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Lone Rider
- The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World
- By: Elspeth Beard
- Narrated by: Wendy Wolfson
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1982, at the age of just 23 and halfway through her architecture studies, Elspeth Beard left her family and friends in London and set off on a 35,000-mile solo adventure around the world on her 1974 BMW R60/6. Reeling from a recent breakup and with only limited savings from her pub job, a tent, a few clothes, and some tools, all packed on the back of her bike, she was determined to prove herself. She had ridden bikes since her teens and was well-traveled. But nothing could prepare her for what lay ahead.
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Disappointing
- By Alex Reponen on 06-17-19
- Lone Rider
- The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World
- By: Elspeth Beard
- Narrated by: Wendy Wolfson
Great story
Reviewed: 02-27-23
I preface this by saying I’ve ridden motorcycles all my life, and at 68 own three and still ride several times a week. While I’ve never had a desire to ride around the world, I can relate to her experiences of sudden mishaps, terrible weather and so on.
This is a great tale, but I would remind potential readers that she was a kid when she did this on sort of a whim. That said, her planning was meticulous, and she learned her bike and apparently took the tools and parts that could reasonably be expected to be needed on such a long and dangerous journey. I would have liked to hear more about this aspect of her planning.
She was certainly resourceful. She was very brave to do this, and it’s sad her parents didn’t appreciate the amount of courage it took to do this.
I recommend this book to any serious motorcycle enthusiast, or anyone curious about what is involved with riding around the world on two wheels and a strict budget.
Of course times have changed and it’s probably impossible to ride through the Middle East, but that fact makes it all the more interesting that it was possible in 1982.
She also seems to have some long term problems based on her upbringing, but that’s all part of the story.
Give it a listen. It’s worth the time.
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