Mountain To Mountain: Reading And Signing A Journey Of Adventure & Activism

Co-sponsored by Austin Flyers Women's Cycling and Cycleast Being inspired to act can take many forms. For some it's taking a weekend to volunteer, but for Shannon Galpin, it meant leaving her career, selling her house, launching a nonprofit and committing her life to advancing education and opportunity for women and girls. Focusing on the war-torn country of Afghanistan, Galpin and her organization, Mountain2Mountain, have touched the lives of hundreds of men, women and children. As if launching a nonprofit wasn't enough, in 2009 Galpin became the first woman to ride a mountain bike in Afghanistan. Now she's using that initial bike ride to gain awareness around the country, encouraging people to use their bikes "as a vehicle for social change and justice to support a country where women don't have the right to ride a bike." In "Mountain to Mountain," her lyric and honest memoir, Galpin describes her first forays into fundraising, her deep desire to help women and girls halfway across the world, her love for adventure and sports, and her own inspiration to be so much more than just another rape victim. During her numerous trips to Afghanistan, Shannon reaches out to politicians and journalists as well as everyday Afghans -- teachers, prison inmates, mothers, daughters -- to cross a cultural divide and find common ground. She narrates harrowing encounters, exhilarating bike rides, humorous episodes, and the heartbreak inherent in a country that is still recovering from decades of war and occupation. "Shannon Galpin's lovely cycling saga is an inspiring and illuminating window into the lives of modern day Afghan women and their continuing struggle to ride their own path to freedom, recognition, and equality." --Khaled Hosseini, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Kite Runner" and "And The Mountains Echoed" SHANNON GALPIN is the founder and president of Mountain2Mountain, a nonprofit organization focused on helping women and children in Afghanistan. Her humanitarian efforts have been profiled on Dateline NBC, The New York Times, Outside Magazine, National Geographic Explorer, USA Today, CNN, MountainFlyer Magazine, and Women's Adventure Magazine. Shannon is also the subject of the award-winning documentary film "MoveShake". She lives in Colorado.