(Special)-She may seem "old" by young people’s standards and even considered "mature" by others, but she isn’t over the hill by any means.

Patricia Starr, a 72-year-old Yahoo, Nebraska music teacher, pianist and former beauty queen, amazed those who knew her when at the age of 67 she decided to bicycle across the U.S. to raise money for a music scholarship at Santa Barbara City College.

Starr describes her experiences in her new book, Angel on My Handlebars.

In 50 days this untrained woman rode a bicycle with a fuzzy seat cover almost 6,000 kilometres. All odds were certainly against her, and some seasoned cyclists scoffed at what they thought was a frivolous attempt to com­plete this noteworthy journey.

The bicycle trek began in Astoria, Oregon. During the ride she covered between 250 and 300 kilometres per day. Starr’s experiences ranged from angel appearances to heartbreak to excruciating pain.

She had to overcome many obstacles along the way - ominous electrical storms, rain, heat, wind, fatigue, hunger, a broken toe, screaming muscles, a nasty crash, panic at be­ing lost and alone, sharing the interstate with 18-wheelers, a bear scare and the theft of her follow-up van.

Starr never gave up and on Day 50 reached the Atlantic Ocean in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She attributes her success to strong desire, along with a husband willing to do anything to help his wife endure the rigours of the road and succeed.

That was by no means the end of the road for Starr. At age 71, four years after the cross-country bicycle ride that she describes in Angel on My Handlebars, she pedalled more than 2,200 kilometres to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to represent Nebraska in the Ms. Senior America pageant. She is also planning a 6,400 to 8,000-kilometre ride for 2011.

Angel on My Handlebars is published by Summerland Publishing. For more information visit www.angelonmyhandlebars.com.