Thanks for an amazing 2022!

Thank you for making 2022 such a fun and successful year for Bike for Breath! As 2023 rapidly approaches, we want to share with you a snapshot of our many adventures in raising awareness about asthma, clean air and sustainable travel over the past year; update you on our projects for 2023; and most of all celebrate all that you have done to help make this happen:

Breathtaking release. On June 15, Falcon Guides published our book, Breathtaking: How one family cycled around the world for clean air and asthma ! As I hope you all know, we are donating $1 to asthma and clean air for every book we sell. So, thank you everyone for helping to make a difference by buying a copy. If any of you are looking for a unique gift for a friend or family member, we are currently offering signed copies of the book at  a special Friends and Family discount of 20% off (no limit on your purchase). You can order online at https://bike4breath.com/our-book/. Enter FandF under the Coupon Code at the left to get the discount.

Our launch party. Two days after the release of Breathtaking, we held a fun-filled book launch party on Bainbridge Island. We served delicious food from all 24 countries that we cycled through on our around-the- world journey—offering such delicious international fare as Simit rolls from Turkey, Kransakake cake from Sweden/Norway, pierogi from Poland, hombows from China, and marmite sandwiches from Australia.

Many thanks to the amazing cooking skills of Mindy Jones and Vicky Wenzlau and for the help from my mom, Barbara Sullivan, and friends, Eileen Magnuson and Jon Jones! The launch party was an opportunity for us to acknowledge so many of the hard working people who helped us raise $65,000 for asthma during our world cycling tour; as well as the great team who guided us in writing and publishing the book. We do hope you take the time to read the acknowledgements at the back of Breathtaking. My guess is that many of you will find your name or a general recognition of your contributions there!

In the news. The next two weeks were a whirlwind of local speaking events as we packed and prepared for our book tour down the west coast. We especially appreciated the local news articles on our project to raise awareness of clean air and asthma—with features in The Bainbridge Review, Tideland Magazine and UW News. Perhaps most fun was a Podcast with 10 Adventures, which you can listen to at https://www.20adventures.com/podcast/ (select “Cycling around the world with children to raise awareness of air pollution”).

Along the route, we gave talks about clean air, asthma and our world cycling adventures at  REI and  Patagonia stores. Both Patagonia and REI sponsored us as we cycled around the world; and believing in our mission, they continued to sustain our efforts by organizing exciting events at their stores—advertising and organizing the events; serving food and drink; and even hiring a band for one event. We cannot thank them enough for their hard work and support!    

At our Patagonia events, they even invited local nonprofits to speak as special guests, giving us a chance to meet and network with such cool organizations as Bike Ventura, CFROG (Climate First: Replacing Oil and Gas), the Environmental Health Coalition, and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA).

Fundraising for asthma and clean air.  After our talk at the Patagonia, San Francisco store, we spent a lovely morning cycling south along the windswept coast near Half Moon Bay, CA with Kathy Przywara, Vice President of Community at AAFA. Kathy is a long distance cyclist and has asthma too—which meant we had plenty to talk about as we pedaled down the spectacular cliffs and beaches. AAFA and Saahns (formerly International Asthma Services) are the designated recipients of our fundraising efforts for asthma and clean air. If you are making donations for the holidays, please consider giving to these organizations. You can donate to either organization via our webpage at https://bike4breath.com/how-you-can-help/.  

A detour to South Korea. OK, we admit it, Lorenz and I are a little, um– adventurous. If you have not heard, after arriving in San Diego, we decided to take a vacation from our bike and book tour and, well, go on another bike tour (without books) pedaling 550 kilometers through South Korea on our way back to Seattle. Korea is stunningly beautiful and mountainous, filled with national parks, waterfalls, cascading rivers and sandy beaches.  Don’t worry, the next blog will provide lots of stories and photos about our Korean adventures. Until then, you might want to check out the pictures we posted on our Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/bike4breath/

Events for 2023. We are now back home on Bainbridge and busy working on speaking events in the Pacific Northwest. This fall, we participated in several events in the Seattle area, including a very fun Book and Authors event at Office X-Pats—our writing home, where Breathtaking was created. Since we bypassed Portland and the Willamette Valley on our bike trip down the west coast, you guys are at the top of the list for a visit (hopefully by bike). We’re currently setting up more talks with Washington and Oregon REI and Patagonia stores as well as at local libraries and other groups in the beautiful PNW. You can check out our calendar at https://bike4breath.com/talks-and-events/. We’ll be updating the calendar as new events are confirmed, so be sure to check back in.

As this year comes to an end, we want to wish all of you Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year. We are truly thankful for your support, encouragement and belief in us. Paula and Lorenz