Get Up and Ride: a story of two friends and a cycling adventure on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal
Get Up and Ride: a story of two friends and a cycling adventure on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal book cover

Get Up and Ride: a story of two friends and a cycling adventure on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal

Paperback – December 11, 2020

by
Price
$13.95
Format
Paperback
Pages
202
Publisher
Jim Shea
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1736260609
Dimensions
5 x 0.51 x 8 inches
Weight
8.8 ounces

Description

"An adventurous tale" - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Insightful, full of tipsxa0and very humorous" - Subaruxa0Drivexa0Magazine's Favorite Book Picks "'Get Up and Ride' is the top humorous C&O/GAP cycling adventure book of 2021!" - Brunswick Main Street "'Get Up and Ride' integrates plenty of local color and history to complement a series of mostly amusing anecdotes in presenting a narrative that tends to draw in readers pretty much immediately." - The Almanac (Pittsburgh, PA) "A laugh-filled journey... the book also chronicles Shea's decades-long friendship with Marty, a sculptor and inner-city high school art teacher, who has taught his tech-exec brother-in-law to slow down, welcome new experiences and appreciate small moments." - Notre Dame Magazine "'Get Up and Ride' contains sometimes hilarious accounts of Jim and Marty's adventures and the people they met, interleaved with flashbacks from their long, storied friendship. Jim also sprinkles in the history of the towns along the way... the reader learns about George Washington's role in 1750's western Pennsylvania, the struggle between the French and British for control of Pittsburgh, and the history of several important Civil War conflicts along the C&O Canal." - USC Today Magazine "The honest start to 'Get Up and Ride' leads into a journey - physical, metaphorical and humorous - along the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal trails. An entertaining read." - Uniontown Herald-Standard "A true detailed GAP/C&O trail experience with humor and history." - Somerset Daily American (Meyersdale Area Historical Society VC) "A humor/adventure work with some local Connellsville color and history." - Connellsville Daily Courier "A new book full of humorous tales about biking the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal." - Monocacy Monocle

Features & Highlights

  • "A Cycling Version of 'A Walk in the Woods'"
  • "The author nicely intertwines a story of friendship and American history through an adventurous and humorous bike ride from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. Good fun!"
  • In the summer of 2010, brothers-in-law Marty and Jim embark on a cycling trip along the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal, a 335-mile trek from their home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Jim's boyhood home in Washington, DC. Chance encounters with colorful local characters and other surprising escapades during five days on the trail make for nonstop laughs.
  • As they travel through forests and along winding rivers, they experience the breathtaking scenery of western Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, exploring early American history while learning more about each other as well as themselves.
  • This true story is for adventurers and cyclists as well as couch potatoes looking for a lighthearted take on friendship and some hilarious fun.
  • "An adventurous tale"
  • - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  • "'Get Up and Ride' integrates plenty of local color and history to complement a series of mostly amusing anecdotes in presenting a narrative that tends to draw in readers pretty much immediately."
  • - The Almanac (South Hills, Pittsburgh, PA)
  • "
  • Insightful, full of tip
  • s, and very humorous."
  • - Subaru
  • Drive
  • Magazine's Favorite Book Picks, Fall 2021 (Carol Miles)
  • "A laugh-filled journey... the book also chronicles Shea’s decades-long friendship with Marty, a sculptor and inner-city high school art teacher, who has taught his tech-exec brother-in-law to slow down, welcome new experiences and appreciate small moments."
  • - Notre Dame Magazine
  • "'Get Up and Ride' contains sometimes hilarious accounts of Jim and Marty's adventures and the people they met, interleaved with flashbacks from their long, storied friendship. Jim also sprinkles in the history of the towns along the way... the reader learns about George Washington's role in 1750's western Pennsylvania, the struggle between the French and British for control of Pittsburgh, and the history of several important Civil War conflicts along the C&O Canal."
  • - USC Today Magazine
  • "The honest start to 'Get Up and Ride' leads into a journey - physical, metaphorical and humorous - along the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal trails. An entertaining read."
  • - Uniontown Herald-Standard
  • "A true detailed GAP/C&O trail experience with humor and history.”
  • - Meyersdale Historical Society Visitor Center
  • “A humor/adventure work with some local Connellsville color and history.”
  • - Connellsville Daily Courier
  • “A new book full of humorous tales about biking the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal.”
  • - Monocacy Monocle
  • “'Get Up and Ride' is the top humorous C&O/GAP cycling adventure book of 2021!”
  • - Brunswick Main Street
  • “Shea shows his humorous side in describing their search for a milkshake in Meyersdale. They found it at Donges Drive-In, where they each had two shakes that included a total of 12 scoops of ice cream for each man.”
  • - Somerset Daily American

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(215)
★★★★
25%
(90)
★★★
15%
(54)
★★
7%
(25)
★
-7%
(-26)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Fun read, laughing out loud along the way!

Disclaimer: this review takes place as I am only partially through the book, but I'm excited to share my thoughts and encourage more to try this out. I plan to add to this review upon completion.

I’ll admit I don’t sit and read in long spurts, it will come and go. So far I love this book! My wife keeps looking at me when I’m reading because I just start laughing out loud.

I'll admit now, I've known Jim for 2.5 years (work/professional), so I was excited to pick up and start this book when he told me about it. I enjoy reading about this side of him, and the vivid stories he tells in such a conversational tone. I’ve never read a book about someone I know, written by that same person I know, it’s a really different experience. I also keep finding myself reading it, but his voice speaking it in my mind, which is an experience in itself.

To the prospective buyer of this book, my feedback is: this is a really fun book to read! I can’t say that about many books that I’ve read previously. I really like the blend of stories, personal friendships, candid story telling style, and how Jim sprinkles in so much history and facts into the stories and locations they visit. Not only is it a fun and funny read, it is fascinating.

I’m looking forward to continuing the read, and will revisit and add to this review. Thank you Jim for dedicating the time to this book, and sharing it with the world - I can't wait to continue!
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Seinfeld meets Bill Bryson in this hilarious travel book about friendship

I’m not a cyclist, but I was looking for a light and funny book given the times we're living in. This book hit the mark. Shea’s writing style is similar to Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods” – it’s a really funny take on a travel adventure with his friend who is a polar opposite in every way. And some of the scenes are straight out of Seinfeld – like “The Mango Chutney!”

I laughed out loud throughout the book. And while Shea takes you along on this adventure, you learn surprising things about the French and Indian War and the Civil War. History class was never as much fun. The pictures and maps are great, too.

The book is about friendship, fun and adventure. Oh yeah, it’s about cycling too. I live in the DC area and it made me want to get out on the C&O Canal and Great Allegheny Passage as soon as the weather warms up. You will love it!
3 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Great find in local bookstore

I was recently visiting my parents in Connellsville, PA and saw this book at a local store. Love reading books that include our little town, and this one was a great book. Connellsville is just a blip in this book (I hope Jim comes back some day to explore the town more and try a different local restaurant) -my dad is the president of the rail trail in that town so we are proud of that section of the Great Allegheny Passage. Jim's book is full of wonderful facts about the different towns he visited, his adventures on the town, and we also got an insight into this relationship with his family and his traveling companion. It was a great, quick, read and I will be recommending it!
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

So Glad We Crossed Paths

Finding myself wide awake at 1:00 in the morning at the 1829 Trail Inn at Hancock, MD - I roamed around and found this book. Before I knew it I was halfway through it. I love the tales of the Bike Trip and I really love the relationship between Jim and Marty. They are like the famous friendships of Lucy and Ethel and Felix and Oscar. The book reminded me of my first trip down the C&O. I was in my 50's and alone and it was one of the greatest adventures of my life.
All cyclists should read this book of "Tales of the Trail."
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Just ok.

Being a big fan of the GAP and the C&O I was very excited to read this book. I guess I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t as funny as I had hoped. It was compared many times in other reviews as being very similar to A Walk in the Woods. It is not anywhere near as funny as that. I did appreciate the close friendship though by Jim and Marty. They seem like extremely close friends and that is nice.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Well-written humorous journey of two friends cycling 300+ miles

This is a fun easy-reading story about two unlikely friends riding bikes from Pittsburgh to DC and the humorous events that occur during their ride. Jim Shea has a great writing style sharing the backdrop of this adventure and the comical polar opposite personalities of two brother-in-laws (Jim being one of them). You will enjoy this book If you like riding, nature, history, and funny things that happen while people watching.

The only thing I would recommend, I have this in paperback as well as on my Kindle and the pictures are MUCH better digitally!!
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Well-written tale of friendship and biking adventures on the trail from Pgh. to DC

First, let me just say that if you are a fan of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", then this book is for you! It's about biking vs. hiking, and the journey (and the book itself) is a bit shorter, but it's every bit as entertaining and readable.

It has a balanced mixture of tales about the journey on the GAP/C&O biking trail, the backstory of the author's relationship with his brother-in-law Marty, and the history of the various cities and towns that they passed through along the way. I grew up in western PA, so I could definitely relate to the stories about Pittsburgh and the small towns they passed through, many of which have fallen on hard times relative to their heyday when they were important stops on the railroad and/or canal.

The book is an easy read; I found it hard to put down. Definitely funny, entertaining, and educational all at the same time. The contrast in backgrounds/careers of the two companions really adds to the charm of their tale. This also led to one unexpected take-away for me: In this always-busy, stressed-out, uptight world that we get caught up in, I think we could all benefit from channeling our "inner Marty", adopting his special brand of zen.

We get enough stress and negativity from the news/media in these times; this book is a welcome diversion from that. If you don't feel better after reading it then you weren't paying attention.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Planning to bike from Pittsburgh to DC

It’s a lighthearted book with interesting facts thrown in. Easy reading.
✓ Verified Purchase

Easy, enjoyable

More area history of the local area of the ride but easy interesting read
✓ Verified Purchase

Fun book for those Cycling the GAP and C&O AND your casual reader

Jim takes us through a fun journey riding the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Trail. While his trip through the trail was well illustrated with interesting and funny stories, his thoughtful simultaneous exploration of his relationship with his brother-in-law, Marty, and with some flashbacks and life lessons along the way make this not only a great read for cyclists, but also for your casual reader.

Related Books