Once Upon a Time on a Bicycle: A self-propelled two-wheeled journey of necessity

It was not the first time he had pedaled toward a horizon thousands of miles away, but never before had there been no horizon. Under the inexorable cloud of an abandoned promise, Michael Renati relinquished every possession unable to fit in bicycle panniers with only one goal in mind: to become a stranger navigating strange lands under his own power. Headwinds and climbs, tailwinds and descents, exploration, introspection, distance, vision, resolve, saying goodbye and starting over poignantly blend with exotic-locale photography to tell the story of a man on an all-or-nothing journey to reintegrate body and soul.

For devotees and aspirants, Once Upon a Time on a Bicycle includes a "Notes from the Road" appendix detailing the author's expedition inventory, bicycle-build specifications, and equipment evaluations.


From novelist Richard S. Wheeler, six-time Spur Award winner and recipient of the Owen Wister Award for Lifetime Achievement:

"This is a compelling story of a long bicycle ride, from the American Southwest to Central America. It is an interweaving of two journeys: one geographic and the other, interior and ethical. As we explore these pages we see a great adventure, planned and executed with a realistic grasp of the dangers – and beauties – awaiting the traveler. The gifted author's story is absorbing, perceptive, and evocative. From the seat of a touring bicycle we see country and people close-up. We sense trouble as it arrives, magic when smiles greet the rider, and comfort in villages, cities, and landscapes. This is an elegant book brimming with photographs, wisely kept to black and white, offering a visual dessert.

'Once Upon a Time on a Bicycle is too large to compress into genre and far more than an adventure. It is a love story."