For adventure-loving cyclists as well as anyone who has ever daydreamed of pedaling the open road or trail . . .
Imagine a bike trip through California wine country, a nature tour of Vermont in autumn, mountain biking the north rim of the Grand Canyon, climbing Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France! There's nothing quite like the exhilaration of a bike tour vacation if it is done right-not to mention the fitness benefits it provides. Backed by nearly two decades of experience from the most authoritative magazine on cycling, this book shows the way. Written in a quick, easy-to-absorb style, it tells you:
o How to buy the right touring bike and gear
o How to find a good touring company
o How to plan your own tour
o Training programs for any length of tour
o What clothing to choose for specific weather conditions
o How much and what to eat and drink
o Cycling Dream Trips-the 10 places you have to ride
Complete with maintenance tips and 12 emergency repairs you should know how to do, advice on riding in bad weather and in heavy traffic, and the ultimate packing checklist of what you need to take no matter where (or how long) you go, this handy, helpful guide is designed to make your bike tour an invigorating, rewarding experience you will never forget.

Explore 60 of the best rail-trails and multiuse pathways across three states-Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont-with this official guide All across the country, unused railroad corridors have been converted into public multiuse trails. Here, the experts from Rails-to-Trails Conservancy present the best of these rail-trails-as well as other multiuse pathways-in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Bucket-listers won't want to miss Vermont's 13.4-mile Island Rail Trail, which boasts a spectacular 2.7-mile marble causeway crossing Lake Champlain. Those who like short and sweet might check out the 2.1-Eastern Promenade Trail showcasing Portland's Casco Bay and Portland Harbor, or for lengthier adventures, New Hampshire's 58-mile Northern Rail Trail-the longest rail-trail in the state-offers a variety of wooded landscapes, waterside enjoyment, and welcoming small towns. Whether you're on your feet, wheels, or cross-country skis, there's something for everyone in this collection of multiuse trails in Northern New England. In this book, you'll find: Detailed maps for each trail, plus driving directions to trailheads Icons indicating the activities each trail can accommodate Succinct descriptions written by rail-trail experts Rails-to-Trails Conservancy serves as the national voice for more than 160,000 members and supporters, more than 22,000 miles of open rail-trail across the country, and more than 8,000 miles of potential trails waiting to be built-with a goal of ensuring a better future for America made possible by trails and the connections they inspire.

Four years before the inaugural Tour de France, four cyclists known as 'Overlanders' set out on a race around Australia. On 24 November 1896 a wiry and wily bushman named Arthur Richardson left Coolgardie for Adelaide by bicycle. Carrying only a small kit and a water-bag, he followed the telegraph line. After much 'sweating and swearing' on sandy roads west of Eucla, and enduring the scorching heat, 31 days later he became the first man to pedal across the Nullarbor. But within three years Richardson had set his sights on becoming the first person to ride around the vast island continent, not yet a nation, and some 18,507km. On 5 June, 1899, he left Perth, heading north, carrying no more than a swag and a pistol. It took courage, self-confidence, endurance and resourcefulness to tackle such a ride. Richardson would follow dirt tracks, cattle and camel pads and stars in the night sky as he battled thirst, hunger, exhaustion, crocodile attack and spears from Aboriginal warriors to realize his dream. But he also had competition...another party of cyclists with the same ambition. New Zealand-born Brothers Frank and Alex White and wealthy adventurer Donald Mackay from Wallandbeen Station, NSW, were attempting the ride in a counter-clockwise direction from Melbourne and Brisbane respectively. Set against the fledging pastoralist empires of pre-Federation Australia, Tour de Oz, is the extraordinarily true story of a remarkable race to 'circumcycle' the Australian continent - before we became a nation.

Amid apocalyptic invasions and time travel, one common machine continually appears in H. G. Wells's works: the bicycle. From his scientific romances and social comedies, to utopias, futurological speculations, and letters, Wells's texts brim with bicycles. In The War of the Wheels, Withers examines this mode of transportation as both something that played a significant role in Wells's personal life and as a literary device for creating elaborate characters and exploring complex themes. Withers traces Wells's ambivalent relationship with the bicycle throughout his writing. While Wells celebrated it as a singular and astonishing piece of technology, and continued to do so long after his contemporaries abandoned their enthusiasm for the bicycle, he was not an unwavering promoter of this machine. Wells acknowledged the complex nature of cycling, its contribution to a growing dependence on and fetishization of technology, and its role in humanity's increasing sense of superiority. Moving into the twenty-first century, Withers reflects on how the works of H. G. Wells can serve as a valuable locus for thinking through many of our current issues and problems related to transportation, mobility, and sustainability.