‘Spontaneous Revolutions’ has Readers Rooting for Unlikely Athletes

Unusual travel guide makes for fun summer read

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

If you have ever felt intimidated by a physical challenge you weren’t ready for or a daunting goal that didn’t seem possible, you may be happy to meet and cheer on

Liza McQuade and Clark Campbell

These two inexperienced, out-ofshape, middle-aged cyclists prove to be champions anyone can get behind in what may well be this summer’s greatest anything-is-possible-witha-good-attitude read: “Spontaneous Revolutions: Seeing American One Pedal at a Time.”

The likable, everybody’s-favorite-neighbors kind of couple “trained for their cross-country bike ride by eating in dozens of restaurants, pairing the meals with amazing wine and discussing how they were going to get in shape…tomorrow!” writes McQuade. And when it was time for getting those wheels rolling nearly every day for four months, that would be fine after a hearty breakfast and one more cup of coffee.

As McQuade and her husband are reminded repeatedly throughout the book by steep grades, aggressive drivers, mean teenagers, relentless grasshoppers, torrential rain, body shamers, painful falls and mechanical disfunctions, they had no business taking on the ambitious goal of riding their bikes from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. As McQuade writes, they were overweight and also didn’t know how to change a flat tire.

When we told people we were biking across the country, they often assumed we meant on a motorcycle. When they discovered we were on bicycles, their expressions turned to shock, especially after giving our bodies a once-over.

Motivated by the hope of staying ahead of hailstorms or the promise

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