Triathlete Amy Snyder Appears at The Book Works on June 9 to Discuss Ultra-Distance Cycling and Hell on Two Wheels

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Del Mar, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) May 12, 2011 -- Three-time Ironman finisher Amy Snyder will appear at The Book Works, Flower Hill Mall, 2670 Via De La Valle Ste A230, Del Mar, CA 92014, on Thursday, June 9, from 7:00 -8:00 p.m. to discuss the Race Across America and her nonfiction narrative, Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World (ISBN 978-1600785252). Hell on Two Wheels is published by Triumph Books, a division of Random House, and has become a best-seller on Amazon.com.

The Race across America (RAAM) is a bicycle race like no other. Unlike its famous cousin the Tour de France, RAAM is much crazier, more gothic, and even savage. Once the gun goes off on the Pacific Coast, the clock doesn’t stop, forcing participants to forego sleep, or else lose. The first rider to complete the prescribed 3,000-mile route – nine days later at the Atlantic – is the victor. In this race, contestants have died, been maimed, and spiraled into the nightmarish realm of the mad. Most racers manage a few hours of sleep each day, while the leaders get by on an hour or so. Many hallucinate, often for hours on end, and every contestant suffers ghastly maladies including muscle, joint, and nerve failure; broken bones; and even life-threatening pulmonary infections.

In Hell on Two Wheels, Snyder follows a group of athletes before, during, and after the 2009 RAAM, the closest and most controversial race in the event’s 30-year history. Hell on Two Wheels offers a thrilling and remarkably detailed account of the competitors’ triumphs and tragedies as they test themselves, each other, and the limits of human endurance. As RAAM exacts its vicious toll, Snyder shows how the 2009 racers discover their essential humanity and experience profound joy and completeness, demonstrating how such a grueling effort can also be cleansing and self-revelatory.

“As an Ironman finisher and avid cyclist, I was able to embed myself in the obscure world of ultra-distance cycling,” Snyder said. “Getting to know these athletes before, during, and after the 2009 race helped me see that RAAM is more than a race – it’s a monster and a crucible. As a result, Hell on Two Wheels became more than a story about a bike race. It’s an allegory about overcoming personal limitations and self-discovery that offers lessons for all of us, cyclists and non-cyclists alike.”

Amy Snyder grew up in New York City and attended Princeton University and Stanford Business School. After a career in management consulting, she retired and settled in La Jolla, California. She began competing in Ironman triathlons and eventually discovered events even longer than the Ironman. Knowing she didn’t have it in her to conquer these ultra-distance races, she decided to find out why and how others can by following the RAAM in June, 2009. She spent time with a handful of contestants before and after the race, ending up with a story that changed her own thoughts and feelings about personal limitations and the power of the human spirit.

For more information on the author or Hell on Two Wheels, visit: www.hellontwowheelsbook.com.

For further information, please contact:
Paula Margulies
Paula Margulies Communications
8145 Borzoi Way
San Diego, CA 92129
T: 858-538-2047
F: 858-538-2047
paulamar@san.rr.com
www.paulamargulies.com

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