Read 'Bicycling with Butterflies'
CMC’s 2025 Common Reader engages students, staff, and community members with a series of events in spring and fall, culminating in a series of visits by author Sara Dykman.
CMC’s Common Reader program selects one book every year and offers it for free distribution across the dozens of communities CMC serves – followed by a series of discussions, author talks and conversations at CMC campuses.
Books will be available to staff and faculty at CMC Days on May 9, 2025 and available to students and community members at CMC site front desks and libraries in July.
The author, Sara Dykman, will tour our district and talk at eight sites October 20-28, 2025.
About Bicycling with Butterflies
This year CMC’s common reader program invites us into the world of monarch butterflies and Sara Dykman's unique 10,201-mile cycling adventure following their migration from Mexico to Canada and back.
With a blend of memoir, travel story, and conservation science, “Bicycling with Butterflies,” emphasizes the urgency of saving monarch populations and the beauty of nature with a consistent smattering of Sara’s personal experiences, humor, and the vibrant cast of characters she encounters along the way.
Book Copies
Check out or pick up a free hard copy of “Bicycling with Butterflies,” on a first come first serve basis at these locations.
eAudiobooks and eBooks are available through the CMC Libraries on the Libby app.
CMC Aspen
Front Desk
CMC Breckenridge - Dillon
Campus Front Entrances
Summit County Libraries
CMC Carbondale
Front Desk
CMC Central Services
Executive Suite, 3rd Floor
Garfield County Libraries
CMC Leadville
New Discovery Reception
Lake County Public Library
CMC Glenwood Springs
Front Desk
Glenwood Springs Branch Library
CMC Rifle
Front Desk
Garfield County Public Libraries
CMC Salida
Front Desk
CMC Spring Valley
Ascent Center Front Desk
CMC Steamboat Springs
Main Front Desk
CMC Steamboat Springs Campus Library
CMC Vail Valley
Front Desk
Art & Creative Writing Contest
As part of this year’s Common Reader Program, CMC is sponsoring an Art and Creative Writing Contest.
All entries will be inspired by Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman and her visit to CMC sites in October. Art and creative writing entries will focus on the themes of Journeys of Resilience: Connecting with Living Systems. All CMC students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to participate.
Meet the Author
Sara Dykman is the founder of beyondabook.org, which fosters lifelong learners, boundary pushers, explorers, and stewards. She works in amphibian research and as an outdoor educator, guiding young people into nature so they can delight in its complicated brilliance. She hopes her own adventures—walking from Mexico to Canada, canoeing the Missouri River from source to sea, and cycling over 80,000 miles across North and South America (including the monarch migration trip)—will empower young and old to dream big.
October 20, 2025
CMC Vail Valley at Edwards
Author talk, book signing - 6 - 8pm
October 21, 2025
Salida
Author talk, book signing - 12 - 2:00pm
October 21, 2025
CMC Leadville
Author talk, book signing - 6 - 8pm
October 22, 2025
CMC Breckenridge
Author talk, book signing - 6 - 8pm
October 23, 2025
CMC Steamboat Springs
Author talk, book signing - 6 - 8pm
October 24, 2025
CMC Rifle
Author talk, book signing - 6 - 8pm
October 28, 2025
CMC Aspen
Author talk, book signing - 12 - 2:00pm
October 28, 2025
CMC Spring Valley
Author talk, book signing - 6 - 8pm