This book celebrates the bicycle from its invention to Victorian trick cyclists and from BMX bandits to Le Tour de France. It is presented in an easily digestible format with plenty of photos and a well-written, chirpy text. Absolutely everything to do with bicycles is in here and it is a joy to leaf through the pages.

Just have a look at the contents of this book and you will see that nothing has been missed in the story of the bicycle. This includes the bike in art, film and books, the birth of the mountain bike, cycle racing and record attempts. There are also features on iconic bikes like The Chopper and the Dawes Galaxy. It is a chunky book, but presented beautifully with loads of interesting pictures and illustrations. There is even a guide to fixing punctures. If you love bicycles and want to know lots of interesting things about them then you will love this book.

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Lonely Planet have produced this utterly superb and inspiring collection of cycling routes around the world. For anybody who loves cycling, travel and dreaming of future adventures this book is essential reading. I devoured every single page and could not help my imagination racing with the possibilities of bike trips in numerous parts of our planet.

First off, the book is stunningly presented with breathtaking photography and a layout that makes you want to dive in.  It is organised by continent with a travel writer describing their experiences on a particular cycling journey and then presenting a summary of similar journeys. The quality of the writing is exceptional. It is just the right length, not too long or too short, to grab your intention and spark your imagination. I found it impossible not to dream of going to these places.

Tom Allen cycled around the world with his two friends and wrote a fantastic and highly readable book about his experiences.  This is an epic work of quality writing. Allen has a great eye for detail and magnificently describes the countries that he travels through. The book is also about relationships, with the friends he travels with, with the people he meets along the way and the woman that he falls in love with.

There are many books about people who do around the world bicycle journeys. They tend to cover similar themes and it can be difficult to pick out what is unique about each particular story.  Janapar is unique for several reasons. First off, the quality of the writing is exceptional. Just a few pages into the book I came across this superb description of a road through the Sahara:

"I drag my bike and trailer back up the slope to where the new road still glistens absurdly, like a liquorice lace flopped across an orange tablecloth."

Allen's prose really captured my imagination and made it easy for me to imagine the places that his bicycle took him.

The book does not follow chronological order and goes forward and back in time at many points through the chapters. This might initially come across as muddled and confusing, but I found that it worked really well and it made the story more dramatic. 

Janapar is not only about cycling it is also about people. It is an honest account of what happens to friendships on extreme journeys. The twist in this mission to cycle around the world is that Allen meets a woman that he falls in love with. This results in a complete change of plans including a period of time spent living with her in Armenia. Therefore, it is a book not just for cyclists and travellers, but for anybody interested in human drama and relationships. You get to know Tom Allen at a much deeper level than you might get from similar around the world cycling books.

I have reviewed a lot of around the world cycling books on my blog and this one has been my favourite so far. It is beautifully structured and written, dramatic and emotional. 

Sean Conway embarks on an incredible around the world cycle journey. He covers 16,000 miles and experiences South America, Australia, U.S.A, Europe and Asia. This is an exciting read with the power to inspire you to do something adventurous.

Sean Conway opens the book with a tale of an unfulfilling career, being dumped by his girlfriend and a feeling that he was wasting his life. He tried to work out what he should do to change this situation and remembered being inspired by Mark Beaumont who broke the record for cycling around the world in 2010. He decided that this was the answer and signed up to do the around the world cycle race.

As this is a race against the clock you get fleeting impressions of the countries, rather than an in-depth exploration of culture, people and landscapes. The book lacks the finer details because there is no time for the author to pause and take it in or visit attractions. Conway must focus on mileage and how to do that mileage and also how to get enough calories. You do get a brilliant sense of adventure from this book. One example of this is when Conway had to flee tornadoes in America. His writing perfectly captures the drama of this situation:

"Signs were blowing over, windscreens cracking, leaves were getting stripped off trees as if being shredded by a huge invisible blender in the sky, and a 100 mph wind was heading in the exact wrong direction. I realised that had I not got a puncture when I did, I wouldn't have stopped in that gas station and I would probably have landed up right in the middle of the storm... One 100 mph golf-ball-sized hailstone to the face would have been the end of me."

As you would expect, Conway meets many interesting people during his adventure. Many of these encounters are brief due to the nature of the cycle race so there is not a strong human story in the book. The focus is very much on the author and his endeavor to complete this challenge. Many of the people that Conway meets are incredibly kind to him. In particular, the American doctor and nurse who treated him after he was knocked over by a pickup truck. They took him into their home during his recovery. They even bought him a replacement bike because his was destroyed in the accident. It wasn't just any bike, but an exact replacement that they shipped over. Without this kindness Conway would not have been able to continue with the journey.

There are moments of laughter in this book, such as the author't decision to play a game with the stray dogs that chase him. He would would go just fast enough to keep them at bay but interested enough to keep them chasing so that he could lead them as far away as possible from their home as revenge for the owners doing nothing. 

The book is also serious in places. Conway writes openly about the lows and feeling depressed, but on the whole he loved his adventure and that really comes across.

I felt that the book could have done with a route map so that you could follow the journey as sometimes it was difficult to picture exactly where the author was unless you are really good at geography.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it inspired me to explore further and further on my bicycle. 

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a cycle courier? This book provides a fascinating and highly readable insight into the life of a cycle courier. 
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Emily Chappell tells the story of how she became a London cycle courier and exactly what it is like to do this kind of work. On her first weeks on the job she had to get to grips with finding her way around the complicated streets of London and the equally complicated process of finding her way inside office buildings to collect and deliver packages, it's a lot different than courier companies like Ask Absolutely which uses vehicles. This was something she had to work out for herself- there was nobody to teach her and there was no training manual.

If you thought that being a bicycle courier is a dream job then you may just change your mind after reading Chappell's account of her first winter:

"The first shock of cold is the hardest, and then, as long as you keep moving, you're okay for a while. Then you start to notice how the chill has crept into your bones and muscles, slowing you down, blurring your coordination and your judgement, making you clumsy and stupid."

Chappell is completely honest about her life as a courier and although she loves the job she is upfront about the downsides. Constant exhaustion goes with the territory as does sweat, dirt and pollution. In fact, there are almost 3 pages devoted to the subject of sweating. The author tells of several shocking road rage incidents where she was subject to truly horrible aggression from drivers and pedestrians. These incidents left her feeling shaken to the point of tears.

There are also wonderful things about this job, including the courier 'scene' with its camaraderie and cast of characters that populate the pages of the book. The buzz of negotiating heavy traffic and having to take risks is a major draw for couriers. The book is also a love story to London, particularly the hidden corners that few people know of. Couriering brings Chappell into secret gardens and courtyards where she can rest between jobs in peace and quiet. It is an intimate portrait of London, as seen from a bicycle saddle. 

This book is very well written, sometimes beautiful, and anybody who loves cycling will enjoy this.

This book inspired me to get out on my bike and explore Scotland. It opened up a world of cycling adventures by showing how easy it is to plan day trips using train and bicycle. This is the book that got me hooked on travelling around Scotland on a bicycle and I cannot recommend it enough.

Before I bought this book I only ventured out on the Forth and Clyde canal path as it was my nearest traffic-free cycle route. It never crossed my mind that it could be possible to take my bike on the train to access a whole raft of cycling day trips. I was nervous about doing that, but this book gave me the confidence to give it a try. I haven't looked back since.

The book has 40 routes in central Scotland. Most can be done as day trips from Glasgow or Edinburgh and all can be reached by train.

The book is pocket sized so ideal to carry with you on bike trips. Each route guide has the same simple format that opens with a great photo of something you will see along the route, information about the distance, terrain and how much time the ride will take. There is an easy to follow map and a route description that gives precise directions.

The route description also tells you what there is to see in the area. This really captured my imagination and showed me the possibilities of cycle touring- that a bicycle can let you see so much of Scotland and learn about its history, heritage and landscapes.

This is the book that inspired me to explore Scotland by bicycle and this is the book that I recommend to anybody who wants to start out on cycle trips around Scotland. Even better is that there are two more books that cover other regions of Scotland. Book Two covers the Highlands and Islands and Book Three covers the North East. Get all three of these books and you will never be stuck for inspiration for cycle routes.

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Who would have thought that cycling could fill 350 pages of a large hardback book? But, yes, there really is that much to say about cycling. The Cycling Bible by Robin Barton covers absolutely everything on the subject from types of bicycle and clothing to fitness and nutrition. It is a hefty tome full of colour photos and engaging text that will inspire your interest in cycling and provide plenty of useful hints and tips along the way.

If you know nothing or very little about cycling and you want to find out more and have a source of information at your fingertips this book is ideal. Even seasoned cyclists are bound to find something of interest in this book. It will help you to become an expert on all aspects of bicycles and cycling. All types of cycling are catered for, with a focus on mountain biking and road cycling.

The final chapter on maintenance is the one I found the most useful. Being able to fix your bike is a great skill to have as it will save money on taking your bike to a shop and get you out of tricky situations if something goes wrong in the middle of nowhere. The colour photos and easy to follow text make this a usable section of the book. However, if you really want to become more of an expert on maintenance then a book that is specifically on maintenance and goes into greater detail is perhaps a better idea. The size of the book also makes it impractical to take with you. 

There is a section all about racing with a potted history of the Tour de France and other famous cycling races around the world. There is even a chapter on "off-beat events" which covers some of the more quirky cycling events on the planet. One of these is a Penny Farthing race that occurs in Tasmania each year.

If you are really serious about your cycling there is plenty of information about fitness and training regimes, diet and techniques, like how to climb a hill, how to descend and how to corner.

The largest section of the book is "Cycling Destinations". This is the most inspiring part of the book as it describes the best places in the world to go cycling. Scotland gets a chapter for its renowned mountain biking trails. There is also a focus on cities that have invested heavily in cycling infrastructure, such as Portland, Copenhagen, Paris and London. It gives you information about routes and some of the background as to why these cities are considered to be so good for cycling. Reading this made me want to go these places and try out their cycling routes.

This is the type of book that is likely to be used as a reference tool. It can happily sit on your shelf and whenever something pops into your head that you need to know about you can thumb through the book to find an answer. And when you are next planning a holiday and want some inspiration you can leaf through the chapters on "cycling destinations". It would also make a good gift for the aspiring cyclist in your life.

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This is an excellent guide to cycling routes in Scotland. It has maps, route descriptions, what to see and do, how to get there and where to get refreshments. Full of colour photos in a glossy, easy to read format this is all you need to inspire you to get on your bike and explore Scotland.

This book contains 28 routes that cover many parts of Scotland. There is a concentration on the central belt and in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh, but there is good coverage of other parts of the country. If you are new to cycling this book is ideal for getting you started and giving you ideas of where to go.

Each route guide begins with an introduction that gives you an overview of the route and some information about the history and heritage of the area. It then provided practical information about the route length, the terrain, the nearest train station and where to go for refreshments. It also lists what there is to see and do, with details about museums, castles and other visitor attractions. Next there is a full page map and a route description to help you to navigate your way. The layout of the pages and the quality of the writing make this a pleasure to use.

The book is packed with beautiful photographs and you will want to look through it again and again to dream about where you can go cycling next.

Even if you have done a lot of cycling in Scotland and are familiar with many of the routes in this route there are bound to be some that you have not done yet. I discovered some new ones and I am looking forward to trying them out.

This book is superb for getting inspiration and practical help for planning cycling routes in Scotland. I would say it is one of the best cycle route guides I have come across.

Bike Snob lives in New York City. He blogs and writes books about all things to do with cycling. This book focuses on cycle commuting and is full of Bike Snob's characteristic wit and common sense. All of the trials and tribulations of commuting by bike are covered, including annoying behaviour, types of bicycles and the reason why people do not cycle.

​I did not think that there could be enough material about commuting to fill an entire book, but this book shows that there is plenty to say on the subject. Just like Bike Snob's first book this one has the same quality hardback design with nice feeling paper and plenty of cartoon style pictures throughout the pages.

Much of the content is waffle, but entertaining waffle nonetheless and I found myself laughing and agreeing with what I was reading. I liked how Bike Snob examines all sides of the issues surrounding commuting. Not only does he rant about annoying-driver-on-cyclist behaviour, he also lays into cyclists for their annoying behaviour towards other cyclists and to drivers. 

The book opens with Bike Snob recalling his worst ever day-he was riding his bike during the September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre. He then goes on to tell how the aftermath of this resulted in an incredible sense of goodwill among New Yorkers and commuters were polite to each other, even to the extent that there were no car horns. He tries to remember that time each time something frustrates him or annoys him when commuting. This is the lesson that he wants to teach us, to encourage us to be better commuters.

The book is more about entertainment than a practical guide to cycle commuting, so people who are already using their bike to get to work are more likely to enjoy it than people thinking about taking up cycle commuting and looking for a guide.

One of the things I found fascinatingly hilarious is that Bike Snob came across some cyclists who fit their lights the wrong way. That is they put the red light on the front of the bike and the white light on the rear. I didn't believe this actually happens, so I asked some fellow cyclists if they had ever come across this and they said that  they had! So there you go. You might also read about some strange commuting behaviour that you have never before come across whilst reading this book.

So, for a bit of fun and a witty take on cycle commuting this book is worth a read.

Robert Penn, journalist and round the world cyclist, decides to design and build a bespoke bicycle. He selects the best components that the world has to offer, travelling to workshops from California to Milan. The book is also the story of the bicycle, the history of this remarkable machine from the early days when there were no pedals to the modern day bicycle that we know and love today.

This is a superb book if you want to learn about the development and history of the bicycle. It is a fascinating story told in an engaging and highly readable book. I tend to take my bicycle for granted, that the way it looks and functions is how bicycles always looked and functioned. I had no idea that the bicycle went through many phases of development. It began in 1817 with the "Draisine", a machine that consisted of two wooden wheels with a wooden bench between them. The rider straddled this bench and pushed the contraption with their feet. There were no pedals.

It was not until the 1860s that the pedal was introduced. This version of the bicycle was called the "velocipede", but the pedal was attached to the front wheel, and it was not until 1885 that pedals were attached to the rear wheel when the 'safety' bicycle was launched.

I don't give my tyres a second thought, but velocipedes had iron tyres. These then evolved to solid rubber strips glued to the wheel with the safety bicycle. No wonder the word 'boneshaker' was in common use. Dunlop developed the pneumatic tyre in 1888 and this made the bicycle comfortable to ride and much more popular as a mode of transport. The book has a mixture of illustrations and black and white photographs to show what all these incarnations of the bicycle looked like.

During the process of putting together his dream bike Robert Penn discovers manufacturers with great pride and passion. He watches his bike being constructed and describes the processes in detail. I found this to be too thorough on occasions, but those who are obsessed by every inch of a bicycle will enjoy this. It was sometimes a bit too geeky for me, but on the whole I enjoyed learning about the components and manufacturers. It did make me think that it would be nice to do the same, but you need to find several thousand pounds to build your own bicycle.

The author has a great talent for expressing the sheer pleasure of cycling. There are several great quotes, but I shall leave you with this one, when he rides his new bike for the first time:

​"A myriad of concerns- about the bike, about this book- dissipated completely. This is the beauty of cycling- the rhythm puts serious activity in the brain to sleep: it creates a void. Random thoughts enter that void- the chorus from a song, a verse of poetry, a detail in the countryside, a joke, the answer to something that vexed me long ago."

Rob Lilwall flies into deepest Siberia and begins to cycle back home to England. It is the ultimate cycling adventure and takes three-and-a-half years. He cycles through many countries, including Japan, China, Australia, Tibet and Afghanistan. This is a gripping book and gives a vivid account of the countries visited, the people met, the challenges and the impact of the journey on the author.

I must admit to being initially disappointed when I discovered that only the first seventy or so pages of the book are about Siberia. The title of the book and the picture on the front gave me the impression that the author was going to cycle all the way across Russia, east to west. I was looking forward to tales of incredible endurance in the face of minus temperatures, but this is only contained within the first part of the book. Rob actually cycles south in Siberia in order to take a ferry to Japan, so most of the pages are about other countries. Once I got used to that I started to enjoy this incredible account of a world-wide cycle journey.

I liked the layout of the book with its maps, statistics at the end of each section, thought-provoking quotes at the start of each chapter and the photographs. There is a particularly fun montage of portraits of the author, showing his changing appearance and facial hair through the various stages of the journey.

The Siberian experience is amazing to read about. He travels this section with Alastair Humphreys, who wrote his own books about cycling around the world. At one point they have to make a difficult choice about taking a 'winter road' or 'summer road':

"The 'summer road' was the shorter of the two, but was passable only in the warmer months, before snow blocked it. On this road there were several unbridged rivers which, although partially frozen, we would have to wade across. We had been told there was only one proper settlement on it, the village of Oymyakon. In 1919 it had been in the record books for recording -71.2 degrees celsius, the coldest temperature ever for a permanent settlement."

The two riders experience great kindness from locals with many offers of warm accommodation for the night, which saves them a number of nights in a tent in freezing conditions.

​As Rob makes his way around the world he mainly experiences similar kindness from strangers. He also faces challenges, such as bad roads in Papua New Guinea which mean that he must push his bike through jungle for days and hire locals to guide him. He cycles the mountain passes of Tibet in winter and faces the dangers of Afghanistan. He also copes with being robbed and getting ill with malaria.

The book achieves a good balance between telling the story of the cycling challenge and saying something about the countries that are travelled through. Rob has a good eye for detail and includes all the little observations that form his impressions of places. It makes for strong travel writing, although I found it is at its best in the Siberian chapter and slightly weaker for the other countries. In some sections it feels a bit rushed, for example in Australia one chapter begins "It is four months later..." Of course, some things will need to be left out in order to fit such an enormous journey into the size of an average novel. The final section of the book that covers the journey across Europe has little detail about the countries, but it reflects Rob's desire to get the last few miles over with and see his family again.

I was engrossed in this book and found it very readable and exciting. Even if you have no intention of embarking on a similar journey it still makes you want to get out on your bike and explore. ​

Anna Hughes sets off on a 72-day, 4000 mile cycle around the coast of Britain. The journey is full of adventure, magnificent landscapes and the kindness of strangers who provide accommodation for Anna during her trip. The title of the book perfectly sums up the focus of this journey, the daily task of pedaling, eating, sleeping and then doing it all the next day. 

This is a familiar story of someone who gives up their job to go on a long-distance cycling trip. Anna is clear that you do not need to travel far to find adventure:

"I hadn't wanted to travel halfway round the world to have my adventure. This was about finding the unusual hidden within the usual, about seeking adventure from the things that we take for granted."

The book is divided into five parts with a map at the start of each part showing the route. There is one chapter per day of cycling and most of the chapters are just a few pages long. It is an easy read with a mixture of short conversations, journey descriptions and the thoughts of the author.

Anna does the journey a bit differently to some of the other cyclists who have published similar books. She uses her contacts to hook up with other cyclists along the way. They accompany her for parts of the journey. Her previous job at Sustrans, who manage the National Cycle Network, provided invaluable access to Sustrans staff across the country who were happy to join Anna for sections of the ride. She also uses the website Warmshowers.org to find cyclists who are happy to provide fellow cyclists with free accommodation. 

I looked forward to reading about Anna's impressions of Scotland. She cycles to Cape Wrath, something that I have always wanted to do, but she doesn't enjoy it because the road is in a terrible state. She doesn't say very much about the scenery at Cape Wrath, but you get a good impression of the raw beauty of the place:

"The wind howled across the plateau, rustling the stubby vegetation and whistling between huge bald rocks. I took a deep breath to steady myself, gripping the earth beneath my fingers, and leaned out to look down at the water. The seagulls circled far below, mere dots from this height, the deep blue punctuated with foaming ripples. The ocean stretched into the distance, powerful and beautiful."

I felt that there was generally a lack of detail about the places that are passed through on this journey. For example, in the chapter that covers Rattray Head to Elgin the author cycles 78 miles, but only uses 4 pages to describe it. This is a beautiful part of Scotland with so much to see and do, but you will not get this impression reading this chapter. This book has a lot less detail about people and places when compared to the excellent One Man and his Bike, which i also read. Once I got used to the fact that this book is more about how the journey was and the challenge of completing it than sightseeing and meeting locals I started to get into it and enjoy it.

The author writes in detail about all of the challenges she faces, including terrible weather, hills and long distances. You get the impression that the journey has changed her in a positive way and given her much confidence, which is inspirational to anybody thinking of doing a similar journey.

This book follows the cycling journey of a retired man from Leicestershire. He travels from the Mull of Kintyre to Cape Wrath in Scotland.

I read the book to see what other cyclists have written about Scotland and to see if my own travel writing is any good compared to other authors. It was also a part of the country I am familiar with and would enjoy reading about.

The journey is done at an average of 4.5mph and covering a daily average distance of 38.5 miles, so this is not extreme cycle touring by any means. This is not for readers looking for a tale of high adventure, record distances and time pressures.  

Richard Guise uses his sense of humour to take the reader on this journey through a beautiful part of Scotland. He had me laughing with his descriptions of some of the things that cyclists encounter like bad weather, the search for good coffee and the habits of sheep."Now, if they couldn't even distinguish their mother (white, wooly, four legs) from a man on a bike (yellow and black, two wheels) then I didn't much rate their chances of surviving even long enough to provide a decent Sunday lunch."

I was not so keen on his descriptions of local people. Whenever he quoted their speech it was like a bad Scottish stereotype, "Och well, Hamish, a dram on the house all the same?" He describes Lochinver as being populated by "barking dogs, wailing children and overweight mothers." He encounters many Eastern Europeans working in the hotels, restaurants and cafes along the route that he describes as 'Easties.' It comes across as ignorant and racist. He has not written about any meaningful encounter with local people where he had learned something about the area and their lives..

There are little information boxes that inform the reader about the history of the area that are easy to read and not dry, with Guise using his humour to lighten up the history. There is also a nice section in the middle of the book with colour photos.

Guise does give a great impression of the freedom, empty roads and peace and quiet on this route, "For me, among all the positive attributes of most Highland settlements I passed through, this is the most endearing: that between, say, 7.30pm and 7.30am there's almost nothing on the main road through town. There's nowhere else to go, you see, and anyone who's coming is already here. Priceless."

I found his descriptions of the scenery average and not quite capturing just how special this part of Scotland is. I do sympathise- it is difficult to describe landscapes without resorting to the clichés of 'beautiful', 'spectacular' and 'magnificent'. However, all good travel writers should be able to entrance their readers.

I am not sure how many readers will be inspired to cycle in Scotland as a result of this book. I do not feel that it does justice to the landscapes and people of the area. It might encourage people of a similar age to Mr Guise to give cycle touring a try. If you have already been to these places and fancy reading about another person's journey then you will find some interest in this book, but the sense of humour is not for everyone.