Item - Superbike

Superbike is a blending of two common Choose Your Own Adventure types: the sports story and the wish fulfillment fantasy. Your adventure begins at the movie theater when you spot a lost wallet stuffed with cash. The driver's license belongs to a Dr. Aaron Kepler. To your surprise, when he arrives and claims the wallet, he's less interested in the money than a scrap of paper the wallet contains, covered with scientific formulas. Dr. Kepler has invented a Superbike with a specialized air magnet that reduces wind resistance to zero, allowing the bike to attain unprecedented speeds. As thanks for returning his wallet, he asks you to test the Superbike before anyone else. Should you show off this fantastic toy to your friends, or keep it under wraps and consider more ambitious undertakings?

You'd like to sign up for the Tour New England bike race, but maybe you should enroll in training camp first. If you do, your Superbike sets you well apart from the other campers. You win the first big race at camp, but the next morning someone has stolen the air magnet. You could stay in camp and do your best with a normal bike, or drop out and report the crime to Dr. Kepler. Alas, there may be no way to turn your bike super again. Going directly to the Tour New England might be better; the race covers two hundred miles and offers a robust first prize. Your Superbike quickly outdistances the field, but a miscue on your part leads to a dramatic finish. If you can read your map accurately you'll probably be the champion, and then it's on to the world-renowned Tour of America, an endurance race from New York City to Colorado. You'll go toe to toe with Pierre Le Beau, the world's most accomplished racer. His bike can't keep up with yours, but he sticks close and rides your draft, reducing wind resistance as the air magnet does for you. Le Beau stalks you day after day, knowing that on Colorado's mountain roads you'll never keep up with him. Should you pull a crazy stunt to shake Le Beau? If you pull ahead of the world champion too far, you draw the wrong kind of attention: thieves who would steal your ride. Police may retrieve the Superbike after a chase, but is all hope of catching Le Beau gone? Winning the Tour of America now will require smarts, guts, and a pinch of luck from an unexpected source.

Are you uninterested in major sport biking? Show the Superbike to your friends right away and you'll get into a race with Tim, the fastest kid you know on two wheels. He puts up a stiff fight, but the Superbike is too fast. Tim marvels at the machine; will you let him take it for a spin? If you say yes Tim glides away happy, but when you see him next he's outraged. A man in a truck grabbed the Superbike and drove off. Your Superbike's recovery is in doubt until Tim spots the thief at a video rental store. Police set up a stakeout, but can you nab the Superbike without it getting destroyed? Envy does nasty things to a man, and one who would steal a kid's bike might wreck it out of spite. If you declined to let Tim try out the Superbike, your friends’ curiosity intensifies. Fred Lester and Mack Krieg, a pair of bullies, corner you and make demands. Can you keep the Superbike intact to move on to bigger and better things?

Not all storylines in Superbike are equally good, but the best ones speed along at an exciting pace, well above average for Choose Your Own Adventure. The Tour New England and Tour of America steadily raise the stakes as the field of racers dwindles and you emerge as leader. Poor strategy can scuttle your bid for greatness, but if you know when to press the advantage and when to wait, winning both major events and becoming one of the world's preeminent racers is achievable. The Superbike is the reason you can compete at a world class level, but you'd never get this far without months of serious training, preparing for the most taxing endurance trials of any sport. Superbike is a story with thrills and great reward as you rise through the ranks, easily one of the better Choose Your Own Adventures.

More reviews by KenJenningsJeopardy74

When I read CYOA as a kid, I think Inca Gold was the most recent one I ever read. Since then, I've gone back to collect the series and Superbike is the first post-Inca Gold title I've ever read. With so few endings (12, I think) it's very different than the books I'm used to. Nothing about the premise attracted me, since I prefer the adventure and mystery titles, but I got this as part of a set on eBay. It was surprisingly readable, and I actually enjoyed it, but it was a little to kiddie for me. "You" are never put into any really sinister situations here. All deaths are accidental and non-horrific. Though I find it amusing that the cover illustration depicts one of your deaths.

More reviews by Madeye