Latest / The Scene Projects / Teri M. Brown on Cycling Across America, Writing, and Personal Growth

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Teri M. Brown on Cycling Across America, Writing, and Personal Growth · The Scene Projects

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  Today, we're joined by author Terri m Brown, who literally pedaled her way across America on
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  a tandem bike to discover life's most important lessons.
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  Terri's new book, 10 Little Rules for a Double Budded Adventure, chronicles her incredible
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  cross country journey and the wisdom she gained along the way.
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  Let's welcome Terry to the show.
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  This program is part of the Scene Projects podcast network.
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  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
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  from across the Midwest.
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  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
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  Welcome in to another exciting episode of the scene.
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  I'm your host Bubba Sartz, and with me today is Terry m Brown.
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  Welcome to the show, Terry.
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  Thank you so much for having me.
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  I'm excited to be here today.
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  Oh, this is fantastic.
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  We heard about the book in the intro there.
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  We're gonna get into all of that, but I'd love to hear a little bit of your backstory before
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  we get into all that.
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  So the floor is yours.
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  Yeah.
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  So I am an author.
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  I'm also a podcast host.
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  I'm a public speaker, but I didn't start there.
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  I went through my whole life without doing any of those things.
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  I was essentially a mom, which I absolutely loved that job.
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  But I also lived in an emotionally abusive relationship for fourteen years, and when I got
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  out of that is when I started writing.
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  But I was still a really not healed person.
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  Right?
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  And I I needed to do or or become something and and and to believe in myself again.
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  I met Bruce who became my husband.
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  He had always wanted to ride across The United States on a bicycle.
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  We decided to do it together and on a tandem.
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  And when I finished that ride, I realized I could do anything.
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  It was a matter of what, and that's when I became an author.
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  Oh.
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  So we have Bruce to blame for the double butted adventure.
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  Well, you know, we say blame, and I am so, so grateful that I had this opportunity to do
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  something so outside of my comfort zone.
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  When I met Bruce, I hadn't been on a bicycle in forty years.
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  So when I say that this was outside my comfort zone, I mean way outside, but I needed
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  something big and bold to prove to me that I still had value and worth and that I was a
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  capable person.
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  I thought I needed to prove it to everyone else.
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  Turns out it was me that needed the convincing.
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  But once I went on that ride and realized it, my life completely opened up.
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  And since then, I've now written five books.
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  I have a podcast.
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  I'm now cohosting a second podcast.
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  I'm starting what I'm calling a bite sized podcast sometime in the next few weeks.
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  And I've started public speaking, so my life has really opened up.
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  And I think we forget that that is really what new experiences and travel, like, that's what
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  it's really about is finding out about yourself.
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  Yes.
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  It's about seeing these beautiful places around us, but it's truly about discovering who you
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  are inside and and how that can empower us.
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  And I think that's a great, a great thing that you touched on right at the top of the show
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  there.
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  So what was the route that you guys took?
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  I'm interested to have you share a little bit about the journey itself.
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  Alright.
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  So we started in Astoria, Oregon.
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  Right on the coast, we actually dipped our rear tire into the Pacific Ocean because that's
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  against something that people do when they ride across The United States.
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  And then we we crossed over the Rockies in a place called Lolo Pass, which is in Idaho, and
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  then it goes into Montana.
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  And once we hit Montana, we headed north, got on Route 2, and took Route 2 almost the whole
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  way across The United States till we got to Michigan.
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  We did UP Michigan, so up and around Michigan, then kind of under Lake Erie, down into
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  Pittsburgh.
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  From Pittsburgh, we went to DC.
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  Absolutely beautiful country.
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  So I have been to Astoria.
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  I have been through Lolo Pass.
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  I have been across
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  a beautiful place.
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  Oh, just incredible.
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  I've also done the Snake River Valley, which takes you down into, like, Clarkston or
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  Lewiston and Clarksville.
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  Great.
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  And that again, just absolutely beautiful country.
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  You went through where my family actually has in Northern Wisconsin.
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  If you went through the UP, did you cut through Wisconsin, like, Manitowoc Waters, Monaco area?
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  Yep.
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  Yep.
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  That area very well and, just absolutely beautiful parts of the country.
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  The worst part is probably coming across North Dakota, but even there in the summer is
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  absolutely gorgeous.
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  In the summer, it's it's beautiful.
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  The the worst part actually was Eastern Montana.
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  Very similar
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  to North Dakota in the Well,
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  it just never stops.
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  It just goes It's like how much longer are we going to be here?
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  And there's not especially as far north as we were in Eastern Montana.
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  And we went during COVID, so keep that in mind.
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  There were a lot of of small towns that just weren't anymore.
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  So we were going through a lot of what I would consider barren wasteland, and it was really
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  pretty for maybe days one, two, potentially three.
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  But by day 27, you're kind of tired of it all, and you want it to be done.
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  So when we got to the sign that said, you know, essentially leaving Montana, I was just you
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  know, I could have done handstands and and, you know, cheerleading and everything else.
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  Not because Montana's not beautiful, but on a bicycle when you're averaging 40 miles a day,
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  it takes forever to get across Montana.
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  Yeah.
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  A map doesn't do it justice for how large it is.
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  And and how many miles are you doing a day on the bike?
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  Approximately 42 was the average.
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  Some days, we went as many as 90.
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  Other days, we didn't make it more than 12.
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  It just depended a lot on train, weather, how we're feeling.
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  Yeah.
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  Right.
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  You know, in some mornings, you'd wake up and you'd realize I had a horrible night's sleep.
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  Everything in my body hurts.
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  I'm not gonna be able to go 40 miles today.
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  Like, it's gonna be lucky if I can get on the bicycle at all.
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  And so you just had to and then there were times.
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  Like, there was one time in Montana where we had to go 70 miles because there was nothing
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  between where we had stayed and where we were going.
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  Right.
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  No choice.
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  70.
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  That's what you had to do.
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  And so you just kinda yeah.
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  Everything was very dependent.
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  And and that was hard for me because I'm a planner.
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  I like things to be neat and orderly, and this trip was not neat or orderly.
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  No.
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  Because once you get out there and get going, anything can happen.
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  Right?
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  Right.
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  The weather is obviously going to impact your travel.
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  Blisters or just soreness in general are going to impact that.
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  Flat tires.
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  Right.
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  The any mechanical failures.
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  Against you instead of, you know, behind you like it's supposed to.
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  Heat, mosquitoes.
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  Yeah.
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  You name it.
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  Just even things like there was there was one day where we were writing angry.
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  I had said something that made him mad, and so he was angry, which meant that I was angry.
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  And you don't ride well on days like that.
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  So there's all of those things that happen that affect how you ride.
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  Right.
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  And on a tandem bicycle, you have to keep pace with each other.
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  And if you're kind of fighting one another and It's a it's
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  bad.
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  Yeah.
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  It it could cause some problems, I'm sure.
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  Absolutely.
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  How awesome.
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  And and then you wrote a book about the whole thing.
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  I did.
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  So I actually kept a blog the whole way across.
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  So if you wanna know nitty gritty details, the temperature of the day and how many miles we
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  rode and whether I cried, you can go to the blog, and the blog is on my website.
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  But the book that I wrote, as I was looking over the blog when we got home, I realized, oh,
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  wow.
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  I learned this and, oh, look at what I learned here.
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  And and it became very apparent that I had learned some really valuable life lessons.
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  And so I compiled those life lessons into this book.
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  Just incredible.
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  And how long did it take you to traverse the, the whole route?
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  So we rode seventy two days, but we were out there for three and a half months.
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  Wow.
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  Just wow.
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  And and it just and like you said, during COVID, so, you know, the the whole
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  world is shaking up.
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  Threw another wrench into things because we had thought that we I we kinda knew how we were
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  gonna do it.
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  We were gonna camp.
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  We were going to do something called warm showers, which is when people open their homes
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  to cyclists.
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  And we had been doing warm showers in our own homes so that we would have a good rating so
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  that people would trust us and everything else.
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  And then COVID happened, and there isn't one soul in the world who's going to let you into
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  their home when you've been out traveling.
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  They don't know who you are, and we don't have any way to fix it yet.
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  So everything about what we had planned to do really, really changed because of COVID.
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  And on the other hand, all of my friends were stuck at home wishing they had something to do
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  when we were out in the world having a blast.
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  So, you know, yes, it changed it, but it was also really good that we had that that to do
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  during that period of time.
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  Yeah.
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  I'm just blown away.
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  So many people never do anything, like that in their entire lives, anything remotely close to
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  that.
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  Some people have never been on vacation for an entire week and out of their comfort zone.
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  And to go out there for three and a half months and to ride seventy two days is it's
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  commendable.
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  And my goodness.
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  What an adventure that is and was.
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  Any plans to do something that crazy again?
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  Well, the following summer, Bruce and I rode the coast of Maine.
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  We went 300 miles, so much shorter.
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  I'll never do anything three and a half months again.
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  I have so many interests and so many things that I love to do.
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  And when you're riding like that, that's all you get to do.
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  You just get to ride.
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  There's there's no there's nothing else.
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  You you get up.
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  You get everything packed.
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  You ride.
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  You get off.
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  You eat.
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  You plan for tomorrow is.
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  You go to bed.
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  You get up.
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  You do it again.
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  And and though it was wonderful, and I'm so glad I did it, I don't need to do that twice.
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  So we did go up the coast of Maine, which was absolutely beautiful.
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  Unfortunately, my husband, developed brain cancer, and he passed away in January.
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  So I'm not able to do any more tandem cycling.
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  There is a really cool ride, though, from, the mountains of North Carolina to the coast that
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  he and I had wanted to do, and I may see if I can train on a single bike and do that group
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  ride.
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  Well, I'm very sorry to hear about your husband Bruce's passing.
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  He sounded like an incredible man.
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  And I I I would gather if people, would like to get to know Bruce a little bit that they can
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  always visit your blog and to read your books where I I Absolutely.
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  His name is mentioned completely.
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  You mentioned you're a podcast host.
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  What's the name of your podcast?
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  Yeah.
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  My podcast is online for authors.
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  I chat with other authors like me who are indie authors, not super well known, but, you know,
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  great books, but hard to get out there.
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  And so I read their book.
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  We have a good book chat.
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  So if you're looking for, you know, what to put on your your list of next reads, definitely
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  take a look at online for authors.
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  And you mentioned starting another little bite sized podcast
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  as well.
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  Do it I'm calling it the book hook, and I'm gonna let authors read the first paragraph of
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  their book.
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  And then say, based on this, would you add it to your list?
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  So it's gonna be a little, like, two minute long.
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  I'm calling it bite sized.
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  It's just a little a little thing to put out there.
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  And then I've just started cohosting one called the Terry and Edith show.
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  And Edith is also an author, and she and I just talk all things books.
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  I love it.
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  And I love that you're digging into, the community that you're in.
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  That's how the scene projects developed.
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  I I'm a songwriter myself.
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  And, when I kind of released a song back in 2024, I had been on the local news TV station.
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  I live in South Dakota, so I'm very aware of your Midwest adventures.
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  Yes.
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  And so we have access to some cable networks that, were gracious enough to have me on.
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  And then I did two podcasts, and that was pretty much the entire media tour.
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  And I was just like, well, that was, you know, very, very short.
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  You know?
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  How else do we promote these things?
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  And one of the, one of the gentlemen that I was on with, his name is Dave Holly.
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  Shout out to my good friend Dave and, his podcast, the Dave Holly hour.
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  And, I did his in studio.
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  And being a musician, I had a lot of equipment laying around.
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  And I was like, I have a podcast studio at home, don't I, Dave?
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  And he's like, well, of course, you do.
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  You know?
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  And Right.
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  Here's this little unit.
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  He gave me a Zoom p four, which is just a small unit.
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  It has four of the microphone plugs into the back, and I could plug my phone into the side.
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  So before I ever got on to doing these on StreamYard and Zoom before this, I just did
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  them on the phone, and I had a whole, you know, contact list full of musicians that had songs
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  and music to put out there.
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  So I love the parallels of our two worlds to say, hey.
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  I would love to start a podcast.
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  What can I do it about?
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  And and the answer is so easy.
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  Right?
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  Like, well, talk things me that you know.
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  Right?
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  Right.
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  So when I came up with this book hook idea, I just reached out to all of my author friends
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  and said, hey.
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  I'm thinking about this idea.
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  Is it something you'd be interested in?
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  And, immediately, I had a 142 people reach out to me and say, absolutely.
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  You know?
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  And it's like, woah.
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  You know?
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  Wow.
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  Okay.
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  So now I have a year's worth of content.
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  So, yeah, it's it's it's crazy, but I I love I love being part of a community, and I love the
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  podcasting aspect it.
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  Yeah.
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  Did you ever see yourself becoming a promoter of other authors?
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  No.
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  I never saw myself even being on a podcast.
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  When I was a guest on the first podcast, I was a nervous wreck.
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  I I didn't eat all day.
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  I I thought I was gonna throw up.
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  It was horrible.
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  And then after I did it, I thought, that was kind of fun.
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  I I enjoyed that.
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  And I felt the same way the first time I did any public speaking and stood up there and
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  thought, oh, it was a lot for me.
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  And now it's like, oh my gosh.
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  I get such a charge out of it.
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  So you learn about yourself as you kinda let go and you you push past those barriers that
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  you've made for yourself.
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  You know, I think we all sit in that nice little box that's very comfortable.
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  But if you're there, you're not learning, you're not growing, you're not becoming, you're
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  not figuring out who you are.
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  And the bicycle ride pushed me so far outside of my box that I don't know that I've ever put
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  myself back in one sense.
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  It's it's kinda like I'm not sure where my box would be anymore.
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  No.
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  And anytime that we do that, as humans that we find our our limitless potential.
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  Right?
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  Yes.
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  When you stretch outside of that comfort zone, then the question becomes, well, what can't I
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  do?
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  And the answer is almost quite literally, there is nothing that you can't do.
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  I've I've told people that if you
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  physical nature.
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  Right.
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  I've told people that if you really want something, then you will find a way to make it
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  happen.
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  Now if you don't want something, let me tell you anything will stop you.
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  You know, gee, the sun came up this morning.
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  I don't think I can do that.
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  I mean, you know, anything can stop you if if it's not what you want.
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  But I was too old, too fat, too out of shape to even consider riding across The United States
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  on a tandem bicycle.
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  And yet I wanted it, so I made it happen.
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  You know?
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  And and that's what happens is you just find ways.
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  You find does it look exactly like you thought it would?
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  No.
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  But it doesn't matter because you went ahead and you found the way that it'll work for you.
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  So would you say that our limitations are are mostly mental then?
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  That it is a mental block that that human beings have that keeps them from doing things.
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  I would say it's mostly mental.
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  Every now and then, there'll be situational blocks that just keep you from being able to do
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  things.
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  Like, I would have never been able to ride across The United States when my children were
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  little.
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  You know, because I'm I was a stay at home mom.
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  How how would you leave for three and a half months?
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  How would you leave your children?
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  So sometimes it's situational.
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  But but overall, I think it's a mental block because if it was something that I had wanted
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  to do when my kids were little, I may have even been able to have found a way then.
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  You know, it might have looked very different.
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  It might have been that grandma came along in a car, and we met up in the evenings.
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  You know what I'm saying?
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  It could have been something.
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  So you you just have to think, yeah.
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  You kind of have think beyond those bounds that we put around ourselves and say, okay.
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  This thing is stopping me.
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  Can I go over it, around it, under it, through it?
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  How do I how do I get past that barrier?
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  Truly, if there is a will, there is a way.
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  Absolutely.
• 17:25
  Terry, why don't you tell all of our listeners how they can find more about your podcast and
• 17:29
  your books and to get in touch with you.
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  And I have a few author friends that I'm going to be sending your way as well.
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  Super.
• 17:36
  Yes.
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  So the easiest thing is to go to my website, which is my name, terrimbrown.com, and that's
• 17:42
  terri with one r.
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  There, you'll be able to find my books, my podcast, my social media links.
• 17:48
  I have a newsletter.
• 17:49
  Feel free to sign up for, and I even just have a contact me page if you'd just like to reach
• 17:53
  out and say hello.
• 17:55
  Well, fantastic.
• 17:56
  Terry, I thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story, and thank you for being
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  part of the scene.
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  Thank you for having me.