Two-wheel travel inspiration
Ride: Cycle the World (£) published by Dorling Kindersley is not a pocket guide to cycling. Its weight and size are more at home on the coffee table or a bookshelf for planning or dreaming about a cycle the world. All my travel planning is done in my study so that’s where the book has taken up residence.
Ride (£) starts with a very brief introduction to the types of bike to choose including fat bikes and e-bikes. This is followed by some equally brief notes on “preparing for your ride“.
100 rides between the covers
The main part of Ride (£) is devoted to 100 cycling routes on six continents. These range from multi-week trails such as Cape to Cairo in Africa or the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan to shorter cycling routes doable in a few days such as the Antrim Coast or Island Hopping in Croatia. There are even cycling routes that can be completed in a single day such as Rottnest Island, Australia or the Berlin Wall cycle trail in Germany.
Each cycling route includes a summary and a page or more about the route in detail. Also there is a map showing the route with a few highlights marked along the way.
Practical information such as distance, type of trail surface and total height gained is in a handy sidebar. A top tip and photographs complete the layout of each cycling route.
What next?
This is not a book for detailed route and logistics planning. Its purpose is to whet the appetite. This book does that job very well.
I have cycled across Austria following the Danube. This book, Ride (£), has whet my appetite for more. So here are my top five to dream, plan and, one day, cycle:
- Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail, New Zealand (Ride 97)
- Via Rhôna, Switzerland and France (Ride 48)
- Rottnest Island Loop, Australia (Ride 87)
- Cabot Trail, Canada (Ride 7)
- Highway One - Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Ride 82)
This book and other cycling books can be purchased from the Travel Unpacked Amazon shopfront by clicking the button
Hardcover
Kindle
Disclosure: There are a number of affiliate links on this page. This means if you purchase an item by clicking on the link I will be paid a small sum at no additional cost to you. The ads with images are obvious but if the link is included in the text it is followed by the ‘£’ sign as an indication it is an affiliate link.
