Vultures circled overhead as Tim Watson found himself running out of fuel in the desert. Indeed he had many hair-raising encounters in his 8,000-mile ride around small-town America - severe dust storms, mountain snow, an angry rattlesnake and even angrier racoon, not to mention weird folk.

His account, informative and hilarious, is a must for armchair adventurers and anyone who has ever wondered what small-town America is really like.