The First Big Ride: A Woman's Journey

by Eloise Hanner

An Inspiration for Anyone Who Wonders If the Time for Adventure Has Passed This is the story of a middle-aged businesswoman who left a successful career to see if she could find something more meaningful to do with her life. A noncyclist, Eloise Hanner joined the first Big Ride (sponsored by the American Lung Association), in which more than seven hundred bicycle riders crossed the country from Seattle to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1998. To Hanner, the ride represented a new beginning fraught with challenges and opportunities. Starting from zero, she trained for several months to work up to where she could ride and average of more than eighty miles a day. What started as a bicycle odyssey, however, developed into a distilled version of life, where storms became life-threatening and strong friendships formed in days instead of weeks or months. More than a travelogue, Hanner's account of the inaugural Big Ride is an examination of career and values and what to do with the second half of life―a question asked by many baby boomers as they approach fifty.

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2000

About the author

I was raised in the small town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and graduated from the University of Idaho. In my senior year, I married Chuck Hanner and together we decided the best thing to do after graduation was to join the Peace Corps--and off we went to Afghanistan. Those adventures became my book "Letters from Afghanistan" written from diaries and letters some thirty years later. We did another overseas jaunt in Kuwait then settled down and were responsible adults for almost twenty years--holding jobs as stockbrokers in San Diego. But, sooner or later your true self comes out, so we quit in our late forties and rode bicycles across the United States. That became my first book, "The First Big Ride--A Woman's Journey." After that, at loose ends once again, we rejoined the Peace Corps, but this time went to South America. Major culture shock! Not only was it a far cry from our cushy existence in San Diego, but it didn't have any connection to our time in the Corps thirty years before. I wrote it all up--the good and the bad, in my latest book, "Posted in Paraguay."
Chuck and I now live in Sarasota, Florida, where we continue to be avid cyclists, tennis players and do a lot of traveling.

Reviews

[Jeff Rosendahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better touring books. I appreciate how Hanner describes the interactions she has with other people as she participates in a cross country ride sponsored by the American Lung Association, although admittedly, her interactions are mostly with other riders on the tour, not so much with locals they come across. She does a very good job describing the planning and preparation that went into the ride...70 of the nearly 300 pages took place prior to the ride. She does a fair job describing the scenery and locales for the first few days of the ride, but then it sort of trails off into generalities. Except for the campgrounds...those all get described in detail. It's unfortunate that this particular ride seemed to encounter a lot of rain. It makes the reading rather repetitive, although it's not the authors fault - that's just the way it was. Overall, I'd say this is not quite in the top tier of touring books I've read, but close.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this book

I enjoyed this book

Not all books are for all people I guess but I recommend as a nice, relaxing read 🤗

[PJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

One true ruler by which to measure a book is how you feel when you've finished reading it.
When I finished "The First Big Ride" I felt happy. That's always a good sign. I also felt satisfied that the person I just "met" (through her writing) was a real and genuine person. That helps.

This book covers the cross country bicycle ride (for charity) of the author and her husband.

It's written in very readable passages ( not at all journal-entry like ).

We join the author at the beginning of her adventure....in a job that no longer inspires her. From there, the revelation that a cross country bike trip is a possibility.

We're taken along on this journey, from the earliest tentative steps ("We won't be able to do it") to the ride itself. Included are the practice rides around the block, their first "century" and the all important facets of finding a bike that fits you properly.

I get the impression, especially after reading the entire book, that these are generally, and sincerely, good people. They're doing something more here than simply doing a trans-am.

It's a good book to read. You may just be inspired to do something with your own life that you thought might never be possible.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty complete description of her training and experience, The First Big Ride gives Eloise Hanner's non-cyclist account of her ride from Seattle to DC.

I got a little tired of the "we arrived at the diner and there were hundreds of bikes outside and not a seat in the house" experiences that are recounted in several small towns across america. But overall a pretty good quick read.