10 years after his 36-year-old uncle, a Brooklyn firefighter, is killed on 9/11, Cornell University senior John Nitti prepares for a journey and challenge of a lifetime after graduation with his roommates—one of the longest bicycle rides in the history of the United States. As the 10,000-mile, 35-state ride across the country and back approaches, however, his friends drop out, making it a solo venture. The odds are against him, though, for other reasons. For one, he’s not a cyclist. He’s never biked more than nine miles in a day, and needs to learn how to change a flat tire. He’s never camped before, except in his backyard as a kid.

As Nitti faces self-doubt and a fear of being alone, the challenges of the road prove immense: gale-force headwinds in Texas, freezing temperatures in New Mexico, 25 flat tires, encounters with wildlife and police, crashes in Alabama and Pennsylvania, and more; but he receives unexpected help from strangers—just about every day. On a trip full of unique experiences, from riding up and down the Rockies twice to “showering” in farm sprinklers and rivers to working on a farm in Ohio, he learns to appreciate changes in himself as he bikes through the forests, mountains, plains, cities, and deserts of the United States, on everything from dirt roads to interstates, trying to make it back home to New York.

Nitti’s inspiring journey and insights in Sharing the Road are deeply moving as he connects with the beauty of nature, the limits of his own body, a deeper understanding of himself, and the good that exists in the strange places and strange people you might find yourself sharing the road with.