ALLEGIANCE TO WINDS AND WATERS

A debut memoir about a woman’s bicycle trip around the United States with her spouse.

In 2011, Winkler-Morey embarked on a biking journey around the country's perimeter (with brief forays into Mexico and Canada) with her partner, David. The author was 53 at the time and had been recently laid off from her teaching job, but she had a fair amount of cycling experience that she wanted to put to use. The couple set out from their home in Minnesota at a time when people across the country were concerned with such topics as the Great Recession, ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the environmental impact of fracking. The author and her husband, who are both White, pedaled throughout the nation, recoiling at some people’s casual racism and indifference to the plight of Native Americans. For the most part, though, the folks that she and David encountered were friendly, curious, and helpful; they stayed in strangers’ homes and marveled at their hospitality. If only the weather were always so accommodating. These intrepid cyclists experienced many wonders and occasional setbacks, but they learned a great many things, which they engagingly share with readers. Who knew, for instance, that you could bike through Camp Pendleton near San Diego or that, as a local in Texas advises, raccoon meat goes well with sweet potatoes? The author’s left-leaning perspective and past study of political struggles also give the work a distinctive flavor. Readers will keep turning pages, as they’ll never know what conundrum or helping hand awaits the pair in the next state along the way.

An offbeat personal account of an adventure from sea to shining sea.