Blogger’s Note: I’m an avid reader, and one of the things I like to do is to highlight books that may not get as much press as more widely publicized books.

In The Persistent Road by Tim Bishop, Doug Zimmer has lost his wife to cancer and his job to the shenanigans of his boss. These two losses cause the biggest loss of all—his purpose. Rudderless and grieving, Doug hits the open road to fulfill the last wishes of his wife. A trip up the California coast turns into much, much more as he heads inland with no final goal in mind. Through his travels, he meets all sorts of characters, including Lauren Baumgartner, a woman on her own quest to cycle across the country.

Doug faces all sorts of challenges during his ride up the coast and then inland, everything from nearly being run off the road to climbs across mountain passes at high altitude to a terrifying accident. He also battles his inner demons related to losing all he held dear in such a short time.

Though a little slow at the start, like a long-distance race, the paces picks up within the book and turns into a page turner that you won’t be able to put down. Drawing on the experiences of his own cross-country ride, Bishop brings the reader right into the daily challengers that cross-country cyclists face. He also shows the beauty of this country in ways that few experience.

As for Doug, he struggles with his losses but shows the way in which God can ultimately provide healing to those who let Him.The Persistent Road is a good book to read to experience life from the eyes of a cyclist who carries many more burdens with him than just the load on his bike. I highly recommend it as well as its sequel, The Road Unveiled, which follows Lauren Baumgartner and her story.