The Road Unpaved

Border to Border with a Brain Tumor and a Bike

By: Risa August

Narrated by: Risa August, Peggy MacArthur - foreword

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

1,845 miles. 41 days. 12 cyclists. 1 brain tumor named Bubba.

After a shocking diagnosis for a rare pituitary disease, and with her eighteen-year marriage in shambles, Risa's life has fallen far from picture-perfect. Recovering from brain surgery and desperate to get back to her former self, she signs up for the bike tour of a lifetime-six weeks from Canada to Mexico on the Pacific Coast Highway.

The old Risa could have done the ride in her sleep, but for the new Risa, trapped in a body that no longer feels like her own and stuck in the company of her brain tumor, Bubba, the ride becomes a challenge unlike anything she's ever faced.

As Risa pedals through rain, pain, and the ghosts of her memories, she wonders if the woman she once was will ever return or whether the new woman rising up in her place might just be the person she was meant to be all along.

A remarkable story of transformation and resilience, The Road Unpaved speaks to shifting gears to navigate life's roadblocks and live a life without limits-a life fully unleashed.

©2023 Risa August (P)2024 Feather and Sage Press, SkyDance Mountain Audiobooks

So inspirational!!

I absolutely Loved being taken on the deeply intimate journey through the author's life. I was brought to tears from the triumphs to the heartbreaks. Truly a beautiful story. ❤️

Inspiring

Risa’s story resonated with me - the fight for authenticity and happiness. I loved learning about acromegaly. I was right there with her, cursing the medical system that would not listen to her. I was cheering for her as she passed hurdle after hurdle - both on her ride and during her medical journey. And, it’s lead to some deep self reflection. I couldn’t stop listening and highly recommend it!

Inspiring

I absolutely LOVED this book. My favorite part was knowing the narrator is the author herself. I felt like I was honored with a front row seat to something extremely important and groundbreaking. Risa told her story in such an authentic and heartwarming way. This book holds a message for all of humanity. I believe we can all relate to some aspect of her humanness. I also feel this book will be a beacon of light for those who share a similar path in their healing. Risa, you most definitely ARE an inspiration to all. Thank you for sharing your story!

Do not shy away from a memoir thru pain & grit

Risa August and her chirpy, often critical and dismayingly ominimpresent tumor wrapped around her carotid artery narrate this unputdownable memoir of a Colorado wedding planner and Gestalt coach's startling journey from abundant health to whimpering on the sofa in relentless pain throughout her once fit Ironman, mountaineering body. Acromegaly was the diagnosis, after years of knowing something really was not quite right ....

I used to live in both Boulder and Seattle, so I took a personal interest in the audiobook. I did not Google anything about Ms August until this Saturday morning in a rain-washed Coimbra, me wrapped in my pink bathrobe, cup of coffee, longing for ... more! More, Risa, more!

And ... I'll bet you might, too.

Especially noteworthy a listen if the prospective reader has any experience cycling the PCH as part of the Washington to Mexico long-distance ride. In a car, solo on the road, on a clear October day, it was a real nail biter, but in that wind ... well, you will just have to listen to find out! (Although she was not wearing either the tutu nor the tiara that particular day).