PRESS RELEASE –– PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate
Release –– For Immediate Release
Father & son
complete epic cycle-ride: 10,000 emotional miles from Ireland to Japan
Canterbury, UK – 24th February 2013
In England a 10-year-old boy, after only a day’s cycle
ride, asks his father to cycle to Japan with him when he reaches 18.
Eight years later, Kent-based father and son Mark and
Sam Swain (50 and 18), set off. After a torturous, nine-month journey – cycling
10,000 miles through emotional turmoil and physically grueling terrain – they reach
Tokyo.
With the sport of cycling currently so negatively
highlighted by appalling drug cheats, Sam’s dream expedition across Europe and
Asia displays true heartfelt human experiences of both resilience and humour. Long Road, Hard Lessons is the true story
captured from their journals, including the practicalities of cycling this staggering
distance, as well as the bruises, breakdowns and emotional punctures they both encountered
as they sorted out their thorny father-son relationship.
Physical challenges, border bureaucracy, health scares
and traffic hazards were anticipated; what they had underestimated, however, were
the conflicts they would face spending 24-hours-a-day together under such arduous
conditions with an already tenuous bond.
On one level, a life-changing travel adventure, Mark
and Sam’s story shares the psychological journey made in life by most parents
and children. Daily conflict caused by the extreme pressures and long periods
together, taught them things they had not expected to learn, and revealed how
much a parent can learn from their child.
Nicholas Roe, in The Telegraph, said, “If you
want to understand the point of adventure and the way it can glue families
together, listen to Mark Swain describing his hellish night of suffering
half-way through an extraordinary 10,000-mile bike ride to Japan.”
Sam said, “I thought I was doing the trip for my dad’s
benefit, but afterwards I discovered he’d thought he was doing it for me!”
Asked what the trip had taught him, Mark said, “Most
of all, to strive for a future where we listen to the instinctive wisdom in our
children. I’m listening now, Sam!”
– Ends –
Notes to Editors:
If you require any images from the trip, of the writers
or of the book cover, or if you have questions about the contents or background
to the book, Mark Swain is happy to be contacted personally at:
Mark and Sam Swain have appeared on BBC Breakfast TV. Susanna
Reid commented, “A really inspiring story. It brings tears to my eyes.”
Their story was
featured in The Telegraph, the Guardian and the Daily Mail, as well as
The Times of India, The Japan Times, The Daily Yomuiri, The Irish Mirror, plus
other national and international publications and on-line. A number of public
talks have been given by the authors and more are planned.
Mark Swain is also the author of the award-winning
short story ‘Special Treatment’ (Kinglake Modern Short Story Prize 2010) and a later
book of short stories ‘Special Treatment and Other Stories’.
Long
Road, Hard Lessons is available in the UK to booksellers via the
wholesaler Gardners Books, and retail from all Waterstones stores. Internationally,
it is available from Amazon.
You might like to look at the author's book blog for
the latest information and comments: http://longroadhardlessons.blogspot.com
Amazon Author’s
Page: www.amazon.co.uk/Mark-Swain/e/B008DRKT2G
Long Road, Hard Lessons – ISBN 978-0-9572002-0-3
Paperback with 25 colour plates and 7 maps
Published by Tinderbox Publishing Ltd, UK
Retails in the UK at £9.99
Kindle e-book – ISBN 978-0-9572002-1-0
(30 colour photographs + 7 maps)
Available from Amazon worldwide.
Retails at US$3.98 on www.amazon.com
Retails at £2.48 on
www.amazon.co.uk
