Book Review – Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America? by John Seigel Boettner (1990, Siegel Boettner Fulton)

In 1986, Californian Middle School Social Studies teacher John Seigel Boettner and his wife Lynn led a group of five twelve- and thirteen-year olds in a bike tour across the United States. Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America? is Mr. Seigel Boettner’s 439 page account of the trip. It is a well-crafted and enjoyable read.

I’m quite fond of bike touring books and this one is one of my favorites. A few characteristics of the book are pretty unique to this genre. First of all is the group. Most touring memoirs focus on an individual adult or perhaps a pair of adult cyclists. I’ve never read a touring book that includes the experiences of children.

This book is also unique in the way that the journey unfolds. John Seigel Boettner takes his time telling the story of the trip. It seems as if every single day is described in some way and never is an amount of time glossed over or condensed. It is a testimony to John’s great skill as a writer that it never feels bogged down or tedious. All of the events are related in a way that holds the reader’s interest. This is probably the slowest-moving touring book I’ve ever read (and I’ve read almost fifty at this point). It stands in contrast to a book like Thunder & Sunshine by Alistair Humphreys which moves from South Africa to England via South America, North America, Asia and Europe in almost 100 less pages.

The Seigel Boettners and their students have many important experiences along the way. There are the usual weather events, mechanical failures and illnesses to overcome, of course. But as in so many good touring books, the most important aspect of the trip is meeting people. Senators, waitresses, mechanics, Amish farmers all make a lasting impression on the members of the group as they see their country from the saddles of their bikes.

I remember the summer of 1986 pretty well, too. I was just a year or so older than the kids in this book and I went on a week-long snorkeling excursion with a group from my summer camp. While not nearly as large an undertaking as riding a bicycle across America, I have many lasting and positive memories of that time. One often gets the impression when reading a touring book that this is the tale of a (if not the) high point in a person’s life. The journey related in this book was probably that moment in seven lives.