About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
Armed with wit and humour, an internationally acclaimed cycling writer tackles the longest mountain bike race in the world.
For Paul Howard, who has ridden the entire Tour de France route during the race itself—setting off at 4 am each day to avoid being caught by the pros—riding an adventure cycling race should hold little fear. Still, this isn't just any mountain-bike race. This is the Tour Divide.
The Tour Divide race follows a fixed course called the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, crossing the Continental Divide from Banff, Alberta, through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and ending in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. The Great Divide route is more than 2,700 miles/500 miles longer than the Tour de France and involves more than 200,000 feet of ascent—the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest seven times.
The other problem is that Howard has never owned a mountain bike—and how will training on the South Downs in southern England prepare him for sleeping rough in the Rockies? What's more, the efficient backup team that helped Howard in the Tour, his dad, will be absent. Undaunted, Howard swaps the smooth tarmac roads of France for the mud, snow, and ice of the Tour Divide, fending off grizzly bears, mountain lions, and moose. Buzzing roadside fans are replaced by buzzing mosquitoes. Worse is the unshakeable fear that he might have to earn his wild west stripes by drinking whiskey with a cowboy.
Entertaining and engaging, Eat, Sleep, Ride will appeal to avid cyclers, ultra cycling fans, and readers of adventure travel narratives with a humorous twist.
Editorial Reviews
Unlike a lot of the more inspirational sports books, this one truly inspires to get one off the couch. Howard has a lot of fun on the way down, and shows that people really can participate in major sporting events; it's not the goal that counts but the journey there. Or simply that you get off the couch and on the trail. This is an incredible book, and definitely should find itself on the reading list of every potential athlete, especially those that want to participate but just can't find what inspires them; this book will inspire them. —Portland Book Review
Howard comes across as a nice guy and a passionate cyclist. Be warned—that passion is contagious. You may just end up as a grizzly bear aperitif en route to Antelope Hills. —National Post
Howard has a rather dry sense of humor and his perspective on American customs and society is fun to read. Eat, Sleep, Ride is very well written and a joy to read. —All Season Cyclist
Tongue in cheek, [Paul Howard] endures the nastiest of weather and the loneliest of trails. He braves bears, mountain lions, moose, wolves, coyotes, all manner of insects and snakes, and the occasional whiskey drinking cowboy, all without losing his sense of humor. The narrative chronicles his twenty-eight day ride to the finish line and reads like a Monty Python script with its descriptions of places like Togwotee Pass, Swatch Range, and the infamous badlands of El Malpais. No, Howard doesn't win the race. But, he lives to tell us about it. —Sacramento Book Review
The story of a lengthy and sometimes grueling race told with humor and insight, this book is highly recommended for all cyclists, and it will delight armchair adventurers. —Library Journal
