What Biking Up
the East Coast
Taught Me About
Life After 60
Lisa A. Watts
One day you'll wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.—Paulo Coelho
At 58, Lisa Watts felt restless. She had built a carefully balanced life of work and play, but it all seemed to add up to a life of mediocrity. She and a dear friend headed out to bike from Key West to Canada, a trip she had dreamed of taking for many decades. Those two months on the road offered a time of transition, teaching her plenty of lessons but mostly that she doesn’t have to be an armchair traveler through life’s third act.
In her travel memoir Crossing Bridges: What Biking Up the East Coast Taught Me About Life After 60, Watts shares those lessons in a collection of engaging essays about friendship, marriage, ambition, self-doubt, and more. Her aim: to nudge others out the door to go do that thing they've always wanted to do.
A trek of transition
“charming account and thoughtful meditation”
“Crossing Bridges is two books in one: a charming account of a cycling expedition up the East Coast and a thoughtful and inspiring meditation on aging, acceptance and transcendence.”
— MICHAEL F. PARKER, NOVELIST, O.HENRY AWARD WINNER
"insights into aging gracefully and the joy of meaningful connections"
“Lisa teaches us the importance of enjoying the journey rather than strictly adhering to completion. Reflecting on the metaphorical bridges crossed, she invites us to consider how cycling adventures can be a metaphor for approaching life's transitions, showcasing the profound insights that come with viewing aging as a chapter filled with freedom and vitality.”
“the ultimate dream-chaser's guide”
“Crossing Bridges is a warm testament to the supreme value of breaking away to claim the freedom we all have, at any age, to embrace simplicity and seek a higher purpose. The ultimate dream-chaser's guide. —NEIL KING JR., AUTHOR, AMERICAN RAMBLE
“delivers inspiring lessons for the rest of us”
“Lisa A. Watts takes a long bike ride, faces down her fears, learns it's okay to coast, and delivers inspiring lessons for the rest of us.” —JAMES R. HAGERTY, AUTHOR, YOURS TRULY
“witty, delightful, and beautifully written”
“Crossing Bridges inspires readers to embrace a spirit of adventure—and, especially as we age, to always enjoy the ride. Witty, delightful, and beautifully written.”
—KATIE BANNON, MEMOIRIST & EDITOR
“answers questions that most women in their fifties will find relatable”
“Watts decided to think more deeply about all the ways the trip became a metaphor for aging well. Lessons on traveling lightly and crossing bridges can be applied to both bicycle trips and aging gracefully." — LISA O'DONNELL, WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL (read story)
Order books
Crossing Bridges is available however you prefer to order books: from your favorite independent bookstore, the nonprofit Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or directly from this site.
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Support safe walking, biking, and running routes!
Lisa is donating $1 from the sale of every book to the nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance (read more).
About the author
Lisa A. Watts has worked as a magazine writer and editor and managed communications for a number of nonprofits, schools, and universities.
A child of the East Coast, she grew up in Atlanta, Baltimore, and Boston before marrying and raising kids in Connecticut, Ohio, and North Carolina. Her anthology, Good Roots: Writers Reflect on Growing Up in Ohio (Ohio University Press, 2006), won the 2008 Ohioana Legacy Citation Award.
Lisa and her husband, Bob Malekoff, and their elderly pup, Juno, live in Barrington, Rhode Island, two houses away from the spectacular East Bay Bike Path.
Upcoming Events
Thu, Dec 05Charles Mack Citizen CenterDec 05, 2024, 8:00 AM – 3:30 PMCharles Mack Citizen Center, 215 N Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115, USADec 05, 2024, 8:00 AM – 3:30 PMCharles Mack Citizen Center, 215 N Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115, USALisa Watts will deliver the lunch keynote at the 17th annual Trail Forum presented by the Carolina Thread Trail and Catawba Lands Conservancy. The event gathers industry professionals and citizen leaders who share a common mission of advancing trails in the Carolinas and beyond.
Sat, Aug 17REI Washington DC FlagshipAug 17, 2024, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PMREI Washington DC Flagship, 201 M St NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA
Sat, Jul 13Princeton, NJ, USAJul 13, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PMPrinceton, NJ, USA
About the East Coast Greenway
Lisa and her friend, Dee, biked the East Coast Greenway, a walking and biking route stretching 3,000 miles from Key West to Canada through fifteen states and 450 communities. Close to forty percent of those miles are now on safe, protected paths away from motorized traffic. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance leads the development of the trail network, working to move more of the route onto protected paths.
Help grow the Greenway! Lisa is donating $1 from the sale of every paperback, or 15 percent of her proceeds, to the East Coast Greenway Alliance. As of November 30, 2024, she has donated $425 to the Alliance! Your book purchase will help her reach $500!