Snakeskins and Signposts

Loaded down with dehydrated rice and beans and her hunger for freedom, Sher pedals 2,000 miles from Bellingham, Washington, through the Cascade Mountain Range to southern Oregon and back. As with many solo, outdoor adventures, strangers are friends, mishaps become entertainment, thoughts get loud, sleeping on the ground is amazingly comfortable, the smell of a forest ravages the senses, wild animals talk back, the bogeyman tags along just for fun, every shift in the wind or caw from a crow is a sign to turn left—or maybe right, and home will never be the same again. Told with humor and candor, this personal tale keeps the reader perched on handlebars, stretching forward to see what’s around the next bend.

Sometimes, it’s a flat tire. Sometimes, a rattle snake. Many times, it’s the face of a smiling stranger and a heartfelt connection that instantly changes the course of the day, and maybe even, life itself.