What do you think?
Rate this book
Life and Death: A Cycling Memoir
Dr Bridie O’Donnell is the definition of a unique Australian sporting hero. A medical doctor who spent her 20s pursuing sideline sporting careers in rowing and Ironman triathlon, it wasn’t until she reached her mid-30s that O’Donnell found her true calling in the ranks of professional cyclists.
Intensely driven and a true believer that sporting greatness was still possible—at a time of life when most of us have long given up on our dreams—O’Donnell became a world record-breaker in 2016, when she set a new mark in women’s UCI Hour Record book.
Life and Death: a cycling memoir, is the story of that triumph. It is also the tale of the backbreaking hard work it took to get there—the audacity of O’Donnell’s late arrival in a brutally tough sport, the physical grind of training and the mind games of team selection, the rejections, the disappointments, the sorrows and the personal upheavals it took for Bridie O’Donnell to finally take her bow as a world-beater.
Life and Death will inspire both women and men who’ve given up on their sporting ambitions. It also gives a warts-and-all account of the real lives of professional cyclists. Pedalling through the picturesque alpine regions of Italy, barked at by sadistic and uncaring team managers, and persevering when most would have thrown in the towel, O’Donnell provides an unflinching portrait of the life of an Australian woman in the professional peloton.
A trailblazing athlete and doctor, Bridie O’Donnell is now the head of Victoria’s newly-established Office for Women in Sport, and a regular guest on the Network Ten television show The Project—a public profile that makes her a leading Australian voice on women’s sport and health issues. Upon its release, O’Donnell will be promoting Life and Death in a range of mainstream media outlets.
Intensely driven and a true believer that sporting greatness was still possible—at a time of life when most of us have long given up on our dreams—O’Donnell became a world record-breaker in 2016, when she set a new mark in women’s UCI Hour Record book.
Life and Death: a cycling memoir, is the story of that triumph. It is also the tale of the backbreaking hard work it took to get there—the audacity of O’Donnell’s late arrival in a brutally tough sport, the physical grind of training and the mind games of team selection, the rejections, the disappointments, the sorrows and the personal upheavals it took for Bridie O’Donnell to finally take her bow as a world-beater.
Life and Death will inspire both women and men who’ve given up on their sporting ambitions. It also gives a warts-and-all account of the real lives of professional cyclists. Pedalling through the picturesque alpine regions of Italy, barked at by sadistic and uncaring team managers, and persevering when most would have thrown in the towel, O’Donnell provides an unflinching portrait of the life of an Australian woman in the professional peloton.
A trailblazing athlete and doctor, Bridie O’Donnell is now the head of Victoria’s newly-established Office for Women in Sport, and a regular guest on the Network Ten television show The Project—a public profile that makes her a leading Australian voice on women’s sport and health issues. Upon its release, O’Donnell will be promoting Life and Death in a range of mainstream media outlets.
196 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2018
3 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 21, 2022
I commute to work on my bike and like to do a few organised rides each year - 40km to 50km is about right for me so to get insight into the discipline, obsessiveness, ambition, perfectionism and bubble you need to live in to make it in the professional cycling world was really interesting. It's this lack of balance I think in professional sportspeople's lives that impacts their ability to adjust to "ordinary" life when their sporting careers finishes. I liked that this memoir wasn't just about the allocates. It was about the hard work and still not being selected, the lack of recognition of female athletes, the pressures they have to conform to a certain physical attractiveness and the sacrifices they have to make.
August 25, 2019
Read this as a complete outsider to cycling, and sport in general. I felt I had a glimpse into the courage it takes to be an outstanding athlete - in a context the does not adequately support outstanding female athletes. A bit of cycling lingo that flew over my head, but otherwise a worthwhile read for anyone who has felt an endorphin rush on a bike before.
November 28, 2024
This is an honest account of a woman’s unorthodox journey to becoming a world record holder. I am in awe of how Bridie managed to navigate the set backs and disappointments along the way. I am inspired by Brodie’s story of courage and calculated risk taking as she put everything on the line to chase her dream of greatness.
April 22, 2025
Bridie O'Donnell first drifted into my awareness for her insightful, professional and female commentary on SBS. This book, which strangely has been hard to find, has been worth the search. I really appreciate the last chapters where she shares mature reflections on the meaning of success for the elite athlete.
April 30, 2021
Great example of persistance and never giving up in a often unforgiving sport.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews