This Road I Ride: Sometimes It Takes Losing Everything to Find Yourself by Juliana BuhringMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
A different edition of this book had the sub-title, "My incredible journey from novice to fastest woman to cycle the globe." The one I read has the sub-title "Sometimes it takes losing everything to find yourself." The two different sub-titles emphasize different aspects of the same book.
Books about around-the-world bicycle trips started to appear at the same time as bicycles; in the 1800s cyclists would publish their book about the travel adventure and give paid lectures - sometimes there were other ways they earned something from these trips. Most were men, but the first woman credited to traveling around the world by bicycle, Annie Londonderry, made her journey in 1895.
Today what constitutes "riding a bicycle around the world" is closely defined by the Guinness world records people - Ms. Buhring's ride was in compliance and she set a new women's world record. I have read a number of cycling travelogues (first person "adventure cycling" books) but as noted with the two sub-titles, that is one theme of this book and the other is about growing (or finding oneself) as a person, which (although this sounds odd) I am less interesting in reading about.
The adventure cycling part of the narrative is fine, but I was not terribly engaged - I made it to the end of the book, but could have just as easily turned it back in to the library without finishing. But that is probably more about me. I'm not sure that this isn't a limit to how many of these sorts of books one can read and enjoy.
At the end, the author explains that she has become a ultra-endurance cyclist, participating and doing well in a number of events. She rode in the 2016 summer Ride Across America (RAAM) but had to withdraw due to illness. She seems likely to compete in further cycling events but ones that carry a lower dollar investment overhead than RAAM.
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