July General Meeting: Inside the Toughest Race on Earth in Hell on Two Wheels

Wednesday, July 27,  6-7 pm, J. Michaels Books 160 E Broadway, Eugene

This month we have a great opportunity to hear author Amy Snyder talk about the Race Across America, a bicycle race like no other! Amy will be signing books from 5-7 and will speak to us at 6:00. Arrive early and bring a seat cushion so that we can make use of the hallway and stairway at J. Michaels to hear her presentation. Read the information below for a description of her book and topic. If you would like to purchase a copy of the book and have her sign it, contact Jeremy at J. Michaels, phone 541-342-2002. Here’s more information about the author and book:

Three-time Ironman finisher Amy Snyder takes readers inside a harrowing 3,000-mile long cycling race and follows a handful of courageous athletes who test themselves, each other, and the limits of human endurance in her nonfiction narrative, Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World. Hell on Two Wheels was published by Triumph Books, a division of Random House, in May, 2011 and rapidly became a best-seller on Amazon.com.

The Race Across America (RAAM) is a bicycle race like no other. Unlike its famous cousin the Tour de France, RAAM is much crazier, more gothic, and even savage. In this nonstop contest that takes up to two weeks to complete, cyclists have died, been maimed, and spiraled in to the nightmarish realm of the mad. Outside Magazine calls this race “the toughest test of endurance in the world.”

Written for a mainstream audience drawn to stories of adventure and survival, Hell on Two Wheels follows a group of athletes before, during, and after the 2009 race, the closest and most controversial in the event’s 30-year history. Hell on Two Wheels offers a thrilling and remarkably detailed account of the competitors’ triumphs and tragedies. As RAAM exacts its vicious toll, with clarity and compassion Snyder tells the story of how the 2009 racers discover their essential humanity and experience profound joy and completeness, demonstrating how such a grueling effort can also be self-revelatory and even magical.

“Thanks to my athletic background, I was able to embed myself in the obscure world of ultra-distance cycling,” Snyder said. “Getting to know these athletes before, during, and after the 2009 race helped me see that RAAM is more than a race — it’s a monster and a crucible. As a result, Hell on Two Wheels became more than a story about a bike race. It’s an allegory about overcoming personal limitations and self-discovery that offers lessons for all of us, cyclists and non-cyclists alike.”

Amy Snyder grew up in New York City and attended Princeton University and Stanford Business School. After a career in management consulting she retired and settled in La Jolla, California. She began competing in Ironman triathlons and eventually discovered events even longer than the Ironman. Knowing she didn’t have it in her to conquer these ultra-distance races, she decided to find out why and how others can by following the RAAM in June, 2009. She spent time with a handful of contestants before and after the race, ending up with a story that changed her own thoughts and feelings about personal limitations and the power of the human spirit For more information on the author or Hell on Two Wheels, visit: www.hellontwowheelsbook.com.