Breathtaking : How One Family Cycled Around the World for Clean Air and Asthma

Geared up with two tents, six panniers, two tandem bicycles and one stuffed pink pig, Paula and Lorenz Eber set off from Seattle, Washington to cycle the world with their two daughters, eleven-year old Yvonne, and her thirteen year old sister, Anya. Their dream: to pedal in a complete circle around the world using a carbon free, environmentally friendly way to travel. Their goal: to raise awareness of asthma – a disease that Paula has suffered from her entire life – and the world's desperate need for clean air. Breathtaking is the exciting and inspiring true story of their adventures. Readers follow the Ebers across Europe, Asia, the South Pacific and North America as they raise their daughters around the globe. School is conducted outdoors on mountaintops. The responsibilities of parenting have been expanded to include hunting for an English copy of the latest Harry Potter book. And family togetherness takes on a new meaning as the Ebers must work together to survive a 100-degree heat wave in Italy, drug smugglers in Russia, a broken foot in New Zealand and a tornado in the U.S. Yet, as the family pedals farther and farther away from home, they realize that the greatest challenge they face is the journey that they must undergo within themselves. The Ebers returned home twenty-four countries and 14,931 km (9,332 miles) later – raising $65,000 for the non-profit organization, World Bike for Breath. They spoke about clean air and asthma to more than 150 newspapers, magazines, and TV stations, including Time for Kids, NPR, and PBS's Roadtrip Nation. They are the only family on record to complete a full circumnavigation of the world by bicycle. As a young girl, trapped in bed with a life-threatening disease, Paula Eber dreamed of adventuring across the globe, visiting exotic places far beyond the suffocating walls of her bedroom. Thirty years later, now an anthropology professor, cyclist and mother of two young girls, Paula runs into a quirky ad that sets in motion a very unconventional idea. Why not bicycle around the world with her family? Traveling slowly on a bicycle and camping along the way, the family could meet the local people, intimately experiencing the culture, history and geography of the world. Plus, the journey could support an important cause. Each kilometer they pedaled would raise money for asthma, the disease that had almost killed Paula as a child. And by cycling, they would choose a sustainable form of travel, making the world a better place to breathe. Two years later, supported by six major outdoor sponsors and World Bike for Breath, www.worldbikeforbreath.org, Paula, her husband, Lorenz, and their two daughters-eleven year old Yvonne and thirteen year old Anya-set off with two tandems, two tents, six panniers and one stuffed elephant. Their audacious plan: to pedal 15,000 kilometers across Europe, through Asia, Australia and the South Pacific and across North America in an unbroken, continuous circle around the globe. As they cycle, the Ebers do indeed plunge deeply into the local culture. They become guests of honor of an Italian cycling team; cook dinner with a Mongolian family over a dung fire in their yurt; participate in an ancient tea ceremony at a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan and are treated as honored guests at the Dayton rodeo in the U.S. However, as the family struggles with increasing hardships and danger, both parents and children are forced to grow and change both individually and together. Facing a 100 degree heat wave in Italy, a snowstorm at the Great Wall in China, an earthquake in Taiwan, and a tornado in North Dakota, the family is forced to work together-each dependent on the skills of the other, no matter how young. Dealing with drug smugglers and corrupt border guards in Russia, a bite by a poisonous molokau in Tonga and a broken foot in New Zealand, Paula and Lorenz learn hard leadership and decision-making lessons as parents. Yvonne and Anya come face to face with poverty and global inequities as they camp on the lawn of a Lithuanian man whose home has no heat or insulation. And weaving throughout the story is Paula's own personal challenge: overcoming her asthma as she struggles to breathe while cycling over high altitude mountains in the Alps and Rockies and battling pollution filled air in Asia. On August 28, 2004, the Ebers finished their 14,931 kilometer journey in Washington D.C. They raised $65,000 to combat a disease that kills more than 250,000 children and adults around the world every year. The family spoke about clean air and asthma to over 150 newspapers, magazines and TV stations across the globe, including features in Time for Kids and NPR, and PBS's Road Trip Nation. They are the only family on record to complete a full circumnavigation of the world by bicycle. "Carrying one stuffed elephant, six panniers and two tents, Paula and Lorenz Eber set off from Athens, Greece on two tandem bicycles with their eleven-year-old daughter, Yvonne, and her thirteen-year-old sister, Anya. Pedaling in an unbroken line through Europe and Asia, along Australia and the South Pacific and then across North America, the Ebers promoted a carbon free, environmentally friendly way to travel, encouraging others to try new, more sustainable and harmonious ways to interact with new places and peoples." -- Provided by publisher Geared up with two tandem bicycles, two tents, and six panniers, Paula and Lorenz Eber set off from Seattle, Washington, to cycle the world with their two daughters, Yvonne and Anya. Their dream: to pedal in a complete circle around the world using a carbon-free, environmentally friendly way to travel. Their goal: to raise awareness of asthma and the world's desperate need for clean air