The Long Ride West

By Thomas Piunti

Thirty-nine years of marriage. One empty house. A Harley waiting in the garage.

At sixty-six, retired construction worker Thomas Mercer expected to spend his freedom with his wife, Margaret. After her funeral, he can barely face another morning without her.

Then he starts his motorcycle and leaves Chicago, bound for the Pacific.

The miles bring more than beautiful scenery. Missouri storms leave him soaked and shaken. A robbery attempt turns a quiet campsite dangerous. Desert heat, relentless wind, and a mountain road crowded with trucks test both his strength and his nerve.

But there are good days, too: coffee with strangers, a roadside repair, a Navajo elder who knows the ache of an empty chair. Margaret returns in dreams and ordinary memories-in a joke, a familiar song, the things Thomas still wants to tell her.

As his beloved Harley carries him toward San Diego, Thomas begins to imagine a future he thought had ended. Reaching the ocean matters. So does finding the courage to go home.

The Long Ride West is a moving novel of enduring love, unexpected friendship, and life on the open road. For anyone who has loved deeply, lost someone, or wondered what might wait beyond the next bend.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HMP1XCK5
• ISBN13: 9798161604113
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"