Andy Amick proudly displays his newly published memoir “A Dream Worth Living,” which is available on Amazon Prime and will be available shortly from the Douglas County Libraries.

By Susan Helton; photos courtesy of Andy Amick

In 2014, The Connection introduced readers to resident Andy Amick after he conquered the Tour Divide, an ultra-cycling challenge to pedal the Rocky Mountains. Earlier this year, Amick published his memoir about the experience.

Amick, who recently celebrated his 19th anniversary with wife, Kristi, did not set out to write a memoir. After returning home from the Tour Divide, he wrote out his experiences of each day. When he reached the last day, he had already written 20,000 words. To share his story and help inspire others to take on their dreams, Amick embarked on a new adventure of creating an actual book.

For Amick, the best part of the writing was reliving moments during the race: the amazing people; times he felt he could ride forever; moments of delicious biscuits and gravy, or hot coffee; the midnight darkness in the Montana mountains; sunshine after five days of rain and snow. The hardest part of the writing for Amick was the editing. “It took me a while to become comfortable with the sheer number of edits,” stated Amick. Kristi edited the book, but neither of them anticipated the challenges of this project. Their sons, Tyler and Logan, even wondered out loud whether dad could actually write it. But the husband and wife team together transformed Amick’s thoughts into a readable narrative.

Amick has enjoyed the questions his sons ask him about the race after they have read chapters in the book. “One of best parts has been the reaction of my parents who live in South Carolina, where I grew up. My dad doesn’t go anywhere without a copy or two in his truck to give to his friends, family, and anyone else that will listen to him talk about it,” Amick stated.

Andy Amick and sons, Logan (left) and Tyler (right), on what Amick hopes will be a multi-year project riding sections of the Colorado Trail.

While racing, Amick’s mind often wandered to his family. A mountain campground or lake prompted thoughts of returning there with his sons. Helping an elderly woman change a tire brought thoughts of his dad, who taught him to do that. And in the darkest moments of the race, his wife Kristi’s encouraging words kept him moving. Amick stated, “I may have ridden the bike race and the book may have my name on it, but it took a lot of sacrifice and support from my friends and family. Without their support, neither would have been possible.”

With the book finished, Amick and his family are enjoying some downtime. This summer, Amick and his sons began riding sections of the Colorado Trail, while Kristi preferred to stay home and read or play music.

Amick hopes that readers of his book will see both the struggles and the amazing places on the other side of those struggles. “The biggest lesson I learned during the race and while writing is that each person is capable of so much more than they think,” stated Amick.

To learn more about Amick’s book, see page 13 in this issue. To read Amick’s story from the August 2014 issue of The Connection, visit www.castlepinesconnection.com and type “Amick” in the search function.