Getting Back on the Bike is a compelling and deeply inspiring South African memoir that weaves together elite sport, personal healing, and the search for meaning. Written by former cycling champion Cathy Carstens — physiotherapist, consciousness coach, and one of the country’s most celebrated cyclists — the book chronicles her extraordinary journey through triumph, loss, and transformation.

Carstens rose to prominence in a fiercely male-dominated sport, claiming five consecutive victories in the Cape Town Cycle Tour (formerly the Argus) between 1986 and 1990. After stepping away from competitive racing to raise her family and build her physiotherapy practice, she made an unexpected and remarkable return to elite competition in her forties — going on to win two UCI Masters Road World Championships.

Told with honesty, warmth, humour, and spiritual insight, Getting Back on the Bike traces Cathy’s path from early struggles and devastating setbacks to courageous comebacks and rediscovered joy. Whether navigating gruelling 700-kilometre stage races, rebuilding after personal loss, or learning to listen to inner wisdom, her story reminds readers that the greatest victories often follow our hardest falls.

Blending cycling history with lived wisdom and emotive storytelling, this memoir is both an inspiring sports narrative and a guide to living with courage, purpose, and authenticity. Ultimately, it is a powerful reminder that the race of life is not won by perfection, but by the willingness to get back up and begin again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cathy Carstens is a South African physiotherapist, cycling champion, and consciousness coach. She co-founded the Western Province Ladies Cycling Association in 1989 and dominated women’s road cycling for nearly a decade, winning the Argus Cycle Tour five times consecutively and accumulating more than 300 fun ride and national titles.

After stepping away from professional racing to raise her family and establish a successful physiotherapy practice, she returned to competitive cycling in her forties, securing multiple South African Masters titles and winning the UCI Masters Road World Championships in Austria. In 2014, she became the first woman inducted as a Legend of the Pedal.

'Getting Back on the Bike: A journey of grit, grace and rising up again' is published by Yes!Press Publishing, an imprint of Quickfox Publishing