In the book Bicycling with Butterflies, Sara Dykman chronicles her 10,201-bicycle journey to follow the path of the monarch butterfly migration from Mexico to Canada, and back. Reading was like a portal into the author’s personal thoughts and road diary. She shared everyday bike tales with an undercurrent of climate change worry. The book didn’t commit to being purely adventure or educational writing but blended the author’s two passions of biking and monarch butterfly education in a seamless way. It is an enjoyable read with anecdotes that make you forget about the magnitude of the journey except for the brief reminder of days/miles documented at the beginning of each chapter.
1. Car-centric infrastructure design can push cyclists into the margins
Sara traversed beautiful landscapes across countries and states, but it was clear from her stories that biking is an after-thought for infrastructure design. Most of the trip was biking balancing on roadside shoulders, rubbing elbows with large trucks and automobiles. The most obvious lack of biking infrastructure was when Sara was trying to make it from Windsor, Ontario to Detroit Michigan where the bridge, tunnel, bus, and ferry didn’t allow bikes–the only options were 100+ mile detours.
2. Journeys can be unpredictable, but people are mostly good
Traveling 8–9-months, Sara encountered a lot of different people and experiences – both good and bad. I had an uncomfortable feeling imagining what it was like for the author traveling and camping solo on the roadside. In general, though, the stories were positive with strangers helping out and providing random acts of kindness. They offered ice cream, extended friendships, and gained new appreciation of monarch butterflies along the way.
3. Go on a remarkable adventure while you can
At one point, Sara shares the road with a sixty-eight-year-old biker and makes it clear that you don’t have to be young to adventure. “No one ever says they wished they worked harder.” You just have to do it while you can.
4. Take steps to turn your dream into reality
The author’s idea to bike with the monarchs came from a fleeting thought on a trip to Mexico. For the next three years, that thought slowly grew into an ongoing daydream. Then things changed when she spent a year planning and documenting the details of the trip–from her rusty beater bike to basic essentials contained in two panniers to a detailed worn paper map. At that point, “there was nothing left to do but do.”
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