Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World
Reviews (111)
A well written tale of adventure riding from a time before
A wonderful look into a time when adventure riding was in its infancy. I read this from cover to cover in a few days and found it honest and inviting. Elspeth faced tremendous hardships on her journey and including those personal details made the book even richer. I would recommend it. On a side note, Mary Siever, also a Brit, traveled the world on a 175cc BSA in the 1970s, roughly a decade before Beard. Unfortunately, there are only a few news clippings about Siever's trip, but still, she could lay claim to being the first British woman to travel around the world.
So glad Elspeth decided to write her book!
Truly enjoyed her book from beginning to end. She showed how determined she was to complete her journey, and showed all the would-be sponsors it could be done by a woman. Very impressed how she had the knowledge to make repairs when needed to her Air head, no matter what problems developed over a two year non-stop trip out of country included. I am a BMW rider and owner, and was very disappointed to read that the BMW company refused to help even sponsor her, although riding on one of their own machines in this long journey including several others that could and should have stepped up to help her with her plans at the time? I am quite sure anyone that reads her book, or attends any of her educational events will be impressed at how much she has been through to fulfill her dream that she made come true, and proud to share with all her readers, and friends, including me for one. Bob Johnson
Finding yourself on the other side of the world
As a motorcyclist who’s traveled solo trips, I’ve wondered what it’d be like to ride around the world relatively alone. All of us should make the journey, whether physically or virtually, to places that test our self image. Riding along with this author across the globe, on her own with no sponsors, no support staff, and no Internet followers, may be the virtual solo trip you need to find yourself. Luckily, I found myself whilst traveling only a few thousand miles across the United States in my early 20s at the same time the author was traveling 35,000 miles to discover her strengths as she survived one death-defying adventure after another, encountering the unfortunate aspect of being a woman in places where some men felt it necessary to assert themselves.
Excellent read, esp for young women
Wonderful book, especially for young women whether they are interested in motorcycles or not. Elspeth is a great example of a young woman overcoming obstacles (such as dyslexia) and people's ideas of what a woman "should" be like to discover the world and make it on her own terms. As a woman who has travelled alone in developing countries and rides motorcycles, I found the book almost impossible to put down. It was everything I'd been searching for in other motorcycle books and wish someone had given it to me when I was young.
A quietly beautiful and simply human moto story.
Elsbeth Beard has distilled in this book the inexplicable urge to simply *go*— from the first mad flash of inspiration, the planning, the doubt, the mechanical minutiae, the grind of the road, the elation on cresting a rise and seeing the whole world open up beneath one’s front wheel..... And she is candid with the quotidian human longings that surrounded her journey. A breakup with the man she thought was her true love. Other figures moving in and out of the story. A heart wrenching love discovered on the road. The intervening years. It is well-written in a business-like sort of way (and Elsbeth herself would make no claim to being a T.E. Lawrence in prose). But there is some unnameable driving force in the book that made me stay up till 4:30am to finish it, and left me in tears—truly—at the end.
Worth the money to buy and the time to read!
I'm within a few pages of finishing ... and I don't want it to end. Ms. Beard needs to write a sequel ... or certainly another book about her subsequent travels in the 1990s. I liked the book, it was very candid in some places with some complete transparency about what she was experiencing. If she has a book signing within driving distance of your residence, I recommend attendance by all motorcyclists, and especially female riders.
Fantastic book
Cheryl Strayed shove over! As a young woman, Elspeth rides her motorcycle around the world in 1982 - first woman to do so. A great story I read pretty much non-stop - a wonderful book for young women. I think someone is making a movie of this - it will be hard to put two years of travel into two hours. It is also an awesome book for anyone who loves motorcycles and wonders how to keep a BMW on the road for 35,000 miles.
A remarkable true story of courage and determination
I’ve been riding “real” motorcycles (no poser Hardly Ablesons!) for over 50 years, and transitioned to “adventure riding” 18 years ago. I’m an avid reader/ viewer of books and films about long and difficult treks. This book is the real deal, and the efforts were done before the internet, GPS, Spot Tracker, and good cell phones. Buy it, read it, and dream about having the courage, determination and guts of the young woman who did it.
Mhhhh
The book was interesting enough but the author dealt more with her own emotional and familial issues unrelated to the trip than with the journey itself. That in and of itself is not bad, just not what I find pertinent in a volume advertised as an adventure. It was a psychological adventure for her, no doubt. Her trip was remarkable and when she discussed the complexities of traveling as a woman I found it fascinating, but not so much when she talked about her love life. To my mind that is best left to personal journals.
An truly interesting tale of riding through all sorts of hardships.
I've ridden in several dozen countries so have experienced some hardship under changing conditions but what Elspeth Beard did still staggers me. It would have been a major feat for anyone - man or woman. I have to chuckle when people marvel at what the two guys did in "Long Way Round" and some of their other movies but they had a support crew, parts, food, etc. Beard did it mostly all alone and before and during the trip, she taught herself how to keep her bike running through thick & thin. A great read!
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