a bicycle intending to ride across the USA. From San Diego, California I rode 3,112 miles to arrive 72 days later in St. Augustine, on the Atlantic coast of Florida. Usually, I camped or slept rough in the deserts and mountains, exploring the back roads and delighting in the magnificent solitude and wild empty spaces. This is a book about traveling alone by bicycle. It is not a how-to-do-it manual or a travel guide but a story of pure adventure; a story born out of frustration and middle-aged dread, written by someone whose value set may now be a little different from yours. It is an account of a journey; one that will appeal to anyone of a certain age who has ever said 'I wish'. Every word of it is true.