Metal Cowboy

~ One of the greatest books on bicycle touring ever written. ~

Insightful, humane, sublimely amusing—Metal Cowboy finds nobility in the common man, explains true bicycle-love, celebrates the beauty of the country, and charmingly relates encounters with malcontents and misfits. Most of all, Metal Cowboy is a quest. It is the record of a young man seeking meaning in the world, trying to find what is good in the people he meets, what is good in himself, and a route off the prescribed roadways of life.


“David Sedaris trapped in the body of Lance Armstrong.”    —Beacon Journal

“As Melville is to the sea, Mark Twain to the raft, and Kerouac to the car, Joe Kurmaskie is to the bike.”    —Andrew Lewis Conn, Author of P and The Last American Novel

“The Metal Cowboy is crazy, wise, funny, and living the dream all cyclists have—riding off to see the world on a bike. Don’t miss this ride with him.”    —Bill Strickland, author of The Quotable Cyclist

“Like the travel books of Bill Bryson, Kurmaskie’s collection of essays focuses on the unexpected and the little known. Travelogues are a dime a dozen, but the ones that find something fresh and unusual to talk about are fairly rare. Here readers will see the countryside the way they’ve never imagined it. A thoroughly delightful excursion.”    —Booklist

“An infectious celebration of life, a sort of two-wheeled version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. . . . Endearing and even hilarious.”    —The Boston Globe

“Joe Kurmaskie rolls with a keen sense of comedy and a big heart.” —Christopher Moore, author of Lamb and A Dirty Job

“Nobody roams—or writes—with more manic energy or enthusiasm for ‘the hard life’ than Joe Kurmaskie.”    —Jay Atkinson, author of Paradise Road