The Road Spoke: Trepidation and Tranquility on a Bicycle Odyssey

K. R. Reinke’s The Road Spoke offers readers an opportunity for reflection on how to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life, using his own cross-country bicycle trip as a template. Reinke not only sets out to ride 3,700 miles, but does so as a polio survivor and insulin dependent diabetic. Repeatedly overcoming his own limits, Reinke faces encounters and obstacles on his journey that he uses to give readers access to a joy that’s available at every moment, outside of reactions and unconscious patterns of behavior. Reinke deftly weaves spiritual topics and the minutiae of traversing the country until the two are inseparable. And, uniquely, he uses his triumphs and travails as a wellspring for broad, far-reaching reflection that is more than personal. Readers will take away a vision of a different way of living, one that can bring peace in the face of adversity.