There's always an escape. Sometimes you need to search long and hard for the right one.

After losing all he once cherished, Doug Zimmer follows his wife's parting bread crumbs and rides up the Pacific coast-on a bicycle. Armed with a revolver and only a vague plan to get through the months ahead, he aims to end his depression one way or the other.

As spiritual forces wrangle for his soul, he pedals eastward across America. He meets Lauren Baumgartner-a younger adventurer with a vibrant spirit-and a band of zealots who confront his aversion to religion. Accompanying Doug are not only sunny days and the beauty of nature but also the perils of the road, fellow travelers with their own stories, and the hollow silence of solitary campsites playing host to unseen creatures of the night.

A jarring episode on a climb through a treacherous pass brings Doug face-to-face with life and death. Will Doug's adventure deliver him from loneliness and lament . . . or hurtle him to an abrupt end?

TIM BISHOP has bicycled many of the roads that Doug Zimmer travels in The Persistent Road. And having coached people struggling with similar issues, the author is familiar with his protagonist's problems. Tim and his wife, Debbie, are coauthors of the award-winning Wheels of Wisdom.