The Cycling Adventures of Coconut Head- by Ted Schredd

I recently bought The Cycling Adventures of Coconut Head: A North American Odyssey by Ted Schredd, just in time to be laid up sick (Sick! Sick! Sick!) for the weekend. Okay, okay, actually, I didn't buy it recently, I've had it for a few weeks and was bored into reading. I'm such a bad liar! That should not be taken as a reflection upon Mr. Schredd's writing, as I had not taken the book itself into account when I made the non-decision to read it. I'm just such a non-avid reader...

Whoa, words. Did I mention that I'm sick? I may or may not be a bit delirious. And/or drunk on hot cider and Jameson's.

TCACH is the story of Ted Schredd's dream to inspire the world to get out, ride a bike and have some good, clean, and often naked, fun while exploring alternate means of transportation. He called his 8,000 mile velomission, EnviroRide.

And yes, he did seem to have a blast much of the time, but he didn't sugar coat the times that he did not. He and his partner did experience times of bad weather, dehydration, anger, physical illness, disenchantment and heartbreak. As a matter of fact, he started his ride from Vancouver, B.C. with one female partner, and ended it with another.

His whimsical account of their ride is dotted all throughout the margins with his very own hand drawn cartoons of his interactions with his surroundings. From deforestation in Oregon, to the freeways of LA, to the fire anthills of Louisiana, to the banana-hating boat captains of Key West, to all the bike-friendly firehouses of the east coast.

As could be expected from a story that takes place over 8,000mi in just under 200 pages, it moves fast. He and his partner (Lisa at first, and then Dee) are in and out of cities in a matter of a couple of pages. Good visits, bad visits, scary hosts and angelic hosts. He runs into the most generous souls and most selfish monsters one might ever encounter. And throughout it all, his sense of humor shines through in the language he uses and pictures he doodles.

I've been doing a lot of reading of blogs, video blogs and whatnot about the cross-country and international tours of individuals and one new thing that I've taken away from this book has got to be my need for mosquito netting. One for my head and one for my person.

Also, I have a bit of fear of not having the extra other person around to push me on hard days. They were lucky to have each other around to kick their butts into gear in times of fatigue and physical pain.

I suppose I'll be depending quite a bit on my friends from afar cheering me on. In general, I'd call myself a lucky gal, being surrounded as I am by people who love me. I hope very much that their love for me will push them to push me and not to coax me home.

This is Ted Schredd's YouTube channel, chronicling the rest of his fun-seeking visits.