BOOK REVIEWS
Títle: Lone Rider
Writer: Elspeth Beard
Year: 2017
I
Títle: On The Road
Writer: Richard Hammond
Year: 2014
Wow! Where do you start?
Perhaps with Elspeth at the age
of 23, deciding to ride her 8 year old
BMW around the world in 1982.
Forget the BMW, after all it's only
an aging R60/6, that becomes more
than just a bike, it's a friend, a com-
panion, that is easily cast aside open
returning home.
A simplistic view, yet it's Elspeth's
honest writing that leads the read-
er to believe this could quite easily
have happened. The openness in
Elspeth's writing makes Lone Rider
so much more than just a motorcycle
journey around the world, it's a jour-
ney into her heart, her mind, her in-
timate thoughts and feelings.
Lone Rider is not just a travel
memoir recounting numerous sites
E
We all know Richard Hammond,
the short bloke that was part of a trio
that made BBC program, Top Gear,
so popular however, do we really
know Richard Hammond?
In On The Road: My Life In Twen-
ty Journeys, Richard explains twen-
ty 'road trips' that he believes has
shaped who he is however, these are
much more than just road journeys,
these are quite possibly life journeys.
On The Road isn't all laughs and
giggles, in many ways he shows that
he isn't the perceived perfect person
and is in fact tortured, uncertain and
selfish. It's honest and honestly writ-
ten.
This autobiography perhaps isn't
for everyone, it does have a mechan-
ical feel to it, of course it does, it's un-
derlined by motor vehicles however,
TRAVERSE 103
and visits, it's an open tale of love,
angst and loss. There's not a better
story in the truest sense of adven-
ture.
Lone Rider will take you to places
you don't often want to go and you'll
be thankful for it, you'll come out the
other side a much better person for
it.
Be prepared to laugh, be prepared
to wonder, be prepared to cry ... like
another well travelled female motor-
cyclist we recently reviewed (Heath-
er Ellis) you will finish Lone Rider
pages moist from fresh tears and
want to ask the question. Why? And,
Elspeth, for that, we thank you.
W
S
the writing style often feels a little
mechanical too, losing the flow and
want to keep the reader engaged. It's
quite different to other offerings by
Richard.
Put that aside, read it for what it is,
and you'll be surprised by the afore-
mentioned honesty and perhaps be
forced to look at what has shaped
your own being.
Let Richard take you On The Road,
you'll reminisce, you'll laugh about
the time you crashed your parents
car, the time you bought your first
VW Beetle, the time you ...