Planning Bare Minimum Led to Early Detours
Dykman says she intentionally planned only the bare minimum for her trip so she could stay flexible and say yes to opportunities, which led to her getting lost in a Mexican field on day six.
Reviewed
Read Time
8 min read
Our age bandAdult
Reader rating
4.5 · 593 Amazon ratings
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Our review
Bicycling with Butterflies
Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman Review: A 10,201-Mile Ride for Monarch Conservation
by Sara Dykman
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.
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.
Worth it if
It's worth reading if you want your nature writing to double as a call to action: the migration's own dramatic architecture carries the narrative, the monarch science is substantive and accessible, and the argument that individual action connects to a hemispheric phenomenon is earned by the ride itself.
Skip if
Readers wanting a detached, purely observational travelogue should look elsewhere — the conservation advocacy is the point of the whole enterprise, not a subplot — and its deliberately narrow single-species lens won't satisfy those seeking wide-ranging natural history across many ecosystems.
What readers & critics say
The Dyck Arboretum's Nature Book Club, which read the book as a group, praised its "poignant" writing on traveling at bicycle speed and its treatment of the tallgrass prairie's collapse, while The Portugal News called it "a modern travelogue for a noble cause" and "a unique book which needs to be read." Readers on The StoryGraph have highlighted its candid account of both the highs and lows of the solo ride alongside the monarch natural history.
Sources: Dyck Arboretum Nature Book Club, The Portugal News, The StoryGraph4.5from 593 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
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In Bicycling with Butterflies, Sara Dykman recounts her 2017 solo ride of 10,201 miles tracing the monarch migration from Mexico to Canada and back — a documented first — weaving accessible monarch science into the adventure narrative. LuvemBooks finds it a genuinely singular nature memoir, ideal for cyclists, pollinator enthusiasts, educators, and book clubs, with one clear caveat: the conservation advocacy is pervasive, so readers after a detached, observational travelogue may find the messaging insistent.
- 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.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
Is it a good book club pick?
Is it more science or adventure?
What makes the journey unique?
Summarize this book
From March to December 2017, Sara Dykman became the first person to bicycle the full monarch butterfly migration — 10,201 miles from the overwintering grounds in central Mexico north to Canada and back, across three countries. The book uses the ride as a spine for substantive monarch science: milkweed ecology, citizen-science tagging programs, and pollinator way stations. It won a 2021 National Outdoor Book Award in outdoor literature and carries an endorsement from Jane Goodall.
Follow up
How long did the journey take?
What is Beyond a Book?
Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review
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Our Review
We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.
Bicycling with Butterflies is a genuinely singular adventure memoir — part long-distance cycling narrative, part natural-history lesson, part conservation call to action — and its 2021 National Outdoor Book Award confirms it delivers on an audacious premise.
A First-of-Its-Kind Journey
The premise needs no embellishment: from March to December 2017, Sara Dykman became the first person to bicycle alongside the monarch butterfly migration, following the insects from their overwintering grounds in central Mexico north to Canada and back again — a round trip of 10,201 miles across three countries. The book, subtitled My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration, is her account of that solo ride, published by Timber Press (this paperback edition dated February 2023).
It is the written record of what she calls "butterbiking," her fourth adventure under an educational project she runs called Beyond a Book. The migration itself provides the narrative architecture — the monarchs' multi-generational relay north and the single "super generation's" return south give the journey a built-in dramatic shape that most improvised long-distance bike trips lack, and the fact that no one had ever attempted to trace it by bicycle makes the feat a documented first rather than a marketing flourish.
Part Travelogue, Part Field Lesson
What distinguishes the book from a standard adventure diary is how much monarch biology and ecology it carries. Dykman uses the ride as a spine for explaining the migration's mechanics: the role of milkweed as the sole food source of the monarch caterpillar, the citizen-science tagging programs that have tracked individual butterflies, and the network of pollinator "way stations" gardeners have planted along the flyway.
A write-up from the Dyck Arboretum's Nature Book Club, which read the book, highlights its treatment of the tallgrass prairie's collapse — noting the book's point that only about 1 percent of the historic prairie remains — and its emphasis on the interconnectedness of living systems and the consequences of human choices. Publisher copy describes science, nature, and adventure woven into a single account, and the source material bears that out: this is a nature book that happens to be told from a bicycle saddle, not a cycling book with butterflies as decoration.
Advocacy in Every Mile
Readers should know what they are signing up for tonally: this is advocacy-forward writing. Dykman did not simply ride the route — during the trip she visited more than 50 schools and nature centers, presenting to over 9,000 students with the message that anyone can be a scientist, conservationist, and adventurer, and the book extends that mission to the page.
It urges readers to plant milkweed, support pollinator habitat, and treat the monarch's decline as a shared responsibility. The Dyck Arboretum review singles out her argument for traveling at bicycle speed — that moving slowly reveals a living world that highway velocity renders invisible — as one of the book's most poignant threads.
For readers who want their nature writing to double as a call to action, this is the book's engine. For those after a detached, purely observational travelogue, the persistence of the message may feel insistent; the conservation argument is not a subplot here but the point of the whole enterprise.
Back cover with synopsis, review quotes from conservation and nature writers, and publication details.
Reception and Standing
The strongest external validation is concrete: the book won a 2021 National Outdoor Book Award in outdoor literature, one of the most established prizes in the genre. It also carries an endorsement from Dr. Jane Goodall, who calls the monarch migration "one of the wonders of the world" and urges that it be saved for future generations, and jacket praise describes Dykman telling her story "with both humor and humility."
Its adoption by reading groups like the Dyck Arboretum's Nature Book Club points to a second life beyond the adventure shelf — it functions well as a discussion book for environmental and community reading programs. Note that this review draws on the published record around the book — its synopsis, award history, endorsements, and reader commentary — rather than a hands-on evaluation.
Who It's For
This is an easy recommendation for several distinct audiences: cyclists and thru-adventure readers who want a long-haul journey with an unusual purpose; butterfly and pollinator enthusiasts, who will find the migration rendered at human scale; educators and book clubs, given its built-in outreach pedigree; and gardeners already planting milkweed who want the larger story their patch connects to. Its single-species focus is a depth-over-breadth proposition — readers seeking wide-ranging natural history across many ecosystems will find the lens deliberately narrow, fixed on one insect and the human systems around it.
But that focus is also the achievement. By the end of 10,201 miles, the monarch is no longer a symbol pasted onto a bike trip; it is the reason the trip coheres, and the book's argument — that individual action connects to a hemispheric phenomenon — is carried by the structure of the ride itself.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
- 2
dyckarboretum.org
- Further reading
- 3
- 4
beyondabook.org
- 5
toledo.bibliocommons.com
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Age & Reading Level
Our age band
Adult
Our age band groups books for browsing; it isn't an age a review gave.
Sara Dykman on Bicycling with Butterflies
Author Sara Dykman shares stories, photographs, and a reading from her memoir 'Bicycling with Butterflies' during a virtual event with Gibson's Bookstore.
Uploaded by Gibson's Bookstore, 2021 · Watch on YouTube ·
Reaching Rhode Island Completed Cycling Every State
Dykman explains that she cycled through the East Coast not only because prevailing westerly winds push monarchs east, but also because Rhode Island was the only US state she had never biked to.
Stealth Camping and Staying With Generous Hosts
Dykman never paid for official campsites during her eight-and-a-half-month tour, choosing instead to wild camp hidden in plain sight or stay with 68 host families who reached out along her route.
Painting Monarch Postcards to Gift Her Hosts
Because luggage space was limited on her bicycle, Dykman carried watercolor paper and painted monarch cards at camp in the evenings to give as thank-you gifts to people who hosted her.
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