BOOK REVIEW
By Donna Marie Ashtone (Sportsbookofthemonth.com price: £7.99, saving £2 on rrp) THE penchant for ‘writing up’ your fully supported or, more likely, solitary epic journey, be it across oceans ( Four Mums in a Boat), continents ( Dare To Do, Sara Oaten) or single countries in quirky fashion ( Gironimo, Tim Moore) is well established.
Self-publishing has made the ‘personal epic’ genre even more ubiquitous, although just because wouldbe adventurers endeavour to achieve a personal ambition by climbing a mountain or conquering a fierce sea doesn’t mean that, however worthy their physical exertions, the subsequent published version detailing their efforts will be much good.
Fortunately, while The Beardless Adventurer and Her Inconvenience offers a solid argument for modern-day adventurers to align themselves with a professional publisher capable of reproducing halfdecent maps – most self-publishers’ maps are either too small (as is the case here) or indecipherable – the end result is hugely enjoyable.
The book’s premise is also refreshingly different. Ordinarily, people who attempt continental crossings on a bike have been cycling for years. Not so DonnaMarie and Iain, a couple in their late forties unable to boast of earlier bike trips en route to tackling the ‘big one’, ie 5,000 kilometres across Europe.
What makes their often gruelling effort even more remarkable is the fact that they tackled it on the spare of the moment, displaying a wonderful spontaneity which you might imagine would see them come a cropper. Thankfully not, though you do wonder, when the duo are being buffeted by Brittany’s harsh winds, whether they’ll survive the initial leg of the trip to Morlaix. They do, only to find the campsite where they craved a hot shower is closed.
In many respects, this opening setback is repeated, in different forms, across Europe, which says wonders for the pair’s determination. The author acknowledges that they should have been better prepared for the journey, yet because it’s unplanned, the reader is rooting for them from the off.
We’ve teamed up with www. sportsbookofthemonth.com and have a copy of to give away. To win this prize, visit the www.sportsbookofthemonth. com website and answer the following question: Which city is the capital of Brittany?