Great story, and a fairly good story teller. Went to the authors website and unfortunately none of the links work. Perhaps they are not links? The book is available hardcover form from Amazon. Didn't find it on the book logix site. I'd like to read the story to get more details.
My brother toured on his Raleigh Professional. What the youthful mind is willing to do for adventure! There were specialized touring bikes back then, but who could justify or afford more than one?
My touring started in the 70's with a cotton sleeping bag and a 7 pound tent. Getting things wet was a real bad situation. The stuff sacks we had were only water resistant and if more than a slight mist, the bag got wet. Those were the days! My low gear was 39x28, my brother's was 42x24. He was tougher than I, but I was faster than him when we would go head to head. Those were the days!