The long ride

By Lloyd Sumner

The long ride [Hardcover] This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811709523
• ISBN13: 9780811709521
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Stackpole Books
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great adventure ride.

The first travel book I ever read. Great fun, and amazing adventure of a bike ride that went around the world, years before backpackers had tradden paths everywhere, no cell phones, Internet, very exciting. Read it.

One Heck Of An ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!

Wow! What a great book! I can't imagine the urge that pushed Lloyd Sumner to consider such an amazing challenge, let alone accomplish it! I'm not sure how he managed such a trek around world! I have barely been off the east coast of good old USA. Even more incredible to me is that computer art existed and was popular enough to allow Lloyd to earn money to sustain himself. What he accomplished really boggles my mind! I enjoyed the book so much i bought copies for my sister (also a world traveler) and my dad (who likes biking). I feel that anyone could really enjoy this book. It's not just about traveling, but endurance, perseverance, and human nature! I am curious if Lloyd got his second book published that was advertised on the book jacket? I haven't been able to locate it.

Much More Than A Bike Ride

The story of The Long Ride is absolutely fascinating. It is a story that crosses cultures, countries and personalities. In addition to his experiences while aboard the bike, the author also describes climbing Mt. McKinley (Denali), Mt. Blanc and Kilimanjaro with borrowed equipment and little actual preparation. He completed this trek with an absolute minimum of expense and a maximum of courage and sense of adventure.I originally was attracted to the book because the author and I share the same last name though we are not related. But I was instantly drawn into the exciting, diary-type, true adventure narrative and could not put it down. Though the ardurous journey took place in the 70's, its story remains timeless and can be read again and again whenever one needs to satisfy the feeling of wanderlust.

A True Adventurer

This book is the story of a true adventure by a true adventurer. I know the story is true because I had the priviledge of being Lloyd's friend. I took the photo of him (page 15) as he left Ridgeway Farm in 1971, and met him at the airport when he returned to the states from his long ride, 4 years and over 24,000 miles later. Long before bicycle touring was popular, Lloyd Sumner undertook an amazing challenge. He somehow managed to not only complete an around-the-world trek, but even earned his way as he went. What he accomplished was incredible, and his story makes for great reading.

Timeless Adventure

The Long Ride was written about a four-year round-the-world bicycle adventure that took place in the early 1970's, but the excitement and philosophy is not out of date. Luckily this book reads quickly, because it is hard to put down. Particularly engrossing are the author's experiences riding through the bull dust of Australia's outback, being cursed then healed by a white witch doctor in Indonesia, outrunning a rogue elephant in Thailand, and riding an ostrich in South Africa. Reading Lloyd's travel stories induced me to write him a letter in 1979. We eventually met and were instant soulmates, and after 15 years of an adventurous life with him, I can attest to the validity of his experiences. Unfortunately Lloyd died suddenly in 1996. Though it was not the intent of the author, The Long Ride has become a testimony to a dynamic man's short, but intense life.