Check out "The Last American Man". Part of it deals with this guy riding cross country in some unbelievably short amount of time. He is a modern-day mountain man, and by the end of the book I wasn't sure if I respected him or thought he was a complete idiot. When he first started the big ride, I thought "uh-oh, this sounds bad," but he was so obsessive about horse care, he brought them through it with no major harm. Still, I don't think I'd want to ride with him!
