Writers Reading – Joy Ride author Kristen Jokinen

An exclusive reading and Q&A by a local author.

This is an in-person program.

We are excited to welcome local author, Kristen Jokinen, who will be reading and discussing her debut memoir Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina, published by Hawthorne Books. You don’t have to be a cyclist or adventurer to be inspired by the stories of kindness shared along this 2 year, 18,000 mile bicycle adventure! She will tell stories, show a short video, read from her new book, and have time for Q&A. If you’re looking for motivation or inspiration, come down to the Library and engage with us! Hope to see you there.

Joy Ride details how explorers Kristen, a real estate agent from Oregon, and Ville Jokinen, a financial analyst for Toyota in his native Finland, met scuba diving in Vietnam and fell in love. After thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from the border of Mexico to Canada they decided their next adventure would be a two-year cycling trip covering 18,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina, despite never having cycled other than around the block. Only their starting and ending points were planned – in between was navigated daily by their sense of adventure and intuition. Locals in Mexico, Central America, and South America allowed them to camp in their fields and farms, invited them into their homes and families, and acted as tour guides. Kristen and Ville held babies, attended quinceañeras, drank pulque, played soccer, and visited schools. They persevered unrelenting, punishing rain and wind, altitude sickness, dog attacks, bike accidents, and countless flat tires to cycle between the ends of the earth.

Ville and Kristen Jokinen move through the world with a sense of curiosity and belief that kindness connects us to our shared humanity. Well-timed following a global pandemic, Joy Ride reconnects us to hope and the inspiration to pursue our wildest dreams.

About the Author:
Venturing from a Bend farm to the great unknown, Kristen Jokinen set out to experience the world as a hungry, young nomad with nothing but a backpack and a solid pair of shoes. Traveling light and always on the move, she found time to study and learn new skills along the way, at one time working as a wildland firefighter, a teacher, a real estate agent, and eventually an international speaker and author.