I was fired up to sit down with Liz Pomeroy (who performs as Ostellar). Back in April 2022, Liz set off from Victoria, BC, on a solo bicycle journey heading east. Over five and a half months, she pedaled across Canada, pulling a trailer that weighed a mind-boggling 192 pounds through the Rockies. She stayed on couches, tented, and played house concerts along the way.
As Liz prepares to release a hardbound book and album detailing the stories she gathered, we got to talking about what she actually discovered out on those highways. It turns out, the Canada we see on our screens and the Canada waiting for us on the asphalt are two completely different countries.
Here are the key takeaways and lessons we can all use from Liz’s open-road education:
1. Do It Anyway (Even When They Tell You You’ll Get Eaten)
When you decide to take a massive leap, the world loves to tell you why you’ll fail. Before Liz left, an elderly man in an open mic crowd literally cornered her against a bookshelf to warn her against going, telling her that northern Ontario coyotes would “eat her ass first”.
When I biked Canada at age 19, people were taking bets on how far my buddies and I would actually make it. The lesson here is simple: if you wait for everyone’s approval, you will never leave the driveway. Yes, there will be brutal days where you are stuck on the side of the road with double-jointed thumbs trying to figure out how a tire lever works. But pushing through those moments is how you prove to yourself that you can do absolutely anything you put your mind to.
2. The “Broken Image” of Canada vs. Everyday Humanity
If you spend all day on social media or watching the news, you’d think Canadians absolutely despise one another. We are constantly being fed landmine topics designed to fracture our families and communities. But Liz and I have both lived a different reality on the road. When you are physically exposed—whether on a bicycle or traveling with a young family—people’s default setting is overwhelming kindness.
The Gift of Life: In BC, Liz met a Quebec lady who had received a heart transplant from a 23-year-old donor. She opened a maple syrup shop called “Life’s Sweet” and literally celebrated Liz’s working body, showering her with syrup for energy.
The Agassiz Bridge Miracle: A British couple Liz met in Hope, BC, recounted how the husband collapsed unconscious on the Agassiz bridge during their own 2018 tour. A complete stranger stopped his truck, took the terrified wife and their gear into his home, and gave them a place to breathe.
Bridging the Political Divide: Liz shared a story about a fellow cyclist who broke down in the northern prairies. A local farmer spent six hours in his garage helping him piece his bike back together with string and grease. These two men held diametrically opposed political views and normally wouldn’t have given each other the time of day—but on the ground, they became a team.
Our political and media classes want us to believe we hate each other. Don’t buy into the game. True Canadian hospitality is sitting around kitchen tables, not shouting in comment sections.
3. Be the Gravity, Not the Wedge (The “Zero” Concept)
When Liz first started, the “Zero” in her name stood for her zero-waste lifestyle. But after pedaling thousands of miles, her worldview evolved. Today, she views “Zero” as the exact center of an x-y axis.
We live in a time where families have laundry lists of “no-go” topics because everyone is terrified of stepping on a landmine. But the folks in the middle—the moderate majority—just want to be heard. Our job shouldn’t be to pick a side and throw gasoline on the fire. We need to stand at the intersection, hold space for people who think differently, and act as the gravity that pulls folks back together.
4. Know When to Step Out of the Way
One of the most powerful moments of Liz’s trip happened in a park in Hope, BC. While busking, she met an indigenous woman in a wheelchair who purchased some dried salmon from her. They sat together, shared a couple of beers, and Liz started playing her slower waltz song, “Empty”.
The woman began to hum, then join in, and eventually took over the song entirely, crying as she belted out her own painful history: “Don’t take my children, not my babies”.
Liz realized her only job in that moment was to step out of the way, play the chords, and let this woman release what she was carrying. Sometimes, the greatest gift we can offer another human being is not an argument, a sermon, or a solution—it is simply the space to breathe and offload their burdens.
5. Method Over Madness: Why We Need a Plan
Finally, we talked about the big issues facing Canada, including the upcoming Alberta independence referendum on October 19th. Growing up in Ireland and watching the fallout of Brexit, Liz is naturally cautious. Her warning is highly practical: you cannot jump ship without a methodical, hard plan in place.
The moderate folks in the middle don’t want to jump just to jump. They need to know where they are landing. I look at my own life: when I transitioned from my regular job to podcasting full-time, it didn’t happen overnight. It took three years of methodical planning to make it work successfully.
Whether you are redefining a country, changing your career, or setting off on a year-long road trip, passion gets you started, but a methodical plan keeps you alive.
Make sure to check out zerostella.com to support Liz’s upcoming hardbound CD-book and listen to her new single, Wild, dropping on July 17th!
Until next time, keep your hands on the wheel.
— Shaun
