Next to riding, one of the best things in the world is curling up with a good book. Even better if that book whisks you off on a cycling adventure or helps relieve stress from your daily life. We’ve selected a handful of books, written by riders, that we recommend adding to your reading list this summer. Join us in the Terry Bike Month Book Club, check out these titles and let us know what you think and what’s on your bookshelf in the comments…
My two favourite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything. The perfect day: riding a bike to the library.
Peter Golkin, Cyclist & NASA Scientist
HEIDI ACROSS AMERICA: One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
In the summer of 2010, author and slow travel enthusiast Heidi Beierle had just finished her first year of graduate studies in Community and Regional Planning and embarked on a solo bike tour and research trip from her home in Eugene, Oregon to the Preserving the Historic Road Conference in Washington, D.C. What started as a research trip studying bicycle tourism and rural economic development, evolved into an intimately physical and psychological encounter with self and nationhood.
At the time of her journey across America, Heidi was 35 and admittedly didn’t love much about herself except her ability to endure grueling physical undertakings. She viewed this expedition as an opportunity to fix her failures and insufficiencies while highlighting her strengths. There were also some pressing research questions she wanted to explore: Why do people live in small towns and what do they like about it? Did a cyclist like herself bring economic benefit to the small towns she visited? What could communities do to support or invite cyclists to stay in their towns? What could cyclists do to support the communities?
From the Pacific to the Atlantic, she was surprised by the kindness of strangers and the emotional toil of her journey. This trip led her to travel through Wyoming, where she grew up and where the wind, dryness and desolate landscape made a lasting imprint on her. It took her through the Plains and into the Ozarks where the heat climbed to agonizing temperatures and every mile felt one closer to defeat. She faces these tribulations head on and reflects on how her upbringing taught her self-reliance, the beautiful dimensions of solitude and how to push through the pain, one pedal stroke at a time. Throughout her travels, Heidi discovers a newfound compassion for herself and a growing love for her country.
And throughout her journey and observance of others, her questions began to morph and mirror things many Americans are asking themselves today: How can I be okay in my own skin? What does it mean to be enough? How do I satisfy my desire to travel without harming the planet? What does it mean to love America?
For many young people, it is a rite of passage to set out on an adventure to see the world and expose themselves to new experiences, however, we often think of these experiences as occurring overseas and in far off lands. Heidi Across America presents a journey to self-love, played across America that exposes the reader to the diversity, awe, and wonder, that’s available right here in our nation. In this book, Heidi transverses many landscapes and heavy-hitting topics, allowing us to sit sidesaddle as she meets new friends, encounters old demons, and finds herself on the bike and her connection to the heartland.
Heidi Beierle’s memoir, Heidi Across America, is what we all need to read in our current climate of cultural and political division. Beierle brings her open-hearted curiosity to every roadway, every diner, and every person (or animal) she encounters, offering the reader a glimpse into what it really means to be a true citizen of a homeland as vast and diverse as the United States. On a bicycle and depending upon the kindness of strangers, this author takes us on a journey that is more than a grueling ride through the heartland. It is a guide for all of us to slow down and really look at what is right in front of us. If you need a shot of optimism and hope, Heidi Across America will put it right into your veins.
– Cami Ostman founder of The Narrative Project and author of Second Wind
This intrepid, honest, compelling, introspective travel memoir is beautifully descriptive of the rural parts of the United States as it ranges from the mountains to the plains to the cities. Cyclists, armchair travelers, and women exploring new directions in life will be drawn to this book.
– Susan O’Brien, Library Journal
Interested in reading Heidi Across America? Please visit: Heidi Across America
About Heidi Beierle:
Heidi Beierle is an artist, writer, adventurer, and self-proclaimed creepy-crawly lover based in Bellingham, Washington. Her writing focuses on slow travel, cycling and the sensory experience of being alive and has been published in National Geographic Traveler, High Desert Journal, VoiceCatcher Journal, Journal of America’s Byways, and on the Adventure Cycling Association blog. Currently, Heidi is on a largely car-free book tour, traveling the country to promote her debut memoir, Heidi Across America. See Heidi’s Tour Map, here and visit her website for more information: HeidiBeierle.com
MIND YOUR BREATH: Activating Your JOY
In addition to being Bike Month, May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and Adina Crawford’s Mind Your Breath is a perfect way to acknowledge it. Written by a certified yoga teacher, community influencer and Terry Ambassador, Mind Your Breath focuses on yoga, meditation, and self-discovery for all bodies. Adina’s book provides steps to reduce anxiety and stress by using breathing techniques, self-care practices, and positive affirmations. It explores the affect that the four seasons have on mood, energy, and well-being and how yoga, meditation and movement can be used to adapt to changes, find balance and improve mental health. Adina dives into how these practices can help us access the profound depths of our being, uncover our true essence, and cultivate self-compassion. Her goal with Mind Your Breath was to create an easy-to-read resource for recentering the mind, body and soul, especially when in a state of stress or overwhelm.
Interested in reading Mind Your Breath? Please visit: Mind Your Breath: Activating Your JOY
About Adina Crawford:
Adina is an avid fitness and cycling enthusiast who loves building communities and creating spaces where people thrive. She is a certified Yoga Teacher who teaches Gentle Yoga, Chair Yoga, Yin Yoga and Meditation and Mindfulness. Her calling to teach yoga has been about diversity, community and inspiring growth at every level.
In October 2022, Adina was recognized for all the work she does to make running, biking, and yoga inclusive to all and received a proclamation from Mayor Dominic Sarno of Springfield, Massachusetts. With his proclamation there is now an official “Adina Crawford Day” every October 30th. She has collaborated and taught with companies such as Brooks, Lululemon, Athleta, Oiselle and many local groups in her Maryland community. Along with being a Terry Ambassador, Adina is an Ambassador for Trek Bicycles, Black Girls Run, Black Girls Do Bike and is an REI Co-op Partner. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Black Girls Run Foundation whose mission is to encourage and motivate black women to practice a healthy lifestyle and break down barriers around fitness. Adina’s strives to bring more diversity and awareness to the track, mat, and bike and truly believes: RUNNING, YOGA, & BIKES ARE FOR EVERY BODY. Follow along with Adina’s journey on social media:
Instagram: @adinavcrawford | Facebook: Deanie The Yogini – For The Love of YOGA | Twitter: @Adinacrawford19
The Breakaway
Despite being 400 pages, The Breakaway from #1 New York Time best selling author Jennifer Weiner is a page-turner that can be engulfed in one weekend, and ideally from a hammock, camp, beach or lounge chair. This warmhearted, empowering novel is much more than a romance, with themes of friendship, body positivity, the complexities of mother/daughter relationships, secrets and the power of choice, all on the backdrop of a life-changing bike tour.
Our protagonist, Abby Stern, wants to believe she’s made it to her happy place, yet can’t escape the feeling that something isn’t right. She’s got good friends, her trusty bike, a cycling club in Philadelphia, and is on track to marry her childhood sweetheart, Mark. She’s in her thirties and finally at peace with her plus-size body—at least, most of the time—has an apartment in one of the greatest cities in the world and while she may not have a “career” is finding her stride working gig jobs. So why does something feel off? Well, for starters she can’t stop thinking about the thrilling night of passion she had with a man named Sebastian two years prior….
When Abby receives a last-minute invitation to lead a 700-mile bike tour from NYC to Niagara Falls, she views it as the perfect opportunity to take some space from Mark, have a chance to reflect and make up her mind on her happily ever after. But things get complicated fast. First, Abby spots a familiar face in the group—it’s no other than Sebastian, the sexy stranger and one-night stand she thought she’d never see again. In spite of their undeniable chemistry and previous connection, Abby is determined to keep her distance. The next unwelcomed twist? Abby’s diet-and-weight obsessed mother, who she blames for a lifetime of body shaming and insecurities that she’s still trying to overcome, joins the tour as a surprise addition. The Breakaway is told through several POV chapters with the most POV narration stemming from Abby and Sebastian. However, this way of storytelling provides a glimpse into the lives of many of the cyclists on tour, creating a dynamic and relatable cast of characters.
Over the two week tour, strangers become friends, hidden truths come to light, a teenage girl with a secret unites the riders in unexpected ways…and Abby is forced to reconsider everything she believes about herself, her mother, and the nature of love.
The Breakaway is delightfully suspenseful, sexy and just so much fun. Our romantic hero, Abby, is refreshingly poised, confident and human, acknowledging her flaws while not sizing herself down—literally and figuratively—to fit into any societal standards. This rom com is both breezy and thoughtful, with Weiner touching on some serious issues while maintaining a light-hearted tone that allows you to sit back and enjoy the ride.
A journey that’s as much about self-discovery as it is about exploring new territory on wheels.
– The New York Times
Incredibly fun…A lovely, compulsively readable story about finding your path and believing in your own worth.
– Kirkus Reviews
About Jennifer Weiner
Jennifer Weiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fifteen books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, and, most recently, That Summer. Her essays, including ““Mean Girls in the Retirement Home” and “First, I Cried; Then, I Rode My Bike.” have topped the list of trending online articles in The New York Times and been reprinted in newspapers and media outlets across the world. A New Yorker profile called Jennifer an “unlikely feminist enforcer” and celebrated her “lively public discussion about the reception and consumption of fiction written by women.” The Washington Post wrote that “Weiner has made a major literary career out of writing engrossing popular novels that take women seriously” and Refinery29 deemed her “the master of richly told page-turners about complicated and likable women.”
Jennifer grew up in Connecticut, learned to ride her bike in Cape Cod, and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English literature from Princeton University. She has worked as a newspaper reporter in central Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Philadelphia, where she was a feature writer and columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Today, she can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where she uses her platform to amplify women’s voices and speak on topics including self-esteem, body positivity, and the way books by women are reviewed and consumed. In real life, she can be found riding in Philadelphia, where she lives with her family. Follow along with Jennifer’s journey on social media:
Instagram: @JenniferWeinerWrites | Facebook: Jennifer Weiner | Twitter: @JenniferWeiner
