Paul Rega

In the summer of 1972, a group of scouts and their leaders conceived and undertook the longest planned bicycle trip of over 1400 miles from Wood Dale, Illinois through eight states to Jacksonville, Florida. The author was one of the scouts on this journey and his book is his personal recollection of the adventure this scout troop undertook. The tale of the journey in itself was very interesting and engaging as it explored the hopes and goals behind the excursion, as well as the challenges and unexpected surprises encountered along the trip. Unfortunately, except for a look-back remembrance intro in the second and third chapters, the actual story of the germination, preparation and trip does not start until the middle of chapter eighteen, well past a third of the book. Within this first third-plus section, the author focuses on his young autobiography and family history that is somewhat unfocused in leading the reader to the main object of the book, the bicycle tour undertaken by the scout troop. It would have been better if some of the more interesting tidbits in this autobiographical section that provide a sense of background to the commitment and character of the author and his fellow scouts in this undertaking had been related as thoughtful flashbacks during the trek. I did find a fair number of grammatical and typographical errors, but felt the number to be in an acceptable range as I did become engaged in an incredible and challenging accomplishment in scouting history.… (mehr)