Five years ago today, I rode my bicycle into Key West.

It was September 1, 2021—eighty-one days and 4,535 miles after I climbed onto a bike in Anacortes, Washington, and started pedaling across America.

I hadn’t ridden a bicycle in years. I had no real cycling background, a comical lack of training, and just enough confidence to get myself into some serious trouble.

Somehow, I made it.

And today, exactly five years later, I finally get to share the story.

It’s Just Riding: Just Pete from Sea to Key is officially available.

The book has plenty of what you’d expect from a guy attempting to ride across the country when he had absolutely no business doing so—mountains, heat, headwinds, wrong turns, numb hands, close calls, mechanical problems, and far too many flat tires.

But somewhere along those 4,535 miles, the story became about something more than riding a bicycle.

All along, I thought I was riding across America.

Looking back, I was really meeting America.

Friends, family, and complete strangers showed up when I needed them most. They offered meals, directions, places to stay, encouragement, and sometimes simply stopped to ask if I was okay.

I came home convinced of something that seems especially worth remembering:

People are good.

Not perfect, certainly—but fundamentally, overwhelmingly good.

That’s a big part of the story I wanted to tell in It’s Just Riding.

It’s also a story about persistence, stubbornness, finding humor when things go spectacularly wrong, and discovering that things don’t have to go perfectly to go the distance.

Five years ago today, I reached Key West and finished the ride.

Today, the book finally crosses the finish line.

It’s Just Riding is here.

The End?