After being cooped up on a Navy ship with over a thousand men, the author decided he needed a hearty taste of the wide-open outdoors. Driving across the states by automobile could have been a possibility, but it was ultimately decided that the best way to enjoy the many sights would be by bicycle, at a much slower pace. From riding past a stunningly beautiful section of a pine tree forest in Illinois, to pedaling up a steep incline to the top of a mountain pass in Colorado, to being generously offered a ride during a downpour of rain by a man and his family in a school bus in New Mexico, the adventures on the journey were never-ending. The kindness of the American people was amazing and joyful at many stops along the way.

Bicycling Through Paradise is a collection of twenty historically themed cycling tours broken into 10-mile segments centered around Cincinnati, Ohio. Written by two longtime cyclists--one a professor of history and one an architect--the book is an affectionate, intimate, and provocative reading of the local landscape and history from the perspectives of cycling and Cincinnati enthusiasts. Tours, navigated by Smythe and Hanlon, take cyclers past Native American sites, early settler homesteads, and locations made know through recent Ohio change-makers as navigated by the authors. With extensive details on routes and sites along the way, tours between 20 and 80 miles in length are designed for all levels of cyclists, and even the armchair explorer. Riders and readers will visit towns called Edenton, Loveland, Felicity, and Utopia. Along the journey, they'll encounter an abandoned Shaker village near the Whitewater Forest and a tiny dairy house called "Harmony Hill," the oldest standing structure in Clermont County, Ohio. They'll also take in the view from the top of a 2,000-year-old, 75-foot tall, conical Indian mound at Miamisburg. Riders can follow the Little Miami Scenic Trail and take a detour to a castle on the banks of the Little Miami River. Other sights include a full-scale replica of the tomb of Jesus in Northern Kentucky and the small pleasures of public parks, covered bridges, tree-lined streets, riverside travel, and one-room schoolhouses. And if all this isn't exactly Paradise, well, it's pretty close.

The Netherlands. Where Bicycle Is King

In 1989 just as tourism was beginning in Costa Rica, the author moved to the tropics with his wife and two young daughters. This is the saga of their often humorous adventures in their new found paradise. The Costa Rican saying pura vida "pure life" summed up their hopes, but they soon learned that there's no such thing as heaven on earth. This is a must read for those contemplating dropping out to live on a tropical beach. Steve and Mary Lou now live in Montana and maintain their home in Manuel Antonio as a vacation rental, visiting as tourists when they can.

Cyclist's guide to the South Island covering most state highways and many of their alternatives. Guide includes route descriptions, highway profiles, gradient descriptions, local attractions, sketch maps and services such as information centres, food outlets, bike shops and accommodation in camp grounds, hostels, hotels and motels.

Having all but forgotten the Bay of Pigs abandonment, Americans in a post 9-11 world may be victim to biological terrorism designed to end Cuban communism but instead threatens to infect South Florida. In this gripping tale, where the ends sometimes justify the means, two generations collide as one man seeks to undo his past while the other fights to save his future.