Nerywood reviewed Where There's a Will by Emily Chappell
Review of Where There's A Will
3 stars
If you like hearing about long bike rides or overcoming challenges, the struggles while doing them, long adventures, imposter syndrome, or failure, then you will like this book. It also touches on travel and food if you're also into that.
"The arrival of a friend made me feel a little more like I belonged here"
If you aren't from the UK or in the biking community, there may be words you don't know and that a dictionary may not be able to tell you, so don't worry if you struggle.
"Often, when I read of a new round-the-world record, or when a roadie friend would boast about the 200km sportive he was training for that summer, I would think of the audaxers, many of whom will quite happily cover 400 miles in a weekend, before heading back to work on Monday morning, simply because they claim to enjoy it."
This …
If you like hearing about long bike rides or overcoming challenges, the struggles while doing them, long adventures, imposter syndrome, or failure, then you will like this book. It also touches on travel and food if you're also into that.
"The arrival of a friend made me feel a little more like I belonged here"
If you aren't from the UK or in the biking community, there may be words you don't know and that a dictionary may not be able to tell you, so don't worry if you struggle.
"Often, when I read of a new round-the-world record, or when a roadie friend would boast about the 200km sportive he was training for that summer, I would think of the audaxers, many of whom will quite happily cover 400 miles in a weekend, before heading back to work on Monday morning, simply because they claim to enjoy it."
This is one of those books that has certain parts that suck you in, and you want to continue reading, so keep an eye on the time.
"I was still doing it, I reminded myself. As long as I kept moving forward, even if I was walking, even if I had to stop every five minutes, I was still in the race, and I would make it to the top of the mountain, no matter how long it took."
"Anticipating the moments of panic I knew I’d experience later on in the ride, when I’d convince myself that I was a failure and didn’t even deserve to be there, I told myself that, as long as I was riding my bike, however slowly, I was doing it, and I was on my way to finishing the Transcontinental, no matter how long that might take."
While I understand why certain stories were included, I felt some could have been removed to shorten the book or make it easier to keep track of everything.
There is a very sudden end to this book before the epilogue.
"people would find my persistence inspiring if I carried on regardless. I didn’t tell her that the very thought of that made my stomach clench."
