Heidi Beierle - Heidi Across America

When the 2008 recession hit, thirty-three-year-old Heidi Beierle was single, underemployed, and ready for a change. But going back to school was not the solution she thought it would be, and her gloom deepened. Then, an email she received sparked a research idea, prompting her to bike from Eugene, Oregon, to Washington, D.C., to study bicycle tourism, a match with her personal interest to fix her failures by spending the summer pedaling. However, what she discovers on her journey across America isn’t what she expects.  

The extreme weather, difficult drivers and challenging terrain test her more than she imagines, but the kindness of strangers helps her see that her heart can be both soft and strong. Heidi Beierle’s memoir, Heidi Across America, offers a journey to self-love, consideration for others, and respect for the spirit of place as pathways to find connection and home.  

An encouraging story of learning self-love and compassion, Heidi Across America is a gritty story of how opening our hearts to others enables us to open our hearts to ourselves and love what we find there. 

Heidi Beierle is an artist, writer, and adventurer who grew up in the wind and high plains of Wyoming. Her writing about her cross-country bicycle ride has been published in National Geographic Traveler, High Desert Journal, VoiceCatcher Journal, Journal of America’s Byways, and on the Adventure Cycling Association blog. She lives in Bellingham, Washington. Find out more at heidibeierle.com.