Into the North Wind

A Thousand-Mile Bicycle Adventure Across Frozen Alaska

By: Jill Homer

Narrated by: Angela Peterson

Into the North Wind chronicles Jill Homer’s record-breaking bicycle ride across Alaska on the Iditarod Trail. Jill is one of those “accidental athletes” who stumbled into endurance racing shortly after she moved to Alaska in 2005. After 100 miles, her first race only scratched the surface of the historic trail that spans a vast and frozen wilderness. Ever since, she dreamed about the chiming of ice crystals at 30 below zero, black spruce shadows in the moonlight, the ethereal dance of the Northern Lights, and a journey that could take her deeper into this transcendental world - the 1,000-mile race to Nome.

After 10 years of dreaming, she finally made the leap in 2016. Fitness, however, remained elusive, as ambitious preparations left a wake of failures, sickness, and injury. Even the existence of the trail remained in question - throughout the winter, Alaska experienced unprecedented heat waves and snowmelt that threatened to render the Iditarod Trail impassable. By the time Jill lined up at the start, she was ready to chuck her dream into the barely-frozen lake. Instead, she pedaled across waterlogged ice, repeating her mantra of “one day at a time”.

This account is not just a story about seeking beauty, overcoming setbacks, and uncovering hidden strength - it’s a journey into the benevolent heart of the coldest, loneliest trail.

©2016 Jill Lynn Homer (P)2021 Jill Lynn Homer

Invigorating story but poor narration

Really enjoyed Jill’s story. As someone who enjoys finding limits in the great outdoors, I could relate to her passion and drive.

Unfortunately the narration was very poor. I wish Jill could’ve narrated herself to bring life to her journey.

True Type 2 Fun

Jill Homer is not only an author and bike rider, she’s also a painter.

Through her words I could feel the cold, sense the frustration, hear the crunch of tires on -30F snow and ice. With the audiobook version, I had no pictures to see; instead I relied on her words to paint the emotions and landscapes she was experiencing. It was amazing.

There are many reasons to have this book in your life: for me, it was to explore without signing up, the The Iditarod Trail Invitational. And wow, what an adventure. But beware: nothing is sugar coated in this book. It’s raw and real.

My take aways from Jill’s experience are many. I now have a better understanding of this level of bike ride and the mechanical demands placed on the bike and the body by 1,000 miles of snow and ice, worry and fear. And of course we are treated with meeting good humans along the route, the humanity of those volunteers and other athletes. who make this Invite possible. I cannot look at a school building anymore without remembering that it might be a warm and dry place to sleep for an endurance athlete, and not just a place of education.

I also learned about the simple pleasures of joy. There was plenty of joy in Jill’s writing - the joy of hard-packed trails, northern lights, a hot meal, and a friendly face. The opposite was true too. I could hear the frustration in her voice (through the reader), of how she worked through the mental aspects of the race - frustrations with her food rations, for instance.

Looking back on races, or rides, or other life achievements, we many times classify them as Type 2 Fun - meaning that at the time of the event, it may not have been pleasant. But looking back, once we are fed properly and can walk without hobbling, we see and feel some level of success and can say, “Yeah, I’d do that again.”

My emotions while listening to her adventure in the cold of an Alaska
winter darted from happiness to near tears (adventure races tend to be more mental than physical,
based on my experiences). And be careful if you are driving and listening to this book, because when her words connected with my experiences, the emotions got thick mighty quick.

Loved the narration

This book was pretty good. I've never been interested in bicycle frozen adventures, but the narrator really drew me in and has such a soothing and lovely voice! Really enjoyed listening to this book while I did dishes, or sat out in the sun, not anywhere near being on a bike in the freezing cold.

Great read and a great audio book

I've read the book twice, and this was my third listen. I highly recommend it.