Shifting Gears: My Global Bike Odyssey

by Al Young, Kristine Kopperud (Editor)

Overview

Imagine a shy country girl, who had never traveled out of the United States, embarking on a yearlong bicycle trip around the world, leaving behind all the comforts of home to travel with 249 strangers. In Shifting Gears, she explains the turmoil she endured before leaving, the daily hardships encountered in camping and biking in Third World countries, the brutally long miles of daily riding, the language barriers, the personal dynamics of living with the same strangers 24 hours a day and dealing with a myriad of new personalities. Even a serious accident in France didn't slow Al down, and she returned to finish the trip she had spent four long years working to finance. She overcame lifelong insecurities to become a leader of fellow cyclists and went home with a desire to live her life differently than previously planned. Her idea of returning to Driggs, Idaho, refreshed and ready to teach another 10 years backfired, and she retired early to pursue dreams she never before felt able to accomplish. For Al, life began at 50 and she is slowly ticking off those dreams, one by one, as she realizes them. She now knows the fear of the unknown won't stand in her way and that there are fascinating people all over the world waiting to be part of her adventures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412058162
Publisher:	Trafford Publishing
Publication date:	07/21/2006
Pages:	164
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

Al Young was born in the Ohio Corn Belt and raised on the family farm until she went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Upon completion of her music education degree, she moved west to Idaho and Wyoming with her husband and became very active in bicycling, hiking, backpacking, mountain climbing, and skiing,
both alpine and cross-country. She brought her love of gardening with her and has one of the most productive gardens in Teton Valley, Idaho, where she has lived for the past 29 years.

Al taught music for more than 15 years and recently retired to pursue her horticultural interests. She now works at a landscaping nursery in Victor, Idaho,
nine months out of the year, which allows her time for skiing or bicycling in warmer parts of the world in the winter. Al finds time to travel 100 miles roundtrip three times a week to Jackson, Wyoming, where she is still active in music groups. She directs the Jackson Hole Chorale and the Jackson Hole Symphony
Orchestra, and is a member and assistant conductor of the Jackson Hole Community
Band. In addition, she sings bass in a Sweet Adelines quartet and plays trombone in a Brass Quintet and a Dixieland ensemble.

Before embarking on the Odyssey 2000 bike trip, Al had ridden week-long,
organized rides across several states, including Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin,
Idaho and Wyoming. When the chance came up to ride for a whole year, she obtained a leave of absence from her teaching job to pursue what she felt was the dream of a lifetime. Her new job doesn't allow much time off in the summer, but she still racks up the miles on her bike, commuting to work several times a week.

Irreversibly smitten with the outdoors and new experiences, Al plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2006 with one or more of her new Odyssey friends.

Al Young was born in the Ohio Corn Belt and raised on the family farm until she went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Upon completion of her music education degree, she moved west to Idaho and Wyoming with her husband and became very active in bicycling, hiking, backpacking, mountain climbing, and skiing,
both alpine and cross-country. She brought her love of gardening with her and has one of the most productive gardens in Teton Valley, Idaho, where she has lived for the past 29 years.

Al taught music for more than 15 years and recently retired to pursue her horticultural interests. She now works at a landscaping nursery in Victor, Idaho,
nine months out of the year, which allows her time for skiing or bicycling in warmer parts of the world in the winter. Al finds time to travel 100 miles roundtrip three times a week to Jackson, Wyoming, where she is still active in music groups. She directs the Jackson Hole Chorale and the Jackson Hole Symphony
Orchestra, and is a member and assistant conductor of the Jackson Hole Community
Band. In addition, she sings bass in a Sweet Adelines quartet and plays trombone in a Brass Quintet and a Dixieland ensemble.

Before embarking on the Odyssey 2000 bike trip, Al had ridden week-long,
organized rides across several states, including Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin,
Idaho and Wyoming. When the chance came up to ride for a whole year, she obtained a leave of absence from her teaching job to pursue what she felt was the dream of a lifetime. Her new job doesn't allow much time off in the summer, but she still racks up the miles on her bike, commuting to work several times a week.

Irreversibly smitten with the outdoors and new experiences, Al plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2006 with one or more of her new Odyssey friends.