Mississippi Ramble

Some journeys begin with years of planning.

This one began with a text message.

What started as a quick trip to Minneapolis and a World Cup soccer match in Kansas City became something far bigger: a 2,000-mile bicycle journey from Minneapolis to New Orleans, following the course of America's greatest river.

But Mississippi Ramble isn't about riding a bicycle.

It's about following the river that built a nation.

From the towering limestone bluffs of Minnesota to the cypress swamps of Louisiana, award-winning author Cory Mortensen pedals through bustling river cities, forgotten farming towns, ancient Indigenous landscapes, Civil War battlefields, blues country, and the quiet backroads where America's history still lingers. Every mile uncovers another story-from the first people who walked these riverbanks and the ancient mound builders who reshaped the landscape thousands of years ago, to explorers, steamboat captains, river pilots, musicians, farmers, and ordinary Americans whose lives have always been intertwined with the Mississippi.

Part travel memoir, part American history, and part personal journey, Mississippi Ramble is a celebration of curiosity, adventure, and the places that continue calling us home.

Why do certain places refuse to let us go?

What does freedom really mean?

Why are some roads impossible to ignore?

With Mortensen's signature storytelling, fascinating history, unforgettable characters, moments of humor, and quiet reflection, Mississippi Ramble invites readers to slow down, look closer, and discover that every bend in the river carries another story waiting to be told.

Whether you're drawn to history, travel, cycling, or simply the idea of disappearing down an unfamiliar road to see what waits around the next bend, Mississippi Ramble is an unforgettable journey through the heart of America-and through one of the greatest rivers, and greatest stories, ever told.