She Rides: Chasing Dreams Across California and Mexico

There is a long lineage of women soloing on demanding adventures and writing books about their journeys. Vrecek joins in with her account of a cycling trip she took in the wake of rigorous cancer treatments and midlife self-doubt. Born in Slovenia, Vrecek enjoyed early good health and stamina before moving to the U.S., where she became an expert skier and sportswoman and a mother of three. A breast cancer diagnosis, however, hit her confidence hard. She found redemption in the challenge of a 2,524-mile bicycling trip from Lake Tahoe, CA, to La Ventana, Mexico. During her ride, she encounters the natural world in all its fierceness, as well as many supportive responses from the people she meets along the way. The author documents her trip via her frequent reports to her husband and friends, who tracked her progress on a GPS.