One Man and His Bike: A Life-Changing Journey All the Way Around the Coast of Britain - The Word-of-Mouth Bestseller

I enjoyed the whole book and was disappointed when I turned the last page and saw no more script. I've done a bit of long distance cycling myself and fully understand Mike's need for food and eating whatever is available, I understand his feelings about the generosity of strangers and counting the pedal strokes up long and steep hills. I admire his ability to see the humour in situations and his obvious writing skills. I too would like to have a go at a round Britain trip but I've a wife that needs to see me with some regularity and although Mike could do the trip in five months I think it would take me a tad longer. It is the first book in a long time that I picked up in every spare moment.. I bought my copy off Amazon as a second hand book but the condition was "as new"

This was both one of my favourite books read in 2011 and one of the best travelogues about the UK, ranking up there with Paul Theroux's "The Kingdom by the Sea" and Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island". (Actually, on reflection, it's better than either of them.) It's hard not to envy Mike Carter's ability to be able to say one day, "Sod this", as he biked through a rainy London to his work, and decides to jack it in to follow the temptation to just keep cycling on along the Thames to the coast before turning left to circumnavigate the whole of the British coastline on his bike. Nice idea, and nice to be in the position to do it too! The bookshelves groan with the weight of a lot of these kind of travelogues, with people lighting out on their journey to find whatever it is they're looking for. Carter keeps the interest because he actually interacts with quite a few people that he meets and manages to colour these characters in quite well, and he keeps the balance between people and places quite nicely. You get the feeling that he has some quite strong opinions about the state of both Britain and Britons, which sometimes poke through the narrative, but the interesting thing for me was that the book looks on the bright side because that's what the author experienced on his trip. It would be quite easy, and no doubt enjoyable, to slag off a lot of the places Carter visits on his travels, but he resists the temptation for sarcasm and slander because, you feel, although it was part of his experience it was nowhere near all of it. We've all been to the utter run-down dumps that sit on our seashore, and we could all have a good go at laying into them for the states they are in because of the people, the politics or the poverty, but it's an easy target. Probably a dispiriting one too, and this bike ride is certainly not that. Carter was gutted when his journey ends back in London, and I was disappointed too - that the book was ending. I wanted to know what Mike did next. Did he settle down? Did he set off somewhere else? Has he still not found what he is looking for? I looked him up on the net and was surprised to see I'd read another of his books, "Uneasy Rider", about a fairly rubbish and discontented motorcycle tour through Europe. It seems, as Mike often attests in this book, there's no place like home.

Reading this book is a lovely way to vicariously travel the coast of Britain. The author writes in a way which you can feel and see the vistas and the beauty of Britain. I learned alot about the various places and landmarks,the accents, the fuel/food a cyclist will come across,the hospitality of the folk of Britain and Written with humour and inspiration. As some one who cycled indoors from class room to class room during my school days (I'm talking about myself (the reviewer of this review)on a tricycle with a huge baskglet on the back and a timid bell), I'm happy to hear the Author's cobalt blue bike takes it's rightful place against the racing bike. Enjoyable read, I didn't want the journey to end.

It is quite rare that I enjoy a book so much I feel compelled to write a review, but this is one such book. As a cyclist with aspirations to go on a long tour I found Mike Carter's story inspirational. As someone who often despairs at the number of Britons who constantly berate their own nation and talk about it so negatively I found Mike's experiences a wonderful antidote. His encounters with such a wide range of interesting people - most of them friendly and helpful and only a handful of them not so reflect my own experiences. And as Mike observes, we really do live in one of the most beautiful countries on Earth. I read a few negative reviews based on the fact the the majority of the book covers the first half of the journey, and Wales, the West Country and South Coast don't get the same level of coverage as the East Coast, Scotland and the North-West, but this is well explained in the book by the author himself, and it is quite clear that his best experiences were in the first half of the journey and by the time he got to Wales clearly was getting tired or the trip (not a good time to be in that frame of mind given the fact that the worst hills of the journey are going to be in Wales and the South-West. Perhaps Mike should try the journey again but going the other way around! Although as someone who has also cycled some of those hills in Devon and Cornwall ..... he could definitely be forgiven for never wanting to do them again. Overall though this book is well deserving of 5 stars. An uplifting book and a wonderful tale of travels through Britain.

I can't really remember how I found this book, but I'm extremely glad I did. I love human interest stories such as this, so read a lot of them. This is, without doubt, one of the very best I've read. The conversational, humble and witty style of writing makes it an easy and joyful read. I felt like I was part of the journey with Mike. It's far more about the characters that he encounters on his journey, than the physical act of pedalling of a push-rod, and that's what makes it so interesting. I'd recommend this book to anyone. And I'm now off to download Mike's other books!

A good read, for sure, but it's more about the places he finds and the characters he meets as opposed to what it's actually like cycling every day for nine months. I bought it to give me an idea what cycling LEJOG would be like but he cycles like there's no effort needed! So from that point of view, it didn't help. But I did enjoy the book so if it's a good holiday read you're looking for or you have an interest in the coastal route around Great Britain, then this is definitely the book for you. He has a very relaxed style, quite amusing in places and thought provoking in others. I particularly liked his unbiased views on most of what he found and observed. Oh, and just to put your mind at ease, I completed the epic end-to-end in just 10 days and raised £6 for charity. Now, read on....

Downloaded this for my kindle to take on holiday. I cycle regularly but am a cycle tourist of the armchair variety. I've read a few cycle touring books on my kindle priced from 99p upwards. This was one of the more expensive ones and written by a journalist. The book was a really enjoyable read. To start with its written by somebody who can actually write (ok he does it for a living). The characters he meets seem genuinely interesting and I really felt I didn't want the book to finish towards the end. Some of the people he meets (and sometimes gets fed by and provided accommodation) seem a bit too good to be true. I don't doubt the encounters happened but can't help but feel there was more pre planning than the book lets on. I thought the last leg of his journey felt a bit more rushed than the rest of the book but maybe that genuinely reflects how it was.

Excellent book & very inspiring. I wish I could take off & do something similar! I'll have to wait until I retire!