Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration
by Sara Dykman
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About the Author
Sara Dykman1 book reviewed
Bicycling with Butterflies
My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration
by Sara Dykman
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for: Cyclists and thru-adventure readers, pollinator enthusiasts, educators, book clubs, and milkweed gardeners who want a long-haul journey fused with substantive monarch science and a conservation mission — the book's documented 10,201-mile first and its National Outdoor Book Award–winning pedigree make it the definitive account of tracing the migration at bicycle speed.
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- Is it worth reading?
- Yes, with a clear audience match. The 2021 National Outdoor Book Award confirms it delivers on its audacious premise, and jacket praise notes Dykman tells the story "with both humor and humility." The main caveat: this is advocacy-forward writing — the conservation message is the point of the enterprise, not a subplot, so readers wanting a neutral travelogue should look elsewhere.
- Similar books
- Readers who love long-haul solo journeys with a purpose should try Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Sophie Matterson's The Crossing, while Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods offers a lighter, humorous take on a long-distance trek. For the butterfly-science side, Sue Halpern's Four Wings and a Prayer covers monarch natural history, and Barbara Kingsolver's novel Flight Behavior imagines the migration gone off course. Dervla Murphy's Full Tilt is the classic solo-bicycle-adventure antecedent.
- Who should read this?
- Several distinct audiences will find it an easy recommendation: cyclists and thru-adventure readers wanting a long-haul journey with an unusual purpose; butterfly and pollinator enthusiasts who want the migration rendered at human scale; educators and book clubs, given its outreach pedigree; and gardeners already planting milkweed who want the larger story their patch connects to. Readers seeking broad natural history across many ecosystems should note the lens is deliberately narrow, fixed on one insect.
- Is it a good book club pick?
- Yes — it functions well as a discussion book for environmental and community reading programs, and its adoption by groups like the Dyck Arboretum's Nature Book Club points to a second life beyond the adventure shelf. Built-in discussion threads include the tallgrass prairie's collapse (only about 1 percent remains), the case for traveling at bicycle speed, and the claim that anyone can be a scientist, conservationist, and adventurer.
- Is it more science or adventure?
- Both, and that's the point — publisher copy describes science, nature, and adventure woven into a single account, and the source material bears that out. This is a nature book told from a bicycle saddle: the solo ride provides the narrative spine while monarch biology (milkweed, tagging, way stations) supplies the substance.
- What makes the journey unique?
- The migration itself provides the architecture: the monarchs' multi-generational relay north and the single "super generation's" return south give the ride a built-in dramatic shape most improvised bike trips lack. Because no one had ever traced the route by bicycle before Dykman's March-to-December 2017 ride, the feat is a documented first rather than a marketing flourish.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
who it suits
Skip if you want a detached, purely observational travelogue — the conservation advocacy is the point of the whole book, not a subplot.
Editorial Review
Sara Dykman's account of her 2017 ride tracing the monarch migration 10,201 miles from Mexico to Canada and back — the first person ever to do so — pairs solo-adventure storytelling with accessible science and conservation advocacy. A 2021 National Outdoor Book Award winner, endorsed by Jane Goodall.
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