Middle Miles
Cycling from Canada to Mexico Along the Pacific Coast Highway
At fifty-something, Cory Mortensen set out to ride the Pacific Coast Highway—not to chase youth or set records, but to listen. To the wind, the waves, the road beneath him—and the quieter voice within.
The Shape of Movement is a memoir set against the rugged rhythm of the Pacific coast. From fog-draped Washington cliffs to sun-washed California stretches, Mortensen pedals through forgotten beach towns, roadside cafes, and long-empty motels—collecting stories, bits of history, and the strange trivia that only reveals itself to those traveling slowly enough to notice.
This isn’t a journey of reinvention or escape. It’s a cinematic, slow-burning reflection on the shape a life takes in its middle miles. Where have we been? What have we missed? And what, if anything, lies ahead that still stirs the soul?
Equal parts memoir, travelogue, and philosophical postcard, Middle Miles is an invitation to pause, to move deliberately, and to consider the beauty of not having it all figured out."