Eat, sleep, ride How I braved bears, badlands, and big breakfasts in my quest to cycle the Tour Divide

The Tour Divide is the world's longest mountain-bike race, beginning in Banff, Alberta, and ending 2,800 miles later in New Mexico, at the Mexico-U.S. border. The race follows the Continental Divide (hence its name), and if Howard's entertaining account is to be believed, it is both exhilaratingly thrilling and exhaustingly difficult. Howard, a British sportswriter, employs a very entertaining style, presenting his fellow cyclists almost as though they were characters in a novel (like, for example, Deanna, the colorful vegan who is a fixed-wheel bike rider) and presenting himself as a sort of fish-out-of-water newbie, which isn't too far off the truth: when he decided to undertake the race, he'd never owned a mountain bike. A mixture of international adventure and comic twist on the familiar personal-growth-through-physical-accomplishment theme, the book is lively and very difficult to put down.--Pitt, Davi. Copyright 2010 Booklist

What kind of person selects a 2700-plus mile self-supported event for his first mountain bike race? A person looking for adventure and willing to push himself, and occasionally his bike, for almost a month. The Tour Divide stretches from Banff, Alberta, to Antelope Wells, NM, over paved roads and dirt, on some tracks only as wide as the bike, and among moose and rattlesnakes. A test of stamina, determination, willpower, and equipment, this relatively small race draws many whose only goal is completion. Howard (Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape: The Remarkable Life of Jacques Anquetil, the First Five-Times Winner of the Tour de France) perseveres with humor as he weathers insane storms, rations his food, gets separated from companions, and occasionally struggles to continue, almost crying at the loss of a bag of Skittles. Unlike The Cordillera, a literary journal of essays about the race, this title covers one biker's journey from start to finish. VERDICT 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.-Sheila Kasperek, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, though the context no doubt had a lot to do with it. Driven to despair by a prolonged stint at a grey job in a grey office in one of London's greyer suburbs, I eventually sought refuge via the virtual distraction of the Internet. After extensive and disconsolate searching through the inevitable chaff, I finally foundsomething to fire my imagination. That something was a news story on a cycling website about the inaugural edition of the world's longest mountain bike race. The Tour Divide was just about to start in Banff in Canada, and would take those bold or foolish enough to have signed up nearly 2,700 milesdown the spine of the Rockies to the Mexico border.Curiosity quickly became obsession as the race itself unfurled. Although physically still very much trapped in my mundane surroundings, I was transported vicariously to the magnificent Rocky Mountains. The story of sixteen cyclists attempting to ride such a long distance off-road, to a high point of nearly 12,000 feet and with an overall altitude gain the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest seven times, was compelling. The bears, rattlesnakes, tarantulas and mosquitoes all encountered en route merely added to the drama.It quickly became clear the story was as much one of survival as victory. Unlike the Tour de France, there were no entry criteria and no entry fee. Nor was there any prize money. There were also no defined stages to keep racers together. Riders soon became strung out over several US states. Half dropped out, not always those near theback of the field. More notable still, there was no backup or external support allowed, other than that which could be found along the route. Everybody started together in Banff, and everybody had to try and reach the same remote border post in the New Mexico desert by following the same route along the Continental Divide, but apart from that they were on their own, often quite literally. It had everything life in an office in London didn't. I had emails and deadlines. It had solitude and timelessness. I had crowded commuter trains and a horizon broken only by shopping malls and office blocks. It had cycling and it had mountains, thousands upon thousands of them. It fulfilled all the requirements of the essential equation of Albert Einstein's ground-breaking theory of cycling relativity: E=(mc) . Enjoyment = (mountains cycling) squared.'I thought of it while riding my bike,' the great man had said after his eureka moment.He also said: 'Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.' Full of useful tips, that Einstein. Not wanting to contradict such a profound thinker, I decided to take his equation to heart. The Tour Divide had seduced me. Excerpted from Eat, Sleep, Ride: How I Braved Bears, Badlands, and Big Breakfasts in My Quest to Cycle the Tour Divide by Paul Howard All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.