Customer Reviews

The First Big Ride: A Woman's Journey

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the most favorable review this book will receive. I was on the Big Ride in 1998, so I can tell you that Eloise Hanner's personal accounts of her reactions to riding a bicycle across the U.S. ring true and let me relive much of the trip. This is in spite of the fact that I am a male (A Woman's Journey?) I might have suggested "One Woman's Journey." Her accounts of personal experiences with the emotional and physical challenges of the journey are compelling reading. Her realization that she was one of the lucky ones at MacDonald Pass was great. Weather kept more than 600 people from even riding that day. I wasn't one of the lucky ones who got to ride. She let me experience a part of the ride that I was looking forward to as much as the ride into DC itself. Thank you Eloise. As a first time writer, her prose style is well suited to reflect the wonder and awe of a powerful new experience.

However, when reading this book you must understand that Eloise Hanner is not a reporter. Her description of events she "heard" about and some sweeping generalizations about how all the riders felt this way or that, are way off base. One incident she "reports" on is simply a list of egregious errors in fact and uneducated supposition - the crash of a recumbent and two other cyclists.

I was the rider of the recumbent bicycle. There were two other cyclists involved. That is about the only thing she gets right. She goes on to state that recumbent bicycles are dangerous and gives a medical opinion about muscular/skeletal effects of riding a recumbent bike. This is from a person who is new to cycling, who had never seen a recumbent (let along ridden one) and makes no claim to any background in medicine. She completely forgot to mention that a standard bike went down breaking the leg of its rider. Bicycling, no matter the kind of machine you are on, is potentially dangerous.

However, for riding on roads, recumbents are the safest, fastest, and most comfortable pedal powered vehicle available. If anyone - including the author - is interested in the facts (like the fact that at least 3 "normal" bicycles were thrown away during the ride because the bikes were hurting the riders) please feel free to contact me at

rlg@cnw.com

So there you have it. I can think of no higher praise than when the villain of the book likes it and recommends that you read it.

Ms. Hanner has written a great story about her bicycle trip across the country.in seven weeks. At the age of 48 she was a business woman who had never done serious cycling. A superb description of her months of trainng, getting the right bike and equipment, including sleeping bag and tent and a thousand items required for the trip. Her battles with weather from the cold and snow of the Rocky Mountains to the heat and humidity of the Midwestern states. This book is an inspiration to ordinary people with a yen to do the impossible. Difficult to put down.

One true ruler by which to measure a book is how you feel when you've finished reading it.

When I finished "The First Big Ride" I felt happy. That's always a good sign. I also felt satisfied that the person I just "met" (through her writing) was a real and genuine person. That helps.

This book covers the cross country bicycle ride (for charity) of the author and her husband.

It's written in very readable passages ( not at all journal-entry like ).

We join the author at the beginning of her adventure....in a job that no longer inspires her. From there, the revelation that a cross country bike trip is a possibility.

We're taken along on this journey, from the earliest tentative steps ("We won't be able to do it") to the ride itself. Included are the practice rides around the block, their first "century" and the all important facets of finding a bike that fits you properly.

I get the impression, especially after reading the entire book, that these are generally, and sincerely, good people. They're doing something more here than simply doing a trans-am.

It's a good book to read. You may just be inspired to do something with your own life that you thought might never be possible.

Best Regards, turtlex

The reader is drawn into the journey and experience of an incredible challenge. From a non-cycler point of view one cannot help but wonder "why" but with each new chapter an understanding begins to surface. It is more than a travelogue, more than the chronicle of an experience, it is a mid-life examination we all have or must go through with a search for very basic answers to the nagging questions of life. Thorougly enjoyable and engrossing!

This is a wonderful travelogue for men and women who hope to challenge their way of thinking and approach to life. Most of us would laugh off a bike ride across America with responses such as "why bother, what's the point?" But as you read on, you get clear answers to such questions. The reader feel privileged to be included in the journey -- there's no other way to understand the depths of the author's challenge. It's a motivational book, but a fun, easy one to pedal through!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am a senior citizen and not a bicyclist, so I wondered if I would find it interesting, but I found every page to have something new that held my interest. I enjoyed the descriptions of training, the sights across the country and the friendships that developed. I felt like I had gone on the ride myself. I can recommend it for any reader, young or old, bicyclist or non-bicyclist.

Written in a diary-like format, it seemed like the writer was talking directly to me. I identified with her uncertainty in being able to accomplish this feat and was inspired by her willingness to take on the challenge---and to succeed on her own terms! Great detail in each step of the journey which made it an easy, enjoyable read---tangible and believable. It is evident that through such personal challenges one gets really close to living life to its fullest.

Approach this book mainly as a "what it's like..." journal. What is it like to be in your late 40s, terminally bored with your profession, and looking for some life in your life? What is it like to get off that department-store clunker and onto a serious touring cycle? What is it like to sleep in tent cities, eat from tractor-trailers, and pedal up to 120 miles per day across the continent? Hanner tells us, but despite her best attempts (and, perhaps, because of all those soul-deadening years as a stockbroker), she misses every chance to explore what it all means. Since the book promises "an examination of career and values and what to do with the second half of life," this is a disappointment. But, if you want to know what it's like to prepare for and participate in a large, organized, transcontinental tour, this is a good bet.

Having completed a cross-country bike ride myself, I enjoyed reading the author's account of their ride. My husband and I didn't ride in a group, but nevertheless, encountered many of the same problems, thrills, etc. that the author wrote about. Bottom line - it's an adventure that you just can't relate to unless you've experienced it first hand!! I couldn't put the book down once I started reading.

Similar to Barbara Savage's "Miles from Nowhere", this book documents a husband / wife long distance bike tour. Although the author and her husband "only " do a trans-USA supported tour, the writing is excellent as the author recounts her adventures in making the journey. In the book the author focuses on the hard times and with the people and places encountered along the way. She also relates the techincal and physical challenges faced by the riders in a highly readable and enjoying format. I especially enjoyed the chapter where the author, her husband and a small group of riders make it over a mountian where all other riders were transported by the ride sponsor to avoid the storm. A small victory over a large foe. This book embodies the spirt of a person who, bored with her routine life, tackles a challenging adventure, unsure of her ability and prevails. Although the book is subtitled "A Woman's Journey", the author is successful in producing a story which will appeal to both men and women. If you are thinking of doing a long distance bike tour, read this book first. Then show the same courage that the author and her husband displayed and do it.