Racing California

Throughout the book Racing California the main character Evan faces many obstacles while trying to reach his dream or goal of riding in the Tour de California. He faces numerous setbacks before the race that prevent or hold him back enough to make him late for the race. A goal, wish, or dream with many setbacks or hardships in the way, may not be “meant to be”. Throughout the book there are numerous setbacks that hold Evan back from attending the Tour de California. There are a number of things that hold Evan back from competing in the bike race. The first setback that he faces while trying to compete in the race is the fact that his parents do not approve of him going to California to race. The lack of support from his parents is the first
Since Evan is riding in the Tour de California, he has to cancel the plans he had with his girlfriend’s family to go snowboarding during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Attending the Tour de California is changing many plans that Evan had already made. “Oh! I’m going on a snowboarding trip with my girlfriend’s family Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.” Rainer shakes his head, “No you’re not. In three days you can ride 400 miles, maybe 5.” The conflict between his biking career and girlfriend is huge because he cannot prioritize what he has to do first and therefore chooses to go to the Tour de California. This example uses the idea of conflict to show that biking in the Tour de California at this young age may not be “meant to be”. The author uses this idea of conflict to show that going to the Tour de California is not the best decision for him right now and he is better off going snowboarding with his girlfriend and her family as well as obeying his parents. This is the second conflict that Evan has. He has to give up time for biking instead of caring and showing love toward his
His mother falls extremely sick and needs to be taken to the hospital. His mom is taken into the hospital listed under critical condition. She has suffered a heart attack like no other. The doctors are busy diagnosing her for hours but nothing seems to prove evident. In the meantime Evan’s flight is scheduled to leave at 6am and his father offers to drop him off at the airport, but he calmly denies it and says he will catch the next flight the following day. During this time when Evan is waiting in the lobby, he is texting his girlfriend who recommends that her mom have a special type of procedure done on her. He agrees to mention it to the doctors, but the doctors refuse to perform the test. By the time that the doctors diagnose his mom, it is the next day and he needs to get on the next flight to California because the race is within the next 24 hours. This example in the book shows that attending and racing in the event was not “meant to be” because he had faced many hardships that tried to lure him away from the race but instead he did not lose sight of his goal. The author uses a tonal shift here in the story because the first couple of conflicts or obstacles were not as emotional as this one. The author tried to appeal to the writer’s emotion to show that going to California and racing in the Tour de California was not “meant to be”. The author tries to Evan that his mom does not support this decision and