Jools Walker is a UK award winning blogger of VELOCITYGIRL, author and public speaker who recently published her new book, Back In The Frame, where she shares how she re-discovered cycling at twenty-eight after a ten-year stint off the saddle. When Jools started blogging about her new life on two wheels, a whole new world in cycling opened up to her. But like for many of us early non lycra female cycling bloggers, it was hard to find a community or space in cycling that is not traditionally open to women – especially women of color.
Jools’ story of getting back on two wheels starts from her first memory of pedaling on a hand me down BMX Burner to empowering readers how to DIY fix their own bikes. It’s full of stories and lessons of how important our relationship with cycling can take us to the most amazing places in our lives if we keep pedaling through the challenges. While it may seem like life on the saddle for Jools if full of many obstacles, her love of cycling continues and evolves to create a dialogue and community to widen the participation.
In Back in the Frame, Jools shares with us stories of other female trailblazers in the cycling community who are disrupting the MAMIL-ian cycling culture narrative. From couriers, cycling adventurers, family members, to an aspiring first African American female pro cyclist, we hear the challenges and stories these women are overcoming to pave the way for the future. Jools gives readers a very honest story of her own challenges, her encounter with a mini stroke, her first clipless ride, and challenging sportives she never imagined taking on. Jools and the stories she shares of trailblazers creating their own path into cycling are stories that we can all relate to which makes the book the most accessible amongst all the cycling books I have read.
You will find plenty of ‘cycling books to read’ lists online but many of these cycling books are written by white male athletes riding the great monuments, winning gold medals, breaking records, winning classics, and cycling across continents. As cool as these stories are, one can say it’s hard to see yourself in these narratives. Not to disregard their stories, however, Jools’ Back In The Frame is a book for all cyclists as part memoir and part how-to-guide to getting back on the bike or taking cycling to the next level in their own journey.
From my perspective, Jools managed to do something that we don’t often see in cycling books by creating a safe space and voice in which new cyclists, women, and women of color experiences are represented. Her points about representation and tokenism are part of the greater conversation that the bike industry is currently reckoning with. But while bikesplainers may sneer at this theme, it is one that many of us women and woc in this community are speaking out on to create spaces of inclusivity without the industry.
Back In The Frame accounts for class, ability, cultural and industrial dynamics of entry and experience to cycling. Jools’ story reminds me of so many first generation stories of trying to navigate institutions that were not created for them. For example, cycling is culturally dominated by middle class white males because of road blocks such as financial accessibility for lower income families, lack of bike infrastructure or safety in neighborhoods, and even lack of representation in the sport. Not only are first generations managing cultural, environmental, financial, and home family dynamics but they are also figuring out their place in spaces that lack stories, history, or people who look like them.
The book is not all politics in cycling though. For the reader, there are pages of adventures Jools takes you on. It’s honest to the core and laced with good British terminology and humor. It’s well written, as if you are sitting in the cafe with your cycling friend you’ve known for years and hearing for the first time their story of how they got into cycling. You’ll want to know every little detail and never want it to end.
For two weeks, I would fall asleep late wanting and needing to know what happens next. Just before getting out of bed, I would reach for one more chapter just before I started my day. You’ll shake and nod your head and laugh. A conversation you don’t want to end, counting down the hours before bedtime to read the next chapter. It’s a page turner.
Jools is someone I’ve known in the blogging cycling community for years through social media. When she announced her book, I found it was a step forward to having diverse voices in cycling heard and wanted to celebrate it by reading the book and sharing this review. I’m reminded, that our journey in cycling is an evolving relationship and a powerful tool of social change.
Reading Back In The Frame, there was so much I could relate and connect from my own story into cycling and blogging but more importantly that I had a community I found online and connected with all over the world. At the end of the book, you’ll find an incredible amount of resources that connect you online to a community of trailblazers and industry leaders. Whether you’re looking to get back on the bike or take your relationship with cycling to the next level, this book will inspire you to do that.
You can find the 
book on Amazon in Kindle format and the actual book will be released in America on August 13, 2019. You can follow Jools Walker at VELOCITYGIRL, on Twitter at LadyVelo, and Instagram at Jools Walker.