A Guide to Falling Down in Public: Finding Balance on and Off the Bicycle

New bicycle adventure travel stories from the Metal Cowboy

The fifth book in the Metal Cowboy series of bicycle-touring tales hits the open road in high gear and never looks back. Whether he’s outsprinting African elephants and dictators in Zimbabwe; confounding Mexican freedom fighters in Copper Canyon with nothing more than broken Spanish, questionable geopolitical skills, and the magic of a bicycle; taking a man and his lover’s ashes on one last ride on a tandem; or riding down awful truths and celebrating beautiful wrecks on five continents, Joe Metal Cowboy Kurmaskie has mastered the painful art of falling down and the flat-out rush of getting back up again.

This collection is a kaleidoscope of exuberant cycling adventure stories spanning four decades and thirty countries. It embraces the absurdity of living at any speed, the fragility in each of us the world over, and the simple wonders waiting just up the road.

Joe Metal Cowboy Kurmaskie lives in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Metal Cowboy, Riding Outside the Lines, Momentum Is Your Friend, and Mud, Sweat, and Gears. He is a much sought-after speaker, addressing and performing before bicycling and outdoor groups around the country.