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Full Cycle
Eleven-year-old Alex Peterson may be the least-athletic boy at his school, yet he dreams of accomplishing something “not a whole lot of other people in the world have ever ” a 200-mile, single-day bicycle ride from Seattle to Portland. Alex discovers that if he’s to reach even the starting line, he must overcome more than his physical disability. He must also find a way to revive his father’s own long-dormant dreams, and convince his dad to join forces with him, before they can achieve together what neither would on his own.
306 pages, Paperback
Published March 4, 2016
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 21, 2020
There were several aspects in this book that I particularly enjoyed—from the baseball scenes, Alex’s love of music, to the friendships, and the family relationships. Discovering more about competitive biking was really interesting. The author really brought the training to life. My muscles ached just thinking about it! I also appreciated that the bullying issue reflected real life and wasn’t tied up in a neat little bow at the end of the story.
This was a beautiful story about the importance of family. Sometimes I see adults who spend so much time on a sport or hobby that it becomes almost an obsession. All the hours spent on their interests takes away from time with their families, which is sad. So, I greatly appreciated the sacrifices this father made for his family and the way Rob selflessly found a way to include his boys in his passion so he wouldn’t be away from them but could share it with them and spend time with them creating amazing memories.
This was a beautiful story about the importance of family. Sometimes I see adults who spend so much time on a sport or hobby that it becomes almost an obsession. All the hours spent on their interests takes away from time with their families, which is sad. So, I greatly appreciated the sacrifices this father made for his family and the way Rob selflessly found a way to include his boys in his passion so he wouldn’t be away from them but could share it with them and spend time with them creating amazing memories.
May 3, 2016
This is my old personal friend Chris Blunt's second novel, and once again he has excelled in his literary efforts. An inspiring, uplifting, feel-good family-friendly story of a young boy named Alex Peterson, an intelligent, thoughtful, philosophical, unusually selfless (especially for his age group) and musically-gifted 11 (and later 12) year-old who struggles not only with a lower-body disability thanks to a horrific tree-climbing accident, but with being decidedly un-athletic and physically awkward, lacking in self-confidence, socially awkward, and easily targeted by bullies among his peers.
Almost by accident (more accurately while using his musical talents to score a video), Alex discovers a passion for cycling, which, by fortunate coincidence, turns out to be a long-dormant passion of his dad, Rob. Soon, Alex slowly but surely overcomes his physical disability and lack of athleticism and confidence, and starts taking up cycling as a hobby, much to his dad's delight, and then decides to pursue it beyond the level of a mere hobby, as he works to convince Rob to not only re-ignite the latter's own passions for the sport, but to go so far as to eventually tackle the prestigious Seattle-to-Portland (STP) event, a single-day (or two-day, depending on the cyclists' desires and commitment levels) 200-mile bicycle ride. In pursuit of his dreams of the STP, young Alex is motivated to accomplish something "not a whole lot of other people in the world have ever done."
Along the way, Alex endures a lot of heartbreaks, trials, and tribulations as he struggles to overcome his fears and inhibitions (both self-infliced and those foisted by the aforementioned bullies), but along the way, the reader sees how Alex (1) grows physically, mentally, and spiritually, (2) strengthens his relationship both with his father and his more athletically-accomplished younger brother Ben, and (3) (without wanting to give too much of a spoiler here) eventually is rewarded for his courage and perseverance.
Almost by accident (more accurately while using his musical talents to score a video), Alex discovers a passion for cycling, which, by fortunate coincidence, turns out to be a long-dormant passion of his dad, Rob. Soon, Alex slowly but surely overcomes his physical disability and lack of athleticism and confidence, and starts taking up cycling as a hobby, much to his dad's delight, and then decides to pursue it beyond the level of a mere hobby, as he works to convince Rob to not only re-ignite the latter's own passions for the sport, but to go so far as to eventually tackle the prestigious Seattle-to-Portland (STP) event, a single-day (or two-day, depending on the cyclists' desires and commitment levels) 200-mile bicycle ride. In pursuit of his dreams of the STP, young Alex is motivated to accomplish something "not a whole lot of other people in the world have ever done."
Along the way, Alex endures a lot of heartbreaks, trials, and tribulations as he struggles to overcome his fears and inhibitions (both self-infliced and those foisted by the aforementioned bullies), but along the way, the reader sees how Alex (1) grows physically, mentally, and spiritually, (2) strengthens his relationship both with his father and his more athletically-accomplished younger brother Ben, and (3) (without wanting to give too much of a spoiler here) eventually is rewarded for his courage and perseverance.
November 15, 2016
While I knew I wasn't the ideal reader for this novel, I wanted to read it for two reasons: the story is about cycling, which I thought would be interesting, and the author had indicated in an online venue that he wrote the story for adults but young people were enjoying it. As an avid reader of books for teens, I was curious about this book.
The author is an accomplished and award-winning cyclist, and I could tell he knew what he was talking about even if I didn't have experience with his type of cycling. The story is told from the points of view of the father and his son, Alex, who starts out eleven years old and is twelve at the end of the story.
I can appreciate how teenagers, especially cyclists, would enjoy this novel. I would love to see the story simplified for an even younger audience and become a middle-grade book or perhaps an early chapter book complete with illustrations. Mental images of Alex with his legs of different lengths and his courage to reach a dream in spite of his physical challenge will stay with me for some time. I think younger children would benefit from this story converted to a book specifically aimed at them.
I received this book through on online offer to a group of readers, and this is my honest review.
The author is an accomplished and award-winning cyclist, and I could tell he knew what he was talking about even if I didn't have experience with his type of cycling. The story is told from the points of view of the father and his son, Alex, who starts out eleven years old and is twelve at the end of the story.
I can appreciate how teenagers, especially cyclists, would enjoy this novel. I would love to see the story simplified for an even younger audience and become a middle-grade book or perhaps an early chapter book complete with illustrations. Mental images of Alex with his legs of different lengths and his courage to reach a dream in spite of his physical challenge will stay with me for some time. I think younger children would benefit from this story converted to a book specifically aimed at them.
I received this book through on online offer to a group of readers, and this is my honest review.
April 21, 2016
There aren’t too many novels that both parents and kids can read and enjoy equally. Full Cycle is one of those few. Despite a physical disability that makes him one of the least-athletic kids in school, 11-year-old Alex Peterson sets his sights on something crazy: doing the 200-mile Seattle to Portland bicycle ride in a single day. The only way he can get there is to convince his father to return to the sport and train with him as a real partner, and this leads to some of the plot's most captivating twists.
Full Cycle is not just a story about a bicycle competition. It’s a story of a father-son relationship; it’s a story of the importance of working together as a team, about encouraging our children to reach beyond their limits. It’s a wonderful story about focusing on abilities, not disabilities. This would be an ideal novel for a parent and child to read together. Highly recommend.
Full Cycle is not just a story about a bicycle competition. It’s a story of a father-son relationship; it’s a story of the importance of working together as a team, about encouraging our children to reach beyond their limits. It’s a wonderful story about focusing on abilities, not disabilities. This would be an ideal novel for a parent and child to read together. Highly recommend.
December 5, 2016
4 1/2 stars.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
When I first started reading this book I was thinking I'd give it 3 or 3 1/2 stars. To my surprise, by the time I finished it I'd become so invested that I feel it deserves a solid 4 1/2 stars.
I loved the character development from both Alex and Rob. Alex started as a timid boy who was overcome with guilt for something stupid he did as a child that had longstanding repercussions for himself and his family, and over the course of the book , it seemed like he finally forgave himself, and allowed himself to move on. There was never a point in the book where he put that into words, which might have been nice, but it worked this way too because it worked with Alex's personality. Rob was somewhat selfish in the beginning of the book. He spent a lot of time in front of the television, and he didn't seem terribly disciplined. Training for STP helped him fix his discipline problems, and realizing that his reasons for not letting Alex ride with him were mostly selfish helped him to become more selfless.
Plot wise the book was pretty solid. The STP section was fairly short, but I think the climax of the story was Alex's quest to ride STP, so his training, and Rob overcoming his reservations about letting Alex ride. There were only a few places that I have to comment on. The first is that, somehow, I got it in my head that Alex's accident and Rob's reason for hanging up his bike were related. I'm not sure if that was my fault or if it was implied somewhere in the book. I wouldn't have minded more details about why Meg and Rob couldn't have more kids, but (I think) this book was written so that 10 and up could read it, and details like that might have made it less kid friendly (Hermes's mother's inability to have more kids may have been one of the smallest reasons for Rapunzel Let Down being for older readers, but its affect on Hermes's character was still something that could be upsetting for younger kids.) And finally, I wanted to know if anyone saw the number on the person who caused Alex and Rob's STP crash. One of the other riders asked if anyone saw his number or if he was still there, but that question was never answered.
A lot of the side characters were well developed as well. I really liked the relationship that was set up between Alex and Ronnie, and I found myself wanting to see Ronnie more. I also liked both of the Jacobs, and, though I disliked them, I appreciated the bullies characters, because kids can be really mean. I am somewhat conflicted on Connor. I liked his character at first, but his behavior at the birthday party was quite nasty, and I do think that it might have developed Alex's character more had Connor either not apologized, or otherwise if their friendship had ended. And I liked the fact that he apologized because sometimes we accidently do something mean and feel bad about it later, so it was realistic that he their friendship survived, but I did think it could have developed Alex even more if he had felt abandoned.
I have a few more comments that had little effect on the plot that I still want to bring up. In general when a Veronica goes by a nickname, it's spelled Ronni, not Ronnie. This spelling wasn't terribly distracting, but I think it's worth mentioning. There were a few technically correct, but awkward feeling sentences in the beginning of the book, and one or two grammatically problematic sentences. The only grammar problem that I saw consistently was the dropping of pronouns. I understand that this is how many people talk, including me at times, but seeing it consistently in print bothers me for some reason. At times the words 'cuddling' and 'cuddled' were a bit overused in the chapters where Rob and Meg are talking. I didn't see it at first, but in chapter eleven it was used four times in less than two pages, and after that every time it was used I noticed it. This happens a lot in books, I read one where the word the author overused was 'appendages' of all words (and that book wasn't very good, so it bothered me even more,) and even in The Lord of the Rings I started counting the number of times Legolas or Aragorn 'sprang' somewhere. They never jumped or leaped, they always sprang.
My final negative comments have to do with Alex's music. I am not an organ player, but the descriptions of the organ seemed very accurate from what I do know about the instrument, but I am a music major, and I thought it seemed a bit short for Alex, a eleven to twelve-year-old who was extremely serious about his music to still be having only a half-hour lesson a week. He probably should have had at least a forty-five minute lesson by then. Then again, like I said, I don't play organ, so maybe you don't need as long of lessons for organ as you do for violin and piano. I can't imagine a teacher asking a student to perform for the first time as an accompanist, especially if they were nervous about performing, because if the choir messed up then you have to be able to follow them if they skip or repeat a verse, or if they messed up the tempo. Or if the accompanist messed up then it could completely throw off the choir. I have never liked performing. My first violin teacher forced all of her students to participate in two recitals a year whether we were prepared or not. My second teacher said that we had to be prepared to perform in at least one of her two recitals a year, but she was far more likely to push being prepared than performing. I also found myself frustrated by Rob's comment that Alex needed a sport. The only time I had a sport (ballet) at the same time as music was in the first few years with violin. Just long enough to get the five-year trophy that the dance studio gave out (yeah, I started ballet when I was way too young, but my older sister was doing it so I wanted to dance too,) but it came down to violin or ballet and we chose violin. We had friends who chose ballet, or some who chose Westernaires instead of music. I agree with Rob that Alex needed exercise (this coming from someone who gets out of breath walking a couple of blocks uphill to get from the music building to the church,) and I'm glad that Alex discovered a sport that he loved, but I still found it frustrating that Rob insisted Alex needed a sport.
This is one reason I don't like writing reviews. In my attempt to give authors feedback my reviews always end up sounding negative even when I really enjoyed the book. I used to ride on the trail-a-bike with my dad, although we called it the tag-a-long. This book made me really want to do two things that are quite impractical right now. I want to ride my bike more. I haven't ridden very much for years. I only got a bike that fit me after growing out of my last bike this past summer, and I have too much homework to do much riding now, and I want to write a piece for organ, but I don't think there is anyone at school who plays the organ. I don't think we even have an organ performance program, and I don't understand the organ enough to write a piece for it without talking to someone who plays the organ, especially since Adler's The Study of Orchestration only has three pages about the organ.
In conclusion, overall I really enjoyed this book, and I think the author has a lot of potential.
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
When I first started reading this book I was thinking I'd give it 3 or 3 1/2 stars. To my surprise, by the time I finished it I'd become so invested that I feel it deserves a solid 4 1/2 stars.
I loved the character development from both Alex and Rob. Alex started as a timid boy who was overcome with guilt for something stupid he did as a child that had longstanding repercussions for himself and his family, and over the course of the book , it seemed like he finally forgave himself, and allowed himself to move on. There was never a point in the book where he put that into words, which might have been nice, but it worked this way too because it worked with Alex's personality. Rob was somewhat selfish in the beginning of the book. He spent a lot of time in front of the television, and he didn't seem terribly disciplined. Training for STP helped him fix his discipline problems, and realizing that his reasons for not letting Alex ride with him were mostly selfish helped him to become more selfless.
Plot wise the book was pretty solid. The STP section was fairly short, but I think the climax of the story was Alex's quest to ride STP, so his training, and Rob overcoming his reservations about letting Alex ride. There were only a few places that I have to comment on. The first is that, somehow, I got it in my head that Alex's accident and Rob's reason for hanging up his bike were related. I'm not sure if that was my fault or if it was implied somewhere in the book. I wouldn't have minded more details about why Meg and Rob couldn't have more kids, but (I think) this book was written so that 10 and up could read it, and details like that might have made it less kid friendly (Hermes's mother's inability to have more kids may have been one of the smallest reasons for Rapunzel Let Down being for older readers, but its affect on Hermes's character was still something that could be upsetting for younger kids.) And finally, I wanted to know if anyone saw the number on the person who caused Alex and Rob's STP crash. One of the other riders asked if anyone saw his number or if he was still there, but that question was never answered.
A lot of the side characters were well developed as well. I really liked the relationship that was set up between Alex and Ronnie, and I found myself wanting to see Ronnie more. I also liked both of the Jacobs, and, though I disliked them, I appreciated the bullies characters, because kids can be really mean. I am somewhat conflicted on Connor. I liked his character at first, but his behavior at the birthday party was quite nasty, and I do think that it might have developed Alex's character more had Connor either not apologized, or otherwise if their friendship had ended. And I liked the fact that he apologized because sometimes we accidently do something mean and feel bad about it later, so it was realistic that he their friendship survived, but I did think it could have developed Alex even more if he had felt abandoned.
I have a few more comments that had little effect on the plot that I still want to bring up. In general when a Veronica goes by a nickname, it's spelled Ronni, not Ronnie. This spelling wasn't terribly distracting, but I think it's worth mentioning. There were a few technically correct, but awkward feeling sentences in the beginning of the book, and one or two grammatically problematic sentences. The only grammar problem that I saw consistently was the dropping of pronouns. I understand that this is how many people talk, including me at times, but seeing it consistently in print bothers me for some reason. At times the words 'cuddling' and 'cuddled' were a bit overused in the chapters where Rob and Meg are talking. I didn't see it at first, but in chapter eleven it was used four times in less than two pages, and after that every time it was used I noticed it. This happens a lot in books, I read one where the word the author overused was 'appendages' of all words (and that book wasn't very good, so it bothered me even more,) and even in The Lord of the Rings I started counting the number of times Legolas or Aragorn 'sprang' somewhere. They never jumped or leaped, they always sprang.
My final negative comments have to do with Alex's music. I am not an organ player, but the descriptions of the organ seemed very accurate from what I do know about the instrument, but I am a music major, and I thought it seemed a bit short for Alex, a eleven to twelve-year-old who was extremely serious about his music to still be having only a half-hour lesson a week. He probably should have had at least a forty-five minute lesson by then. Then again, like I said, I don't play organ, so maybe you don't need as long of lessons for organ as you do for violin and piano. I can't imagine a teacher asking a student to perform for the first time as an accompanist, especially if they were nervous about performing, because if the choir messed up then you have to be able to follow them if they skip or repeat a verse, or if they messed up the tempo. Or if the accompanist messed up then it could completely throw off the choir. I have never liked performing. My first violin teacher forced all of her students to participate in two recitals a year whether we were prepared or not. My second teacher said that we had to be prepared to perform in at least one of her two recitals a year, but she was far more likely to push being prepared than performing. I also found myself frustrated by Rob's comment that Alex needed a sport. The only time I had a sport (ballet) at the same time as music was in the first few years with violin. Just long enough to get the five-year trophy that the dance studio gave out (yeah, I started ballet when I was way too young, but my older sister was doing it so I wanted to dance too,) but it came down to violin or ballet and we chose violin. We had friends who chose ballet, or some who chose Westernaires instead of music. I agree with Rob that Alex needed exercise (this coming from someone who gets out of breath walking a couple of blocks uphill to get from the music building to the church,) and I'm glad that Alex discovered a sport that he loved, but I still found it frustrating that Rob insisted Alex needed a sport.
This is one reason I don't like writing reviews. In my attempt to give authors feedback my reviews always end up sounding negative even when I really enjoyed the book. I used to ride on the trail-a-bike with my dad, although we called it the tag-a-long. This book made me really want to do two things that are quite impractical right now. I want to ride my bike more. I haven't ridden very much for years. I only got a bike that fit me after growing out of my last bike this past summer, and I have too much homework to do much riding now, and I want to write a piece for organ, but I don't think there is anyone at school who plays the organ. I don't think we even have an organ performance program, and I don't understand the organ enough to write a piece for it without talking to someone who plays the organ, especially since Adler's The Study of Orchestration only has three pages about the organ.
In conclusion, overall I really enjoyed this book, and I think the author has a lot of potential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2016
Full Cycle is a story of perseverance, of teamwork and of looking beyond a disability to draw upon talents yet untapped. It would make a great movie. Perfect for readers age 10 and up, this father-son story follows sixth-grader Alex Peterson, a wanna-be athlete hindered from achieving this goal by an injury he received in an accident at his own birthday party. No good at running, he can't excel in baseball like his younger brother; he's the last one picked for the team in gym class and very self-conscious about his physical limitations.
Alex buries himself in his music and, asked to compose a score for a promotional video for a local bicycle club, he wishes to accomplish what the riders have done: cycling more than 200 miles in a single day, from Seattle to Portland. Then he finds out that his father actually participated in one of those bicycle trips--and he's hooked. He wants to train for the ride, and he wants his father to go with him.
My full review is available here.
Alex buries himself in his music and, asked to compose a score for a promotional video for a local bicycle club, he wishes to accomplish what the riders have done: cycling more than 200 miles in a single day, from Seattle to Portland. Then he finds out that his father actually participated in one of those bicycle trips--and he's hooked. He wants to train for the ride, and he wants his father to go with him.
My full review is available here.
April 28, 2017
Usually when someone says a book would make a great movie they're talking about an action movie, a dystopian series, or maybe a sweet romance perfect for the Hallmark Channel. Yet as I read Full Cycle, which fits none of those categories, I was reminded of the feel-good family movies from my childhood.
That's not to say Full Cycle is only for children or lacking in depth.It is the rare story that appeals to all ages and shares simple lessons about which we all need reminding. Lessons about determination, selfishness, and sacrifice.
Christopher Blunt's prose is engaging enough that this casual bicycle rider did not lose interest in the details surrounding competitive cycling. The writing is clean and easy to follow and can be enjoyed by adults and older children alike. When I finished, I offered it to my 12-year-old son to read.
(The writer is a fellow member of the Catholic Writers Guild.)
That's not to say Full Cycle is only for children or lacking in depth.It is the rare story that appeals to all ages and shares simple lessons about which we all need reminding. Lessons about determination, selfishness, and sacrifice.
Christopher Blunt's prose is engaging enough that this casual bicycle rider did not lose interest in the details surrounding competitive cycling. The writing is clean and easy to follow and can be enjoyed by adults and older children alike. When I finished, I offered it to my 12-year-old son to read.
(The writer is a fellow member of the Catholic Writers Guild.)
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