John Foster Fraser's "Round the World on a Wheel" could be the initial critical cycling book written. Fraser and two companions left London from St Pancras' Church in 1896 and spent two years cycling across Europe, Asia and America on their sturdy road-bikes just before returning to the exact same spot by what was then one of the classic cycling routes in London, Clapham Common, Kennington Park Road, Westminster Bridge Road ("how vile"), Westminster Bridge ("the dirty old Thames"), Parliament Street, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus ("in the mass of site visitors we were nearer our deaths than we had been for two years"), Oxford Circus, Langham Location, Portland Road, "slithering more than the mire" Euston Road ("slithering more than the mire"), St Pancras' church. The book is a excellent classic of travel writing and properly-illustrated with photographs, including the three bikes.
Over a century later there are many cycling books that can be compared to Fraser's classic. Richard and Nicholas Crane cycled from the coast at Bangladesh across the Himalayas to the point in the world which is furthest from any sea. "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" is the sort of book that simply can't be put down. A pretty good book indeed and eminently readable.
Christopher Smith's "Why Don't You Fly Backdoor to Beijing - by bicycle" is proper up there with the finest travel books ever written. He's intelligent, funny, observant, and a particularly skilled writer. Cycling fanatics may possibly turn into irritated with his lack of technical know-how about his machine, but for everyone else, this is a terrific book!
For the fanatics, Beaumont's "The Man who Cycled the World" is maybe now too properly-known since it was a, profitable, try to beat the world record and was followed on tv. If your main interest is the actual cycling, the book is fascinating. It's a race against time and you are there on the saddle with him. A gruelling ride and a gruelling read.
Josie Dew's wrote about such topics as the perfect and consequently she is nicely acquainted to numerous urban cyclists. They will need to not miss "Wind in my wheels: Travel Tales from the Saddle". It is full of the sort of mishaps that happen to men and women on two wheels. She is not a natural travel writer, getting little interest in how the rest of the world lives and not significantly tolerance for cultures that are several from her own, but she is a cyclist and for those whose main interest is cycling, it is a superb read.
By way of a contrast Dervla Murphy's "Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle" has almost everything. A really awesome travel writer, she is also significant about her bike. This is a renowned book, a terrific read if you are not intending to do it yourself, and a storehouse of info if you are. One of the very best travel books ever written and certainly one of the preferred cycling books written.
An American slant is given by Barbara Savage's "Miles from Nowhere: A Round the World Bicycle Adventure". This story of an American couple who set out from Los Angeles to cycle across 5 continents is in no way a literary masterpiece, but it is warm, human and, in a number of locations, fairly funny. A further 1 for the bookshelf.
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