She is fifty, asthmatic, overweight, with arthritic knees. And like so many married women with children, she’s lost herself.When she decides to hike the John Muir Trail, considered by many to be the most challenging and beautiful part of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, she’s sure it will help her reconnect with the adventurous girl inside.But by the end of the first day, Lori realizes she may have made a huge mistake.Monstrous bleeding blisters oozing with pus line the backs of her heels. It soon becomes painfully apparent her hiking partner, Debra, can hardly stand her. She can’t breathe and is using her asthma inhaler with alarming frequency. Trudging along, Lori walks most of the trail alone, and eventually loses her way.Lost on the trail Lori is forced to dig deep into her soul to find the strength to go on. But will inner strength be enough? Given her grim circumstances, she chooses to believe her husband’s words: even ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

    It’s a must-read adventure that will stir your soul.Pilgrim Wheels reveals an inspirational story of journey, discovery, and place, told from the saddle of a bicycle as one man pushes and pulls on the pedals, rolling down the highways of America. Neil Hanson's bicycle ride becomes a canvas for his incredible journey, a pilgrimage of wonder as he explores the people he meets along the path, the obstacles he faces, the pain he endures, and the boundless joy he achieves pedaling across America. Pilgrim Wheels takes the reader up to the humid farmland east of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, with the follow-up story scheduled to be released in 2016.

    Urzila talks candidly about her childhood with a great family, apart from her abusive dad, and about growing up in South Africa. She shares crazy but true tales about her OE, her move to New Zealand, coming out, getting married and having children, and her life in comedy. This is a great listen from one of our most loved and most popular comedians.

    On the afternoon of Sunday, the first of February 2015, Cadel Evans crossed the finish line in the first-ever race of the event that would immortalise his name: the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. At that moment, an extraordinary cycling career, spanning 20 years and more than 750 professional races, came to a close. Now, looking back on his journey, Cadel Evans tells his story of the races and moments that mattered, taking you with him as he places in the top ten in six Tours de France and becomes Australia's first and only Tour de France champion; as he wins the Mountain Bike World Cup twice and Australia's first and only UCI Road World Championship; as he claims the points jersey in the Giro d'Italia; and as he wins a succession of other great races, including the Tour of Austria (twice), Tour de Romandie (twice), Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, Tirreno-Adriatico, Flèche Wallonne, Criterium International and Giro del Trentino. Ranging from the dirt tracks of his early 1990s mountain-biking days to the Tour de France's famous podium in 2011 and beyond, The Art of Cycling is a tale of potential realised and ambition fulfilled. It's also the inspiring story of a young boy from the Australian bush, whose focus, talent and dedication conquered the elite world of international cycling in an era when few Australians competed, let alone won. Famous in the sport for his meticulous preparation and as an athlete who pridedhimself on his ability to give his all, Evans writes with forensic detail about the triumphs, the frustrations, the training, the preparation, the psychology of the sport, his contemporaries, the legends, the controversies and, above all, his enduring love of cycling.

    Since American women purchase and consume more wine than American men, 77% and 60% respectively, a voice is needed to help women understand that their busy professional and social lifestyles can be well paired with wine. Master Sommelier and successful television host Alpana Singh, twenty-nine, happens to be just the person who can help them do it.Alpana Singh is uniquely qualified to talk about wine, contemporary women and relationships. At age twenty-six she became the youngest woman to be inducted into the world’s most exclusive sommelier organization, the hundred-and-twenty-member Court of Master Sommeliers. She spent five years as sommelier at a world famous four star restaurant, Everest of Chicago. While there she closely observed the sometimes humorous, sometimes absurd, social interactions between men and woman at all stages of their relationships. Her mental journal of these “social observations” came in handy as she wrote her first book, Alpana Pours.Alpana Pours reaches readers in playful language they will understand, and in a highly entertaining manner they will enjoy. Women want to know how to select wine when entertaining important clients, pair wine with food they and their partner are preparing together, choose the right wines for hostess gifts, bridal showers, a first meeting with a boyfriend’s parents and what wine to, or not to, order on a first date. Alpana Pours supplies tips on these and a myriad of other topics including “dating” and “dealing with guys.” The book’s gender riff on wine and lifestyle is unique and will definitely grab reader’s attention.

    The hull glides in silence and with such perfect balance as to report no motion. I sit up for another stroke, now looking down as the blades ignite swirling pairs of white constellations of phosphorescent plankton. Two opposing heavens. ‘Remember this,’ I think to myself.”Few people have ever considered the eastern United States to be an island, but when Nat Stone began tracing waterways in his new atlas at the age of ten he discovered that if one had a boat it was possible to use a combination of waterways to travel up the Hudson River, west across the barge canals and the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, and back up the eastern seaboard. Years later, still fascinated by the idea of the island, Stone read a biography of Howard Blackburn, a nineteenth-century Gloucester fisherman who had attempted to sail the same route a century before. Stone decided he would row rather than sail, and in April 1999 he launched a scull beneath the Brooklyn Bridge to see how far he could get. After ten months and some six thousand miles he arrived back at the Brooklyn Bridge, and continued rowing on to Eastport, Maine. Retracing Stone’s extraordinary voyage, On the Water is a marvelous portrait of the vibrant cultures inhabiting American shores and the magic of a traveler’s chance encounters. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where a rower at the local boathouse bequeaths him a pair of fabled oars, to Vanceburg, Kentucky, where he spends a day fishing with Ed Taylor -- a man whose efficient simplicity recalls The Old Man and the Sea -- Stone makes his way, stroke by stroke, chatting with tugboat operators and sleeping in his boat under the stars. He listens to the live strains of Dwight Yoakum on the banks of the Ohio while the world’s largest Superman statue guards the nearby town square, and winds his way through the Louisiana bayous, where he befriends Scoober, an old man who reminds him that the happiest people are those who’ve “got nothin’.” He briefly adopts a rowing companion -- a kitten -- along the west coast of Florida, and finds himself stuck in the tidal mudflats of Georgia. Along the way, he flavors his narrative with local history and lore and records the evolution of what started out as an adventure but became a lifestyle. An extraordinary literary debut in the lyrical, timeless style of William Least Heat-Moon and Henry David Thoreau, On the Water is a mariner’s tribute to childhood dreams, solitary journeys, and the transformative powers of America’s rivers, lakes, and coastlines.From the Hardcover edition.

    . .Turns out he's a starter and a closer."—Tim Kurkjian, ESPNAs a major and not-so-major league pitcher, Dirk Hayhurst has learned to master more than striking out batters. While waiting for his name to be called in the bullpen, he honed his gifts as a storyteller, one the New York Times calls the "best writer in a baseball uniform." In this often hilarious collection of adventures on and off the diamond, Dirk details the intricacies of pulling off an epic team prank, even if it's at his own expense; the art of creating the perfect professional baseball nickname; his comically ineffective attempts at writing romance novels; and the bizarre tale in which a bear gets punched in the face (yes, really). No matter how wild his story, Dirk proves once again he knows that it's all in the delivery."I find his writing both entertaining and thought provoking. . .unlike his fastball."—Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays All-Star "Dirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious." —Bob Costas"Hayhurst delivers an entertaining story for more than just sports fans."—Jordan Bastian, MLB.com"Hayhurst explains life in the minors and the major leagues like you've never read it before."—J. J. Cooper, Baseball America"Insight and humor from the pitcher's mound."—Businessweek51,300 Words.

    He pedaled across the Andes to Patagonia, around tiny Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, and from Tucson to Death Valley. With a scientist’s eye, he vividly observes local landscapes and creatures. As a lone man, he is overfed by grandmothers, courted by ladies of the night in Volgograd, invited into a mosque by Africa’s most feared tribe, chased by sandstorms and hurricanes — yet Malusa keeps riding. His reward: the deep silence of the world’s great depressions. A large-hearted narrative of what happens when a friendly, perceptive American puts himself at the mercy of strange landscapes and their denizens, Into Thick Air presents one of the most talented new voices in contemporary travel writing.

    In the book Cross Country, Gates documents this epic experience from South Carolina to San Francisco, sharing first-person essays, interviews, and over 200 photographs of the ordinary and extraordinary people and places he saw along the way.While Gates delivers unparalleled insight into the extreme athletic and mental challenge of this transcontinental run, running is not the core focus of Cross Country—it is a story of the remarkable people across the United States who we would otherwise never meet.• A photographic travelogue that follows along Rickey Gates's run across the country, and the individuals who live in it• Filled with portraits, landscapes, and collages of towns and communities that most people have never seen• From South Carolina to San Francisco, the five-month-long run covers 3,700 miles of hiking trails, rivers, and roads. Gates slept in the rain, carried meager possessions on his back, ran through the night, endured mental and physical challenges, and survived on a staple of gas station hot dogs and Pop Tarts. Delivering a patchwork portrait of America, Gates's captivating story captures the spirit of our country—that grit, determination, and compassion are qualities that can unite us all.• Perfect gift for runners, hikers, and lovers of the outdoors, as well as fans of travelogues, photography, and photo-journalism• A great pick for those who loved Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck, and A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson.• A unique perspective of the United States

    In this book, he gives riders of all abilities an insider's guide to getting fitter, faster, and on to the champion's platform. With photographs and illustrated exercises, The Ultimate Ride helps build a strong foundation for incremental leaps in fitness, times, and techniques. Nutritional advice, goal-setting methods, and mental exercises complement the physical training tips, to make this the only cycling fitness book an enthusiast will ever need.

     Two years. Three magnificent horses. Ten countries. A thousand stories of drug cartels, mass migration, the glorious wilderness, the old cowboy ways, the kindness of strangers and the powerful connection between man and beast. This is a tale of grit and inspiration, of Filipe and Frenchie, Bruiser and Dude chasing a dream, one hoof at a time. Please scroll up to grab your copy today!

    In these pages both everyday riders and pros tell their stories of freak accidents, animal attacks, sabotage, idiotic decisions, eerie or unexplained incidents, and other jaw dropping, adrenalin-pumping calamities. These stories bring to life the strange things possibilities that await, once we step on the pedals of our road, mountain, or commuter bikes. A sampling of misadventures in this collection includes the stories of: the mountain biker who follows a bull and then gets gored by it; the twenty African Americans who pioneered cycle touring by completing a Transamerica ride in 1897, but wait - this story gets strange...; the large rat that leapt on top of a woman's bike and slapped her repeatedly with its tail; an inside-the-head narration by a professional racer as he rides a brutal race, and then gets humiliated in changing room afterwards; the recreational cyclist who accidentally rides deep into a prison yard; the computer programmer who crashes a stationary bike during his first spin class; the bike messenger who can't call it quits even after getting hit by eight cars; and, the man who carefully spreads out tacks on the route of an all female race in an attempt to get a date. These stories will make you wonder, drop you to the floor laughing and leave you shaking your head with disbelief.

    Whether through his writing, live appearances, tweets, or thousands of hours of videos and podcasts, his work has been seen by many. He’s set two Guinness World Records, earned the ire of legendary baseball players, penned two novels about an alligator fighter pilot, raised thousands for charity via custom Super Mario Bros. levels, and works a side job as a professional wrestling manager. These are the stories that people already know. Before jumping headfirst into the public eye, Ryckert’s history was just as unique. He’s been a Catholic schoolboy and an insufferable movie theater employee. He’s befriended the insane and almost been stabbed. Time and time again, he’s taken long shots that have inexplicably paid off in ridiculous ways. Dan Ryckert’s history of unlikely events didn’t start in 2009. They were happening for 25 years prior to that, and the details can be found in The Dumbest Kid in Gifted Class.

    Cahill stumbles from glacier to geyser, encounters wildlife, muses on the microbiology of thermal pools, and sees moonbows arcing across waterfalls at midnight.

    He lives with his wife in Rialto, CA. Writer David Duron is a writer and longtime television-news producer who lives in Yucaipa, CA.