Live to Ride: The Rumbling, Roaring World of Speed, Escape, and Adventure on Two Wheels - Softcover

"Rich with personal experience and deep with knowledge of motorcycles since their first invention, "Live to Ride" brings home the full rush of the need for speed." --Madison Smartt Bell, author of "All Souls' Rising "and "Devil's Dream" "Enjoyable and informative--one of the best book on the topic in years ... ["Live to Ride"] captures the obsessive excitement of motorcycle culture with enough verve to make nonriders understand, and jealous." --"Kirkus" "If it involves a motorcycle, Wayne Johnson has it covered...[his] passion for riding is unbridled, and his prose sometimes sings like the smooth engine of a Ducati." --"Publishers Weekly" "A marvelously entertaining and masterfully written ode to the many joys of two wheeled motorized transportation...This very special book transcends its seemingly narrow subject matter to touch the pulse of life in modern America." --"Booklist "(starred review) "Rich with personal experience and deep with knowledge of motorcycles since their first invention, "Live to Ride" brings home the full rush of the need for speed." -Madison Smartt Bell, author of "All Souls' Rising "and "Devil's Dream" "If it involves a motorcycle, Wayne Johnson has it covered...[his] passion for riding is unbridled, and his prose sometimes sings like the smooth engine of a Ducati." -"Publishers Weekly" "A marvelously entertaining and masterfully written ode to the many joys of two wheeled motorized transportation...This very special book transcends its seemingly narrow subject matter to touch the pulse of life in modern America." -"Booklist "(starred review) "Enjoyable and informative-one of the best book on the topic in years ... ["Live to Ride"] captures the obsessive excitement of motorcycle culture with enough verve to make nonriders understand, and jealous." -"Kirkus"

In LIVE TO RIDE, the extraordinary writing of Wayne Johnson makes readers feel like participants, not just observers: whether it's roaring down an empty highway at an insane speed on two wheels, hopping on for a few mindboggling loops of motocross, or joining in the rolling thunder of a veritable outlaw motorcycle club, Wayne has done it all himself and brings us along for the ride. As he says, "Here you are in it, this landscape, not just passing through." This book is all about the adventure of riding as well as the colorful groups and fascinating that history that goes along with it. Some topics covered include: the history of the motorcycle, beginning more than a hundred years ago when it evolved from the bicycle; what it means to ride a Ducati vs. BMW; inside looks at diverse racing venues like the vertigo-inspiring "Widowmaker Hillclimb" and the fastest land racing in the world at the Bonneville Salt Flats; and what biker clubs are, with first hand accounts of Wayne's own wild rides with an outlaw club. LIVE TO RIDE is sure to touch many kinds of readers: those who have ever wondered what it's like to hop on a motorcycle; those who have actually done it and felt the rush of pleasure that goes along with zooming off; or those who just like to read about people having wild, life-expanding adventures; and finally the many readers intrigued by this fascinating, important part of modern American culture.