What motivates a cyclist to spend 13 months riding a homemade bamboo bike from Colombia to Cape Horn? Kate Rawles relives her once-in-a-lifetime adventure in this extract from THE LIFE CYCLE — Discovering Biodiversity the Hard Way 8000 Miles in the Andes by Bamboo Bike in this weekend’s Sunday Times.

Published on the 1st June by Icon Books, The Life Cycle is one woman's journey through South America - and the devastating story of our planet's disappearing biodiversity.

Pedalling hard for thirteen months, eco adventurer Kate Rawles cycled the length of the Andes on an eccentric bicycle she built herself. The Life Cycle charts her mission to find out why biodiversity is so important, what's happening to it, and what can be done to protect it.

From the Pacific Ocean to rainforests and salt flats, Kate learns that armadillos can cross rivers by holding their breath, that Colombia has more species of birds than North America and Europe combined, and that in threatening species and ecosystems, we're tearing down our own life support system. En route, she witnesses the devastation of goldmining and oil drilling but finds hope in the incredible people working to regenerate habitats and communities. As she reaches the 'end of the world', she realises that to tackle biodiversity loss we all have a role to play.

'A gripping read for anyone who cares about what we're doing to the planet and how we can change it' DAVID SHUKMAN, FORMER BBC NEWS SCIENCE EDITOR

'Searing observations focused on our need to protect biodiversity - A tour de force' SIR TIM SMIT OBE, CO-FOUNDER OF THE EDEN PROJECT

'An informative, uplifting and truly important book' JONATHON PORRITT, AUTHOR AND CAMPAIGNER

For enquiries relating to Kate Rawles, please contact James Spackman