She Rides

May 1, 2023

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. VERDICT Vrecek's passion for her ride goes far toward offering a fresh take on traveling the difficult road to self-actualization.--Dorian Gossy

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2023
Vrecek's memoir recounts a solo bike ride from Lake Tahoe to Baja California. The author, a Slovenian immigrant and skiing coach-turned-business owner, celebrates pushing oneself beyond what one thought possible in this debut. After surviving a bad marriage, multiple cancers, and her second husband's Parkinson's diagnosis, Vrecek embarked on a solo "bikepacking" journey in 2018from one home in Lake Tahoe to her other home in Baja California, carrying camping equipment (including a tent) with her on a mountain bike that she dubbed The Beast. Most of the book chronicles this ride, characterized by punishing heat, rugged terrain, long stretches of isolation, tough physical challenges, and the kindness of strangers, which continued to amaze Vrecek throughout her trip, especially after crossing the Mexican border. The book includes multiple accounts of setbacks (including digestive issues) that threaten to derail her trip but ultimately don't. This kind of personal journey narrative can be clich�d, but Vrecek avoids this with earthy, ironic humor: " 'You goddamn idiot, ' I murmur. 'You went on this trip to live, not to die!' I wiggle my toes. I wiggle my fingers. I squeeze my butt cheeks. Strange energy surges through me." The book is full of aphorisms that might be grating were they not so thoroughly justified in the context of the story, as when Vrecek describes her midtrip communications with her children, whom she was desperate not to let down: "Face adversity head-on, accept it, and keep moving forward." Vrecek is refreshingly unsparing when recounting things that went wrong--including the consequences of eating an unripe pitaya dulce fruit. After a somewhat slow start in which Vrecek details her immigration and first marriage, her story gains momentum and remains engaging to the end. A gripping account of small-scale adventure and self-discovery.

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