Downhills Don't Come Free

One Man's Bike Ride from Alaska to Mexico

By: Jerry Holl

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

One man. One bike. One tent. One hell of an adventure. THREE-TIME INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNER< Gold Medal Winner: eLit Book Award for Sports/Fitness/Recreation Bronze Medal Winner: 2018 Ippy Award for Sports/Recreation/Fitness Finalist: 2017 Book Excellence Awards Biking from Alaska to Mexico solo is hard enough. But when you throw in bad weather, flat tires, hair-raising roadways, and unpredictable grizzly bears, only a fool would keep going. Fortunately, Jerry Holl was just the fool for this particular two-wheeled odyssey. Coming off a lifetime of corporate positions, he wasn't exactly prepared--his most trusted companion on the trip was a bike he didn't know how to fix. But inexperience and lack of a concrete plan didn't stop him. For fifty-one days, Holl pedaled his way across two countries, encountering everything weird and wondrous North America had to offer. Downhills Don't Come Free takes you through the ups and downs (literal and figurative) of Holl's ride. By turns amusing and reflective, self-deprecating and self-assured, it chronicles every aspect of the journey, from the breathtaking vastness of the Alaskan-Canadian wilderness to the fortitude, generosity, and eccentricity of the people he met along the way. "...be prepared to want to quit your job and get out and see the world after reading this book--pedal on Kemosabe!"

A ride for the ages

I really enjoyed this account and having done a 2000 mile ride myself circumnavigating Lke Superior, I appreciated what he was up against. The story was great, and the short but poignant philosophical reflections were appreciated. some of the very basic things that he did not think of prior to the trip truly blew my mind. I am blessed with having a good mechanical mind and substantial work fixing bicycles, but with just a few hours with a competent bike mechanic, he could've learned basic things about patching tubes, fixing chains, adjusting derailers, etc., that would've saved him so much grief. Riding that rear tire until it was probably within miles of just giving out was insane and only by pure luck did he get away with what could've been a disaster. It would've been so simple for him to pick a town with a bike shop a couple of days ride ahead and have that replacement tire shipped there so they could replace it when he arrived. How did he not think of that? Well, these oversights in a strange way made destroyed that much more interesting. That crash on the last day kind of served as a reminder how lucky he had been the 3700 miles prior! But in summary, great reading.