The Athletic Bookworms book club is back! For October, we’re reading Emily Chappell’s Where There’s A Will: Hope, Grief and Endurance in a Cycle Race Across a Continent. I’ve had this on my to-read list for a while—Emily is an awesome human, one hell of a cyclist, and a fabulous writer (and knows a thing or two about endurance sport + comfortable riding/saddle issues…). This time, we’re not just reading and discussing on this site, we’re going to try monthly Zoom meetings to chat about the book, sport, and everything we’re psyched on lately in the nerdiest way possible. I hope you all will join me!!
Get it here (also available on Audible narrated by Emily!)
About the book:
Shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year Non-Fiction Award 2020. In 2015 Emily Chappell embarked on a formidable new bike race: The Transcontinental. 4,000km across Europe, unassisted, in the shortest time possible. On her first attempt she made it only halfway, waking up suddenly on her back in a field, floored by the physical and mental exertion. A year later she entered the race again – and won. Where There’s a Will takes us into Emily Chappell’s race, grinding up mountain passes and charging down the other side; snatching twenty minutes’ sleep on the outskirts of a village before jumping back on the bike to surge ahead for another day; feeding in bursts and navigating on the go. We experience the crippling self-doubt of the ultra distance racer, the confusing intensity of winning and the desperation of losing a dear friend who understood all of this.
Sign up here to get the Zoom link to join us on October 28 at 7:30PM EST for the first virtual book club!
(Can’t see it? Fill it out at this link.)
