A Midlife Cyclist: My Two-Wheel Journey to Heal a Broken Mind and Find Joy by Rachel Ann Cullen

Dates Read: 17/12/2020-02/01/2021

My Rating: 2 of 5 Stars

I wanted to read this book because I thought I might identity with the author and her story but I was sadly disappointed. I struggled a bit to complete it if I’m honest, which made it take way longer than necessary, because oooh! Tetris! Ooh new TV episode! Oooh! Staring into the distance!

I don’t wish to belittle anyone’s mental health struggles – heck, at the moment we all need to take care of ourselves more than at any other time I can remember. Maybe it’s more that I can’t empathise properly as I don’t share the same experience, so I’m fully prepared to believe this is on me and exonerate the author.

But really, the author clearly accomplishes an epic cycle, I couldn’t even contemplate putting myself through this, and certainly not without making myself fully aware and prepared in advance of what it actually entails, as she purports to have done. And there’s the rub.

She has a daughter and a husband who are clearly supportive but (very much reading between the lines) their needs always come secondary and it all feels a little too self-indulgent for my taste.

Kudos to Rachel for putting it out there, and massive applause for her epic ride, but I’m sorry, but this one’s not for me.