READERS ARE SAYING …

Have just finished My Travels on Racer Road and to be honest I didn't want to arrive at the last page. You are truly a master with words, and camera; I really felt you taking me places and seeing some of the things you experienced. I absolutely loved it, a masterpiece in my view; I have hardly ever read a book as good as yours.

I can see an awful lot of hard work has gone into it, I learnt a whole bunch of interesting stuff. Thank you for all the enjoyment your work has brought to me, I am truly grateful.

— Martin E.

I've just finished reading your book.  I really enjoyed it.  What a life you have lead.  Travel, motor racing, aviation, just wonderful.  Thank you for writing your story.

— Trevor P.

My Travels on Racer Road is a joy. There is no other single-syllable word I can find to describe it.

I have on my shelves, after a blessedly long lifetime, several thousand books on motorsport and cars. All are kept with care … but there are only a very few I would rush to save from a fire. Jenks’ The Racing Driver. Richard Williams’ The Last Road Race … perhaps the recent two-volume biography of Colin Chapman. And now, Racer Road.

I don’t want to embarrass you by reciting just why I think your book is way above the bar — although the lyrical characteristic of your writing … is a major ingredient. It’s also a wonderful story, or a stream of wonderful stories, from aircraft to genealogy to motorbikes. And people. So many wonderful people, within motor racing and without.

But instead of banging on, I’ll simply forward the email I’ve just written to [a] very good friend:

“I went to bed unusually early last night, after a long day. I said I’d just read for a bit. I hadn’t yet opened Pete’s book and I thought I’d sample the Prologue and a few more pages … my light was still on well after midnight.

“Almost every paragraph … has an unexpected, almost poetic phrase… which brought me joy. In his sleeping bag in a truck parking lot during his adventure across the country on his Vincent, he writes: ‘I lay there in the night listening to big diesel engines getting their brawny shoulders into the long climb.’ Who else would have thought of brawny shoulders to describe the engines of those big trucks?

“A precious book that ranks with the very small number of others on my shelves which really are cherished.”

— Simon T.

[From a longtime friend of my wife] Lorna, I just finished reading chapter 11 of Pete’s book. I find that reading a chapter gives me a lift and a smile … even though (despite Pete’s excellent explanations) I only half understand some of the parts.

I love how Pete doesn’t just tell his story. He brings humor and personality into each story. He is especially good at making a bit of gentle fun of himself, such as his naïveté in his youth. For example, he doesn’t just say that he slept in the parking lot of a truck stop (pg 86), he talks about spreading his sleeping bag behind his bike and listening to the big diesel engines of the trucks “getting their brawny shoulders into the long climb” on the highway. That page alone is full of visual and hearing references that paint a living picture of his surroundings.

Pete seems to describe the vehicles (trucks or cars or motorcycles) as personalities, not as inanimate objects.

His passion for being on the road truly comes through but in a low key, sometimes self deprecating way and always with a sense of humor. Wow, being alone on that bike for miles and miles came through (both the positive and the negative) nicely!

— Jan E.

Thanks Pete, keep telling your story, it’s damn interesting. Most of today’s material is so brief, highlight oriented, we still love books!

— Jack B.

I am almost finished reading your book, and am enjoying it immensely. You really have an amazing way of making people feel like they’re actually there. A lot of books I read, even those I claim to like, I often am secretly just wanting to “get it over with” so I can have the satisfaction of having finished it. Sort of feels like a chore. But it’s not the same way with your autobiography; I genuinely look forward to reading it every day and hope I can finish it soon. You’ve truly had an amazing life. 

— Jackson H.

My dear Peter, I am so overjoyed to be drinking in your wonderful book, word by word, sentence by sentence. Peter it is magnificent absolutely.

The only time I have ever been so deeply, profoundly touched was by my first of life's bookends, Jenkinson's The Racing Driver. Now I have the final bookend. Thank you so much, Peter.

— John M.

I'm in the midst of reading your book and loving it. These stories of your life bring me back to a wonderful time in mine. They're entertaining enough that they don't have to be more, but they also touch on some universal themes, for people who love cars or not.

It's the book we've all been waiting to be written.

— Sam P.

Want to see more pictures? While you’re here, you might enjoy going to the “Photos” header tab for a look at our in-period racing images, taken either by myself or my father, Ozzie Lyons. (Any purchase will be separate from your book order.)