Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World

Wall Street Journal reviews "Hell on Two Wheels"
Bicycling 3,000 miles in less than 10 days? Are these people crazy? Yes they are. And that's what makes their contest so unique. Hell on Two Wheels by Amy Snyder is the jaw-dropping story about the annual Race Across America bicycle torture test for the world's most elite bicyclists. Michael J. Ybarra of The Wall Street Journal reviewed Hell on Two Wheels and came away from the book with a depth of respect for the competitors the likes of which few athletes receive. To learn more about Hell on Two Wheels, please consult its official page.

Hell on Two Wheels

Hell on Two Wheels:

An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the

Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World

By Amy Snyder

 

CONTACT: Bill Ames, Triumph Books, 312.252.1248, b.ames@triumphbooks.com

 

Three-time Ironman finisher Amy Snyder takes the wraps off the best kept secret in the sports world, the Race Across America, in her nonfiction narrative, Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World.

 

The Race Across America (RAAM) is a bicycle race like no other. Unlike its famous cousin the Tour de France, RAAM is much crazier, more gothic, and even savage. Once the gun goes off on the Pacific Coast, the clock doesn't stop, forcing participants to forego sleep, or else lose. The first rider to complete the prescribed 3,000-mile route - nine days later at the Atlantic - is the victor. In this race, contestants have died, been maimed, and spiraled into the nightmarish realm of the mad. Most racers manage a few hours of sleep each day, while the leaders get by on an hour or so. Many hallucinate, often for hours on end, and every contestant suffers ghastly maladies including muscle, joint, and nerve failure; broken bones; and even life-threatening pulmonary infections.

 

In Hell on Two Wheels, Snyder follows a group of athletes before, during, and after the 2009 RAAM, the closest and most controversial race in the event's 30-year history. Hell on Two Wheels offers a thrilling and remarkably detailed account of the competitors' triumphs and tragedies as they test themselves, each other, and the limits of human endurance. As RAAM exacts its vicious toll, Snyder shows how the 2009 racers discover their essential humanity and experience profound joy and completeness, demonstrating how such a grueling effort can also be cleansing and self-revelatory.

 

"As an Ironman finisher and avid cyclist, I was able to embed myself in the obscure world of ultra-distance cycling," Snyder said. "Getting to know these athletes before, during, and after the 2009 race helped me see that RAAM is more than a race - it's a monster and a crucible. As a result, Hell on Two Wheels became more than a story about a bike race. It's an allegory about overcoming personal limitations and self-discovery that offers lessons to us all, whether we ride a bike or not."

 

New York Times best-selling author James M. Tabor calls Hell on Two Wheels "a great achievement," and renowned psychologist Dr. Richard Farson says it is "an intimate and fascinating account...that opens us up to a world of experiences well beyond our imaginations."

 

Amy Snyder grew up in New York City and attended Princeton University and Stanford Business School. After a career in management consulting she retired and settled in La Jolla, California. She began competing in Ironman triathlons and eventually discovered events even longer than the Ironman. Knowing she didn't have it in her to conquer these ultra-distance races, she decided to find out why and how others can by following the RAAM in June, 2009. She spent time with a handful of contestants before and after the race, ending up with a story that changed her own thoughts and feelings about personal limitations and the power of the human spirit.

 

For more information on the author or Hell on Two Wheels, visit: www.hellontwowheelsbook.com.

 

Praise for Amy Snyder's Hell on Two Wheels:

 

 "Amy Snyder has given us not only an intimate and fascinating account of the most demanding endurance race ever conceived, but opens us to a world of experiences well beyond our imaginations, in which we discover ways way of being that transcend anything most of us have ever known. Indeed, in this book we are asked to set aside our normal, rational ways of viewing life."

 

- Dr. Richard Farson, renowned psychologist and president of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute

 

"A compelling story that reveals deep wounds, yearnings, and the cyclists' unrelenting determination to win."

 

- Lynne Cox, famed open-water swimmer and author of Swimming to Antarctica

 

"Amy Snyder's Hell on Two Wheels accomplishes the first great challenge facing contemporary writers: discovering something of real consequence that none of us have heard of. But her book's much greater achievement is its relentless depiction of the exotic, agony-drenched world of ultra-distance cycling, where mere survival may be the ultimate victory."

 

- James M. Tabor, author of the New York Times best seller Blind Descent

"Snyder...shows that the desire of these racers...has less to do with the physical challenge than with their need to discover that part of their spiritual being that remains otherwise hidden."

 

- Dr. Timothy Noakes, leading exercise physiologist and author of the seminal Lore of Running

"If you're a cyclist, you'll love every page. And if you're not, prepare to become one. This is a must read!"

 

- Bob Babbitt, co-founder of Competitor Magazine

 

"LOVED this book! Amy Snyder has finally given us a real look - not just a glimpse - into the harrowing and twisted world of this iconic endurance test."

 

- Paul Huddle, top triathlon coach, race director, and journalist