Meet Tom Sweeney | Cyclist, Teacher, Photographer, & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tom Sweeney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tom, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
Last fall, I published a memoir called Lisbon to Shanghai in Four Summers. The book tells about my solo bicycle trek across Europe and Asia over a span of four summers. As with any memoir, writing it was a form of self-therapy that led to insights about myself and the world in which we live.

I used to ridicule myself constantly because my bicycle trips were stressful and exhausting, not the relaxing vacations that most people like to take. And yet, I just had to do them, to rush off each summer to some faraway country and start pedaling for reasons I still can’t explain. The disconnect between what I wanted to do with my spare time and what most people considered a holiday filled me with anxiety.

As I was piecing together the epilogue of my memoir, I came to the conclusion that I don’t necessarily agree with the widespread notion that to achieve happiness we have to quiet our minds and find peace within ourselves. There’s a certain amount of freedom and liberation when we give in to the restlessness in our hearts. Discontent and angst are powerful motivators that can compel us to do amazing things and lead us to extraordinary places.

While I certainly agree with the power of living in the moment as a way to center ourselves, I also believe there’s nothing wrong with looking forward to the future. When I first started pedaling, I always assumed I was seeking happiness just beyond the curve in the road. Through the writing process, I realized that the journey is my happiness, and that there’s nothing wrong with living in the clouds and dreaming of tomorrow. Yearning, pining, and hoping keep many of us going.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am currently in my fourteenth year as a fifth-grade teacher. Teaching is, in many ways, like my bicycle trips. It’s exhausting and frustrating, yet infinitely rewarding. While I love helping students make sense of an ever-complicated world, I also learn so much from them. They are naturally curious and have a great sense of humor at that age. I learn more from them than they do from me.

Of course, my daily bicycle commute helps me prepare mentally in the morning and decompress on the way home. I especially love riding when it’s dark outside and I have only the small beam of a headlight to guide my way over the pavement. Cycling and teaching are, to me, a perfect complement, a way to engage with others and a way to reconnect with myself.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There is no shortage of beautiful places to ride a road bike in Northern Colorado, including Horsetooth Reservoir, Carter Lake, Bellevue, and the Fort Collins bicycle path system. The roads between Fort Collins and Loveland are rolling and beautiful.

For mountain biking, Pine Ridge Natural Area, Horsetooth Reservoir, Horsetooth Mountain Park, and Lory State Park offer diverse trail systems, and they are also great places to hike.

For sightseeing, I would recommend a stroll through Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado State University, downtown Loveland, and Benson Sculpture Park in Loveland. Oddly enough, my favorite coffee shop, Kind Coffee, is forty-five miles away in Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Having said that, I am a big fan of several local roasters that have opened recently in Fort Collins, including Lima Coffee Roasters, Bindle Coffee, and The Fox Den.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife has been supportive of my bicycle trips from the start, even though it meant I was away from home for long periods of time. When I started to write the book, she supported me in that endeavor as well, despite my already exhaustive training schedule and long work hours as an educator.

Even though my book is about my travels, the story is centered around my ‘real’ life as a fifth grade teacher. My job as a teacher features prominently in the story, as does my daily twelve-mile bicycle commute to work. Over the years, my coworkers have encouraged me to continue pedaling to work each day, and encouraged me to keep taking photos of my daily commute. Those photos ended up in an annual slideshow at the end of each school year, which you can view on my website. I appreciate the support my colleagues have given me over the years. I’d like to add that teachers, regardless of their school or district or state, deserve a great deal of respect and recognition – a big shoutout to them!

I’d like to thank Your Group Ride (yourgroupride.com) as well. Your Group Ride is a local Fort Collins cycling forum, and helped me to get the word out about my book, as well as my annual bicycle commute photo montage. The forum is a great resource for all things cycling in Northern Colorado.

Northern Colorado Writers (northerncoloradowriters.com) is an association of writers that helps aspiring writers better their craft, make connections within the writing community, and find resources to help with publishing, marketing, and more. It is a great starting point for anyone looking for help with producing a book, or simply looking for a community of writers who share a common passion.

Finally, I would like to thank the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (indiebookawards.com). Lisbon to Shanghai in Four Summers earned a finalist medal in both the Memoir: Personal Struggle and Travel categories. As a new author, having that kind of recognition is both humbling and an immense honor.

Website: https://www.lisbontoshanghai.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomasini7/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lts4Sweeneyt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Lisbon-to-Shanghai-in-Four-Summers-A-Memoir/100071217414590/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3M391oFTfS2ctm9x31zSMg

Other: https://lisbontoshanghai.tumblr.com/