Book review: Falling Uphill

 

Part 1: Causes for the ride, warm up across the USA

 

Some individuals sip from the well-spring of life.  A few dip their toes into life’s waters to test the temperature.  Others tip the entire world into their lives while gulping every last drop of adventure into their beings.

 

For most of us humans, great tragedy causes us to change course in life: death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job, loss of a best friend and war.

 

Scott Stoll, author of Falling Uphill, lost his job and lady within moments of each other.  Like many of us, he ran the corporate ladder, drove the nice car and enjoyed a steady income.  But when that  scenario hit the bricks, he hit the road.

 

J.K Rowling, author of Harry Potter, said, “Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”

Falling Uphill rivets you to your own bicycle seat on a 25,742 mile, 50 country, four year trip across six continents.   When Scott sweats, you sweat. When he fears for his life along the savannahs of Africa, you feel a chill run up your spine as a rogue elephant chases you through the bush.  When he meets a gentle woman along the way, you meet her, too.  And, the characters, good grief, you cannot forget the characters you meet along the highway.

 

Like anyone on an adventure, you confront self-doubt, loneliness and questions about your existence.  On Scott’s expedition, he engages four moments of enlightenment.  Additionally, he pursues the tale with a unique presentation, which of course, rendered the title of the book.  Not only will you travel the world, but you will appreciate some unique emotional moments of understanding.

 

“During my long years of meditative cycling, despite moments of agony, months of chronic pain, illness, injury and overexposure, I realized my journey was many times more joyful than painful,” said Stoll.  “Ironically, I discovered it was my misadventures that forged my character and revealed my truer self, like suffering from heat exhaustion and realizing everything I own was worth one glass of water, and if I had one wish before I died, it would be to say goodbye to the ones I loved. And like standing on mountain tops, I realized my entire knowledge and belief system didn’t work anymore.  I discovered it was possible to survive with a totally different concept of reality.”

 

Why might this book review be unique?  First of all, I have cycled across six continents, too.  I felt the same things and suffered, too.  I visited the same places and realized what Stoll realized—very much with a similar pattern of understanding. We share a kindred spirit for the “Zen of the Crank.”

 

That’s why I feel this bicycle adventure book represents one of the best I have ever read.  Stoll sucker punches you with humor when you least expect it.  Subtle, dry, funny!  You’re sure to relate the tale to your office mates the next day.

 

Right off the front page, you see one devil of a beleaguered bicycle loaded with gear and spare tires, so much so, it looks like an overloaded donkey left on a rocky trail. Strangers asked  Stoll, “Why are you riding a bicycle around the world?”

 

From that point, you discover why he decided to launch on his improbable journey into foreign cultures, languages, extreme temperatures and the unknown.