“Wind in My Wheels by Jan Down chronicles an amazing feat: she and her husband bicycled across all fifty states of the USA. Yes, all fifty. Wind in My Wheels is filled with details, humor, and the reality of biking over 20,000 miles. You feel like you’re traveling alongside Jan as she describes the scenery, numerous historical sites, and the nitty-gritty aspects of long rides—traffic, flat tires, storms, exhaustion, and oh, let’s not forget the hills, hill, hills. Wind in My Wheels is a must-read.” —Mary Jedlicka Humston, co-author, Mary and Me: A Lasting Link Through Ink

“Wind In My Wheels will appeal to all who follow their dreams, rise to a challenge and cherish friendships, old and new. Bicyclist or not, you will enjoy the way Jan Down has woven her tale of bicycling across all fifty states, alongside husband Jim. This book is written with historical content, many funny stories, stories of triumphs, mishaps and adventures. Jan’s writing captures the vast diversity of people, places and geography in our USA while she pedals mile after mile with her ‘can do’ attitude.” —Dan Nidey, founder World of Bikes, Iowa City, Iowa

“Wind in my Wheels is a delightful memoir by Jan Down, a teacher who, over a period of thirty years, spent vacations with her husband, Jim, an orthodontist, and various friends bicycling border to border through all of America’s fifty states. An exciting travelogue, but much more, it is filled with humor, occasional sadness, suspense, lovely descriptive language covering moments of high drama and often of contentment and joy. This is an exhilarating read from first page to last.” —Ethel Barker, author, For the Love of Pete and The Andersens of Eden

“In a beautifully written memoir, Jan Down shares in great detail the realization of her dream to bicycle across every state, border to border. She provides so much more than descriptions of bicycling terrains, ups and downs, in fifty states. She shares the people—bicyclists and locals, the history of remarkable places discovered, and the call of poetry and song that the diverse landscapes and cultures imparted. For the reader, this is a colorful journey shared in very personal terms. For a fellow cyclist on many of these trips it is a welcome reminder of a great life adventure.”—Sandra Schuldt, long distance cyclist

“A word of advice. Don’t be dissuaded from picking up Wind in My Wheels if you don’t happen to be a bicycling enthusiast. That would be doing yourself a grave disservice. This book is about much more. It is a history of our country showcased with fascinating and ofttimes obscure facts to capture your imagination. It is a fresh metaphor of life wrapped in tales and adventures of an inspired journey, the goal being to bike all fifty states in the USA. Exceptional writing creates ease and a sensation of camaraderie, causes shared moments of weather in your face, satisfaction of eating when you’re really hungry and the unnerving anxiety of traffic cruising by way too close for comfort. True kindness expressed genuinely by total strangers kindles a glowing ember of faith in our shared humanity. One feels they’ve experienced the adventure right alongside Jan Down and friends. Humor, wild situations, hardships, losses, ecstasy provided by tailwinds while spinning through God’s masterful creation, stack up to provide a worthwhile read, and then some. The author’s writing style is a pleasure. Engaging and inviting, it goes down easy. One feels one has accomplished the dream, right along side the dedicated and spirited team that made it all come true. The narrative is not mere fluff, these stories are filled with reverence. There are sacred moments to partake of inside the cover. Now, open it!”—Suzee Carson Branch, author, Under a Tie Dye Sky

Artisan Gallery 218 is located at 218 Fifth Street in West Des Moines.  Beaverdale Books will have books available for sale and signing.