Paul Barnard

Folks, I am about to be down hard for a long time for two major shoulder surgeries. I am going to need some reading material. What Touring book would you recommend? I'd like one that is fairly comprehensive and geared toward beginners.

travelinhobo

I'd love to find a copy of a book written around the turn of the last century by Henry Stickler who toured on a Penny Farthing. Title is: Around the world without a cent. However, the most common touring travelogue book to read they say is by Barbara something or other. She wrote it after her world tour back in the early 80's, I think. Not too difficult to find. Ironically, she was killed while riding near her neighborhood right before the book was published.

mev

Are you thinking of general adventure, HOW TO, a particular destination of some general mix?

In the general adventure category group, I've enjoyed Barbara Savage's Miles from Nowhere mentioned above. Books by Jose Dew I found lighthearted and fun adventure stories. Books like Off The Map by Peter Jenkins inspired me. Joe Kurmanski has a fun style. Probably a bunch others as well...

I've taken some long trips and prior to going, I'll read a number of the books people have written of riding that area. For example, a search of online bookstore will give you quite a few accounts of people cycling across America. I'll browse the intro and look at the reviews as there is frequently an eclectic mix of styles and emphasis in these tales. Difficult situations make for more interesting storytelling so that might be over-represented, however I'll also learn from situations others found themselves in (either to get out or to avoid the troubles in the first place). No specific book to recommend here but not too hard to find...

schoolboy2 

Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage is a classic and highly recommended.
Steven Herrick has written several books about bike touring, I download them to my Kindle and enjoy them one after another.
There are a bunch of great reads among the journals posted on Crazyguyonabike.com
- I highly recommend one titled America to Asia by Amy Collet and Ricky McCarthy; it's an around the world trip by two out of shape Aussies and a hilarious read (I didn't think they'd get out of Florida, let alone around the globe).
- Another recommendation is titled Philtrons Pedal South by Jason & Daisy Philtron; a young married couple (and Phd candidates) pedal from Alaska to the bottom of South America
That's enough for now.
Good luck with your surgery!

Dan

DropBarFan

Last book about touring I read was from 70's or 80's...books about epic tours might be fun reads but for general/beginner info the internet has many resources like Bike Forums, the aforementioned CrazyGuyOnABike.com etc that can offer more relevant & specific info.

Paul Barnard

I was thinking "how to" or an instruction manual, but come to think of it, I'll take all recommendations.

Tourist in MSN

You could download back issues of this magazine. All issues probably adds up to the equivalent to one book. They also list some books on that website, but I have never looked at the books.
https://www.bicycletraveler.bicyclingaroundtheworld.nl/

If it is rotator cuff, my doctor told me to stay off the bike for about five months after that surgery. I had to wear a sling 24/7, including while I slept. Sleeping meant sitting upright for about six weeks. The physical therapist explained to me that there is very little blood flow to the rotator cuff, thus it heals very very slowly. And that is why recovery was so slow. So, don't rush it, do what the professionals tell you to do. And good luck.

saddlesores

i used the classic "bicycle touring in europe" when starting out.


there's an updated edition on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Touri...27/ref=sr_1_11


order some tube sox and cotton shorts and get free shipping!

rifraf

Hmmmmm

I enjoyed Dr Kate Leeming "Out There And Back" https://booko.com.au/9781920892463/Out-There-and-Back

in the introduction to the above, she writes about her traverse of Russia.

Whilst she didn't write a book on that journey, her cycling companion Gregory Yeoman did in his "Riding into the Sunrise" which I also enjoyed as a yarn.
https://booko.com.au/9781471652158/R...-Across-Russia

Oh and Kate has a second book which I've yet to read which was about her African Expedition called "Njinga" https://booko.com.au/9781925171297/Njinga

You can get an idea of what she's about from her website: https://www.kateleeming.com

I found a lot of touring inspiration reading GJ Coops work which some can be found: cycle trails Australia: Cape York, Qld and some within the site mentioned below

As mentioned in a post above in posts 4 and 5, lots of work from cycle tourists at the Crazy Guy On A Bike site which would keep you busy for many hours reading till the wee hours https://www.crazyguyonabike.com - not to be missed.

jitenshajin

Do you have any further information on the above book?

I remember reading about Thomas Stevens, born 1854 in Hertfordshire, England. He was the first person to circle the globe by bicycle. He rode a large-wheeled Ordinary, commonly known as a penny-farthing, from April 1884 to December 1886. This made him the world’s first ever bicycle touring adventurist and one that traveled it in a very impressive way…

https://kickasstrips.com/2013/07/tho...thing-in-1885/

The tales of his exploits can be read in two volumes which are free to download in several formats at Gutenburg.org, Entitled "Around the World by Bicycle - Volumes 1 & 2."

Books by Stevens, Thomas (sorted by popularity) - Project Gutenberg
.

mev

Thinking a bit more about the "howto" aspects (it has been a while since I first started touring - and then after that leading "mini tours" for other in the bike club)...

I think of my bike touring exercising several skills together:
- camping
- bike repair and maintenance
- organizing trip and gear
- destination specific adaptation

Most of these you can learn incrementally(*) and learn by doing. You can also learn them somewhat independently before putting them together. [* One theme you'll notice in several of the adventure books and accounts is people also sometimes set off without an incremental approach and still end up ok in the end, e.g. world tourists who started without ever setting up their tent or fixing a flat or riding their loaded bike...it can and is done, though perhaps those tales made it into the book because it wasn't as comfortable/routine the first time].

Depending on your own skills/confidence I'd suggest books or other methods for the particular areas, e.g.
- bike skills maintenance: YouTube videos, basic tasks, books like Zinn guide
- camping: This one is tough for me to think of since I grew up camping once a month with boy scouts and backpacking or canoe camping every summer. I've seen books but not sure how good they are
- organizing trip and gear: For this I like reading a variety of other journals and accounts. Crazy Guy journals can be good for this. You'll find a variety of descriptions of trip planning, gear lists, etc. You'll also see different styles and approaches. Some threads in this forum can be good for that as well. As I've toured, I seen a lot of different styles and realized there isn't a single *best* way to tour but instead a more choices/tradeoffs. Some of those tradeoffs may more closely match my style/preferences - but I also like hearing how others see things because I can copy/learn/adapt as well.
- destination specific: touring in Northern Australia isn't like touring in Thailand and neither is quite like riding the U.S. Pacific coast. For this I like reading specific journals and books of people who have gone the same places. Generally I go to both the journal sites and online bookstores and read much of what I find. As an example my last big tour was 18 months from Alaska to Argentina. I found and read around 10 books and 20+ journals of others who also rode that trip. I kept informal notes of what they encountered and did and used it for my own planning.

Finally in closing let me mention the last touring book I read and enjoyed very much: A Purpose Ridden by Ryan Correy.

I met Ryan in 2005 on the second day of his attempt to break a record for cycling from Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia. He was 20-some and full of energy. The trip didn't necessarily go smoothly (e.g. broke two bikes, had to work through things with his support driver). In years following Ryan cycled RAAM, Tour Divide and an attempt to set a record for continuous indoor cycling. Sadly Ryan passed away from cancer this past year.

The book is a mix of autobiography and trip account for some fairly challenging rides. I found it to be engaging and well written and hence my recommendation.

fietsbob

To read of other's trips, Irish Writer Dervla Murphy; Full Tilt

British, Richard Crane; Journey to the center of the earth.

And Fat man on a bike, series of books by Tom Vernon.

Like Amazon,? searching, they come up first as sources..

Tony Oliver another British Author wrote a book on touring, bikes..
out of print for a long time, (collector priced)

But, maybe your interlibrary loan system can find it,
via public library system




...in addition to reading other's gear lists..?





....

travelinhobo

Yes, I also read Josie Dew's books years ago. Remember I enjoyed them.

Hondo Gravel

UDFA

https://adventurecycle-touringhandbook.com/product/adventure-cycle-touring-handbook/

I have read a couple touring how-to books and skimmed several others. This one is the by far the most comprehensive and current one I've sbeen

raybo

Paul Barnard

Thanks for all the feedback.

rm -rf

On screens, not paper:
The crazyguyonabike.com website has all kinds of tour reports. It's interesting to see where and how riders do tours.


I liked the "Bike Grease and Coffee" blog from a few years ago. There's no limits to where you can go on a fat bike!
The blog is hard to read, since the newest posts are first, so you have to scroll up from the bottom. He's riding way off road at times, and there's a lot of great photos.

Or: read one post at a time, then click "Newer Post"
Start here: Jan 2013. He rode from New England in the winter, to Florida, then caught a ride to South America, and rode to Patagonia. Epic!
Bike Grease and Coffee: There is no bad time of year... just skinny tires.

TiHabanero

Hey mom, can I ride my bike across America? Fun read chronicles a group of youngsters that ride across the US with their teacher and his wife. They follow an historical trail and deal with a few maladies along the way. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it and was bummed when I reached the end.

willibrord

A Crossing: A Cyclist’s Journey Home by Brian Newhouse

jitenshajin

The size of the font used, does not increase the value of what is being said.

tarwheel 

Papa Tom

I know you said you want a book about touring, but I think a great read while you are ticking off the days might be "A Social History Of The Bicycle" by Robert A. Smith. One of my favorite books of all time, it provides a detailed history of bicycling in America and how it changed our culture. Really good read. Out of print, but available on Amazon and other places.
https://www.amazon.com/Social-Hstory.../dp/0070584575

Paul Barnard

I had a total shoulder replacement nearly two years ago. I never improved despite working very hard at PT. I kept going back to my surgeon and he couldn't figure out why I wasn't improving. Each time I went in he took xrays and never saw anything wrong. He decided it was likely a scar tissue issue. We did another surgery to remove that. I showed mild improvement for a few weeks following that, then it got worse than it was before. He couldn't figure out why. He wanted to do a nerve decompression surgery. I balked and went and got a second opinion.

Within 5 minutes of seeing the new doc, we figured out the problem. The xray shows my prosthetic ball well outside the plastic socket. The narrow void where the small arrow is pointing is infection. The artificial joint was installed incorrectly and the scar tissue removal surgery let infection in.

They are going to open me up and tear out the prosthesis. They are going to install an antibiotic implant then sew me up for 6-12 weeks until they are confident the infection is gone. At that point they will open me up, tear out the antibiotic spacer, install a new joint and sew me back up.

I just went out and bought a fancy new recliner that will be my home for the winter. I hope to be riding again by spring.

gnome

While strictly speaking a novel about a holiday by bike rather than a travelouge HG Wells' The Wheels of Chance is an entertaining read.