Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Breuer.
We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Cycling has always represented freedom of mobility for me. I love taking long walks and hikes but it’s hard to get very far on foot. Cycling allows me to travel longer distances while still being connected to my surroundings. When I was six or seven or so, my parents threw me a birthday party in our neighborhood park in Toronto. While my parents entertained my friends, I decided a bike ride would be more fun, recruited a friend, and we just up and left. When I was seven, I rode my bike out of the neighborhood to a department store to buy my brother a present for his first birthday. I was unsure of where I was going but I was brave enough that I could figure it out on my little yellow bmx. Riding a bicycle has been a constant throughout my life – no more than the average kid, and far less as a young adult, but it was always there and always brought about a feeling of fun, freedom, and getting my body moving.
As a teenager, I took to rollerblading all over town and, inspired by stories of the Canadian hero Terry Fox, dreamed of the chance to rollerblade across Canada. One thought of gravel shoulders and that dream was shut down. Fast forward to 2005, I was now in Los Angeles and upon hearing about Team in Training through a friend, promptly signed up to train and ride a century (100 miles) while fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Good people doing good things while riding a bike? No brainer. That first season with TNT rekindled my love for cycling, taught me how to ride longer distances efficiently, and showed me how attainable long distances could be on a bicycle. I rode several more seasons with Team in Training, eventually mentoring other new cyclists and growing my enthusiasm for the sport.
So when I picked up a copy of Alistair Humphrey’s “Moods of Future Joys” chronicling his four-year bicycle journey around the world, I was inspired. Those dreams of crossing Canada started to creep back in, and the seed was planted. I rode with AIDS/Lifecycle from San Francisco to LA over seven days to see if I enjoyed being on a bike all day, every day. I loved it. I began reading cycle touring blogs, ordering books, obsessively collecting other people’s touring photos and I knew if I didn’t attempt this trip I would never forgive myself. And that’s how it began – from there the wheels were in motion, so to speak. The hardest part about riding my bicycle across Canada was getting to the start line; planning the logistics, buying and testing the equipment, and committing to the adventure.
Once I dipped my back wheel in the Pacific Ocean in Tofino, British Columbia, I started riding, and all the fears, all the nerves dissipated. I was just going for a bike ride. And the next morning I was just going for a bike ride, and so on. My ride took me clear across the country, to the most eastern point of North America in Newfoundland – Cape Spear. 4,500 miles in 3.5 months, of beautiful and challenging adventure. Now when I look at a map of Canada it means so much more to me – I see a map of memories and experiences, mountain ranges and kind faces, wildlife, and weather, all from the perspective of two wheels at 10mph.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Considering how daunting a trip across a continent is, it went incredibly well. It’s not to say there weren’t struggles – there were many. Nights sleeping in a flooded tent, mechanical issues with the bike, black flies the size of my thumb, riding through exhaustion, the list continues… but in the grand scheme of things these were all part of the adventure and adventure was exactly what I was chasing. Every challenge reminded me of that. The most daunting perhaps was the goal I’d set for myself of riding all the way to Newfoundland – the mere idea was terrifying, overwhelming – it still is. So I just didn’t think about it. I set smaller goals; where am I riding to today? Or tomorrow? And I’d leave it at that. I’d ridden 100 miles in a day several times over and with my daily average set at 65 miles a day I just focused on one day at a time and that was all I needed to do. I think the amount of planning I did for this trip, figuring out where I was headed everyday, made it so much more achievable.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Leah Cycling Solo story. Tell us more about it.
When I was planning my ride, and even when I was on my ride, people couldn’t believe what I was doing. Cycle touring isn’t something that’s on a lot of people’s radars and the idea of a woman traversing Canada alone on a bicycle is beyond their comprehension, perceived as incredibly dangerous, or even just not possible. I’m neither the first solo female cyclist (very, very far from it), nor am I the last, but I’m proud to be able to at the very least be able to show others what is absolutely possible. Because I learned so much from reading about other riders’ experiences I’ve begun putting together a website about my rides – first, my ride across Canada, then my subsequent ride from Vancouver, British Columbia to the California/Mexican border in San Diego/Tijuana.
It’s taking time of course, but I’m getting through it slowly. My partner and I also recorded phone conversations during my trip and turned them into a podcast, further documenting the journey. The website is leahcyclingsolo.com and the podcast is also called Leah Cycling Solo. The hope is to inspire others who have this sense of adventure but are being held back by trepidation. I saw men and women traveling together, traveling alone, people in their sixties and seventies traveling by bicycle, and even families with young children traveling by bike. It’s a wonderful way to see the world.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life?
Luck while traveling came in all forms: Meeting people who would invite me into their homes so I wouldn’t have to pitch my tent in the rain; luck that the bear who came to my tent decided to walk away; luck that I met wonderful people to ride with when the opportunities presented themselves; luck that I wasn’t hit by a car… luck always plays a role I suppose, but when you’re traveling and are open to the possibilities luck seems to find a way to find you a little more often.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leahcyclingsolo.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/leahcyclingsolo
- Facebook: facebook.com/leahcyclingsolo
- Twitter: twitter.com/leahcyclingsolo
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