Patti Brehler

Facing Sunset, 3800 solo miles, a woman's journey back and forward, is patti brehler's first book. She retired as a freelance writer, photographer, and editor of a small-town newspaper to write her memoir. One of the thirty-three contributors to What She Wrote, An Anthology of Women's Voices (published in 2020), she has essays published in the Massage Therapy Journal and the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners. A lifelong love affair with the bicycle led patti to pedal across...See more

Facing Sunset, 3800 solo miles, a woman's journey back and forward, is patti brehler's first book. She retired as a freelance writer, photographer, and editor of a small-town newspaper to write her memoir. One of the thirty-three contributors to What She Wrote, An Anthology of Women's Voices (published in 2020), she has essays published in the Massage Therapy Journal and the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners. A lifelong love affair with the bicycle led patti to pedal across the United States three times, with many shorter, self-supported tours. During the 1980s, she competed in ultra-marathon bicycling events, setting a twenty-four-hour tandem road record with another woman. They were the first woman's tandem team to complete Paris-Brest-Paris, the oldest, long-distance ride in the world. For years, patti lived without a car. She commuted by bicycle year-round to her job as a journeyman machinist. Her other careers include training coordinator in an aerospace manufacturing company, massage therapist, adventure coach, dog trainer, service technician, and a short stint as a freight railroad conductor. After her marriage at age thirty-eight, patti and her husband bought a bicycle store. The first woman to graduate from the Barnette Bicycle Institute's Elite Technician's program, patti provided technical support on bicycle tours throughout Michigan. The middle child of seven, patti fulfilled her self-imposed destiny to serve as a death doula for her parents. (Her father died before her bicycle trip, her mother as she wrote Facing Sunset.) She steps into adventure with calculated risks and finds synchronicity when in line with her universe. Her approach to life connects her with an amazing array of talented, inspirational, funny, and unique people, and because she is open to possibilities, they touch her in ways she never expects. Her stories are an example of how life is, indeed, stranger than fiction. patti lives with her husband, Andy Andersen, and their two career-changed Leader Dog black Labradors, Gus and Aero, in their beloved "patch" in northeastern Michigan-the "sunrise side." During the Covid-lockdown of 2020, patti found a new adventure when she bought an Overo paint mare, aptly named Crazy Horse. See less