Heidi Beierle: A cross-county bike ride transformed her life

The North Sound Bicycle Advocates welcome Heidi Beierle to its “2026 One Pedal Revolution at a Time” fundraising dinner at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at the Lake Ballinger Center in Mountlake Terrace. Beierle is the author of  “Heidi Across America,” which documents her solo bike ride across the USA.

Among the North Sound Bicycle Advocates’ goals is improving cycling infrastructure in north King and south Snohomish counties. Its second annual fundraiser aims to fund its campaigning to promote cycling as a sustainable and enjoyable form of transportation and recreation.

Here is a Q&A with the 51-year-old author from Bellingham.

Edmonds Beacon: Your book was released in 2024, but it's based on your 2010 trip, right?

Heidi Beierle: Correct. I wrote the results of my trip for my master’s degree in community and regional planning in June 2011. There wasn’t a place in my research results to share how transformative the ride was for me personally, and it took a while to learn how to craft the personal story.

Beacon: What is Health Communications Inc., the publisher?

Beierle: Health Communications Inc., or HCI Books, is an imprint of Simon & Schuster and publishes non-fiction books promoting recovery, personal growth, and the enrichment of mind, body, and soul. Their first New York Times bestseller was “Adult Children of Alcoholics” (1983). 

Beacon: You’ve written about why you wanted to ride cross-country. You say you weren’t happy where you were in your life. Can you expand on that?

Beierle: When the 2008 Great Recession hit, I was underemployed, depressed, and lonely. I wanted to have a role improving car-free travel options, but I didn’t have the “relevant” degree required to be considered for an active transportation planner position.

While the economy stagnated and people lost jobs, I figured my employment prospects would improve in the two years it would take to earn my “relevant” credentials. Unfortunately, the stresses of full-time study undid many of the gains I’d made to feel like a contributing member of society.

I wasn’t sleeping well. I stopped seeing my friends so I could focus on meeting deadlines. And I traded most of my physical activity for a sedentary life of reading and writing.

By the end of my first term, I thought I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. All I wanted to do was ride my bike.

Beacon: How did the trip change your life?

Beierle: The most transformative and unexpected part of the trip was the kindness and love I received from strangers. From the first day to the last day of the ride, people surprised me with their care and concern for my safety. I felt unlovable, so I couldn’t understand how people who didn’t know me would make a point of connecting and offering what they could to ease my way.

By the time I reached Missouri, all the love I received began to change how I saw myself and America. When I left Oregon, I’d been embarrassed about being an American with the dark history of atrocities to our own people and the pompous way we comported ourselves to the world.

But after I’d pedaled more than 2,000 miles, felt the landscape, eaten at diners, stayed at motels, fed the mosquitoes, and been treated by strangers, America felt alive in me.

Maybe America was this community of care and love. I opened my heart to it. When I did that, I finally understood why people were so nice to me. I was the one withholding love from myself. If I wanted to feel love, all I had to do was regard myself with the same consideration as the strangers I’d met.

Touching my own tender heart also felt like a crisis and failure. It coincided with a heat wave in Missouri, and I realized I was endangering my life by continuing to ride in the heat. Surrendering to love meant getting myself to safety. It felt like quitting, but it was the first time I allowed the softness of my heart to prove how strong it was.

Beacon: Do you continue to ride regularly?

Beierle: Yes. In the nine years after my cross-country ride, I was always on my bike for work and recreation. I moved to Bellingham in late 2019, and that change, along with effects from the pandemic, altered how much I ride. I still enjoy riding my bike for transportation and recreation, but I’m more of an everyday walker now.

More information: tinyurl.com/mt8j6eyu, heidibeierle.com.