The Heart of America

If you are looking for a technical/tour guide type manual about crossing the country by bicycle, skip this one. If you are looking book written by an evangelical Christian bicyclist about his journey across our great country, this is the one. Mike Trout, co-host of the Focus on the Family radio program, shares his experiences as he meets other Christians while doing something many of us only dream about. The hospitality and graciousness of the people he met along the way, gave me as a reader a renewed faith in the values that made this country such a great place to live. Some readers may be turned off or offended by the continual reference to scripture through out this book. But to the true believers, it is an example of how we should do all things in our lives with reverence to God and scripture. This is a book to be enjoyed be both cyclist and non-cyclist alike. The only criticisms I can find, I wish this book had more technical information, i.e. a route map, etc. and more detail about the eastern half of the trip. But as said before, there are other books written for those purposes. Another excellent book about cross-country bike travel is Over the Hills, by David Lamb. Written by a newspaper journalist, it also chronicles the trip of a man approaching mid life and unbarring on a life-changing journey. Very similar to Trout's book, but with out the religious overtones.

Living life to the fullest is something we all talk about but rarley do. This book is a great testimony of a man who actually did just that. My husband and I are coming up on age 50 and have talked about doing something adventurous for the past several years. Mike's book has definitely encouraged and motivated us to step up our plans. There is so much to experience in life if we just take that first step. We have made arrangements to backpack across the entire Appalachian trail next year. I can't wait. This book is a great tribute to all of us who dare to step out of our box a little, and to the great people of this country. I highly recommend it!