The inspiring story of one man's record-breaking cycle around the world.On Monday 18th September 2017, Mark Beaumont pedalled through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes earlier he set off from the same point, beginning his attempt to circumnavigate the world in record time. Covering more than 18,000 miles and cycling through some of the harshest conditions one man and his bicycle can endure, Mark made history. He smashed two Guinness World Records and beat the previous record by an astonishing 45 days. Around the World in 80 Days is the story of Marks amazing achievement - one which redefines the limits of human endurance. It is also an insight into the mind of an elite athlete and the physical limits of the human body, as well as a kaleidoscopic tour of the world from a very unique perspective; inspired by Jules Vernes classic adventure novel, Mark begins his journey in Paris and cycles through Europe, Russia, Mongolia and China. He then crosses Australia, rides up through New Zealand and across North America before the final 'sprint finish' thorough Portugal, Spain and France, all at over 200 miles a day. This is the story of a quite remarkable adventure, by a quite remarkable man.

From the Col du Tourmalet to Alpe d’Huez, from Mont Ventoux to Luz Ardiden, Simon Warren rides, photographs, describes, maps and profiles the 100 greatest climbs of the Tour de France, the beating heart of the race. Technology may advance, training and diet may evolve, but these mountains are constant. They have witnessed triumph and despair, courage and heartache, they are where champions are made and where dreams are shattered. And yes, the greatest arenas of the world’s greatest race are open 365 days a year for every one of us to ride. So take up the challenge, emulate your heroes and make your mark on the 100 greatest cycling climbs of the Tour de France. For each of the 100 climbs this guide includes a detailed description of the climb and photograph, a detailed map with directions to help you find it, a factfile with altitude, height gain, average gradient, it’s tour debut and category, and a difficulty rating. Its everything you need to tackle these world famous climbs.

Julian Sayarer grew up riding a bicycle and worked as a bike courier in London. When the world record for a circumnavigation by bike is broken—the biker riding in conjunction with banks and big business—Julian sets out to take it back. This is his story of that record, riding 110 miles a day for six months on only £7.82 a day, through jungles, snow, and twenty different countries. He finds himself stranded without money in the deserts of Kazakhstan, bitten by a dog in North Carolina, and sleeping under motorway bridges in China. Taken by life on the road and a spirit of adventure, he loves every minute of it. A tale of excitement and world politics by bicycle, travelling at 12 mph, Julian finds that the Tartars of Central Asia aren’t so different to the trailer families of Louisiana. This book is a reminder that the world is out there, and it’s waiting for us.

***SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 – CYCLING BOOK OF THE YEAR***Prepare to be entertained as legendary Eurosport cycling commentator Carlton Kirby shares his tales from the road, taking you behind the scenes of the world's greatest cycle races.'A genuine one-off with a ready wit and a killer anecdote to hand at all times' Ian Cleverly, Rouleur'Carlton Kirby is no ordinary cycling commentator, so it is not surprising that this very entertaining book is no ordinary Grand Tour on a bicycle. A very enjoyable journey for everyone' Phil Liggett MBE, NBC Tour de France commentator'Carlton Kirby's infectious enthusiasm, wine tips and Shakespearean joy for inventing words makes every stage of a bike race a must-watch event' Matt Butler, i newspaperWith a candid authority that comes from over 25 years commentating on the world's biggest cycling races, legendary Eurosport commentator Carlton Kirby isn't afraid to tell it like it really is. Witty, outrageous and often outspoken, Magic Spanner is an insider's view of life on cycling's Grand Tours, including the Tour de France, Giro D'Italia, Vuelta a España and the classics, all delivered in the inimitable style for which Carlton has become globally famous.Peppered with hilarious anecdotes of life on the road with Tour legend Sean Kelly, Carlton gives us an expert, behind-the-scenes view – one that the average fan rarely gets to see or hear about. As well as sharing his various bugbears (including crazy spectators in mankinis to the more serious issues of rider safety), Carlton also lifts the lid on team strategies, and delves into some of cycling's more questionable ethics.Delivering a mix of expert opinion and trademark wit, Carlton covers the funny, the serious and the more bizarre moments on the professional cycling caravan. This edition also includes Carlton's guide to watching bike racing - live at the roadside.

The true story of the toughest bicycle race ever staged, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille (the Tour of the Battlefields)The Circuit des Champs de Bataille (the Tour of the Battlefields) was held in 1919, less than six months after the end of the First World War. It covered 2,000 kilometres and was raced in appalling conditions across the battlefields of the Western Front, otherwise known as the Zone Rouge. The race was so tough that only 21 riders finished, and it was never staged again.With one of the most demanding routes ever to feature in a bicycle race, and plagued by appalling weather conditions, the Circuit des Champs de Bataille was beyond gruelling, but today its extraordinary story is largely forgotten. Many of the riders came to the event straight from the army and had to ride 18-hour stages through sleet and snow across the battlefields on which they had fought, and lost friends and family, only a few months before. But in addition to the hellish conditions there were moments of high comedy, even farce.The rediscovered story of the Circuit des Champs de Bataille is an epic tale of human endurance, suffering and triumph over extreme adversity.

"Tomorrow we ride. that's what my brother Louison and I used to say as we arranged to every day while we were racing cyclists, and then just on Sundays when we weren't competing any more. We kept on riding until the end of his life, because even then - especially then, perhaps - we always understood each other best on bikes. We had always needed a bike beneath us. In the words of the song, we took the high road and the low in cycling, the glory days always have less glorious ones on their tail. Thanks to Louison, I had the good fortune to ride with him through the golden years, the 50 the years of post-war reconstruction, of Coppi and Bartali, of Kubler and Koblet, of Gaul and Van Steenbergen, Anquetil and Darrigade. These are names that speak of the aristocracy of cycling, and the fierceness of the competition. Every day, Louison and I took pleasure in cycling together, whether on our intimate journeys through Brittany or the Alps, or in the frenzy of the Tour de France or Giro d'Italia." Jean Bobet. Jean Bobet's book is not so much a biography of his superstar brother Louison, nor his own autobiography, but rather an account of the intermingling of their two lives. And what lives - Louison, triple Tour de France winner and World Champion and Jean (no mean rider himself) who gave up an academic career to ride in the service of his brother in pursuit of sporting glory. Set in the period after the war, this story brings alive the romance of the great races and the star riders of the day whose exploits lifted the public spirit after years of conflict and economic hardship.

An illustrated history of the evolution of British women's cycle wear.The bicycle in Victorian Britain is often celebrated as a vehicle of women's liberation. Less noted is another critical technology with which women forged new and mobile public lives—cycle wear. This illustrated account of women's cycle wear from Goldsmiths Press brings together Victorian engineering and radical feminist invention to supply a missing chapter in the history of feminism.Despite its benefits, cycling was a material and ideological minefield for women. Conventional fashions were unworkable, with skirts catching in wheels and tangling in pedals. Yet wearing “rational” cycle wear could provoke verbal and sometimes physical abuse from those threatened by newly mobile women. Seeking a solution, pioneering women not only imagined, made, and wore radical new forms of cycle wear but also patented their inventive designs. The most remarkable of these were convertible costumes that enabled wearers to transform ordinary clothing into cycle wear.Drawing on in-depth archival research and inventive practice, Kat Jungnickel brings to life in rich detail the little-known stories of six inventors of the 1890s. Alice Bygrave, a dressmaker of Brixton, registered four patents for a skirt with a dual pulley system built into its seams. Julia Gill, a court dressmaker of Haverstock Hill, patented a skirt that drew material up the waist using a mechanism of rings or eyelets. Mary and Sarah Pease, sisters from York, patented a skirt that could be quickly converted into a fashionable high-collar cape. Henrietta Müller, a women's rights activist of Maidenhead, patented a three-part cycling suit with a concealed system of loops and buttons to elevate the skirt. And Mary Ann Ward, a gentlewoman of Bristol, patented the “Hyde Park Safety Skirt,” which gathered fabric at intervals using a series of side buttons on the skirt. Their unique contributions to cycling's past continue to shape urban life for contemporary mobile women.

Half Man, Half Bike: The Life of Eddy Merckx, Cycling's Greatest Champion [ Half Man, Half Bike: The Life of Eddy Merckx, Cycling's Greatest Champion by Fotheringham, William ( Author ) Paperback Apr- 2013 ] Paperback Apr- 01- 2013

Instagram phenomenon @1bike1world Dean Nicholson reveals the full story of his life-changing friendship with rescue cat Nala and their inspiring adventures together on a bike journey around the world.\\nWhen 30-year-old Dean Nicholson set off from Scotland to cycle around the world, his aim was to learn as much as he could about our troubled planet. But he hadn't bargained on the lessons he'd learn from his unlikely companion.\\nThree months after leaving home, on a remote road in the mountains between Montenegro and Bosnia, he came across an abandoned kitten. Something about the piercing eyes and plaintive meowing of the bedraggled little cat proved irresistible. He couldn't leave her to her fate, so he put her on his bike and then, with the help of local vets, nursed her back to health.\\nSoon on his travels with the cat he named Nala, they forged an unbreakable bond - both curious, independent, resilient and adventurous. The video of how they met has had 20 million views and their Instagram has grown to almost 750k followers - and still counting!\\nExperiencing the kindness of strangers, visiting refugee camps, rescuing animals through Europe and Asia, Dean and Nala have already learned that the unexpected can be pretty amazing. Together with Garry Jenkins, writer with James Bowen of the bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob, Dean shares the extraordinary tale of his and Nala's inspiring and heart-warming adventure together.

Ten years after breaking a world record for cycling around the world, award-winning travel writer Julian Sayarer returns to two wheels on the roads of Israel and occupied Palestine. His route weaves from the ancient hills of Galilee, along the blockaded walls of the Gaza Strip and down to the Bedouin villages of the Naqab Desert. He speaks with Palestinian hip-hop artists who wonder if music can change their world, Israelis hoping that kibbutz life can, and Palestinian cycling clubs determined to keep on riding despite the army checkpoints and settlers that bar their way. Pedalling through a military occupation, in the chance encounters of the roadside, a bicycle becomes a vehicle of more than just travel, and cuts through the tension to find a few simple truths, and some hope. As the miles pass, the journey becomes a meditation on making change - how people in dark times keep their spirit, and go on believing that a different world is possible.

A remarkable true-life story from behind the scenes of professional cyclingFor 11 years I was a professional cyclist, competing in the hardest and greatest races on Earth. I was in demand from the world's best teams, a well-paid elite athlete. But I never won a race. I was the hired help. When my mum dropped me off in a small French town aged 17, I was full of determination to be a professional cyclist, but I was completely green. I went from mowing the team manager's lawn to winning every amateur race I entered. Then I turned pro and realized I hated the responsibility and pressure of chasing victory. And that's when I became a domestique. I learned to take that hurt and give it everything I had to give, all for someone else's win. When the order came in to ride I pushed out with the hardest rhythm I could, dragging the group faster and faster, until my whole body screamed with pain. There were times I rode myself to a standstill, clutching the barrier meters from the line, as the lead group shot past. But that's what made me a so good at my job. As my career took off, I started looking at the fans lining the route, cheering us like heroes. The passion for cycling oozed off them, but they couldn’t know what it was really like. They didn't see the terrible hotels, the crazy egos, or all the shit that goes with great expectations. Well, this is how it is.

Messengers sees Julian Sayarer return to work as a London bicycle courier, after six months cycling around the world. From saddle and curbside, his stories of delivering flowers to politicians and administration notices to banks toppled by the financial crisis make for a social history of a less seen city, written from the perspective of someone stuck in one of London's most insecure and poorly paid jobs. Underneath the deliveries, we meet London's bicycle messengers, a family drawn from jaded graduates, jailbirds, and recovering drug addicts. With a bicycle the one constant that seems to make sense of everything else, Messengers is a two-wheeled portrait of everyday life in a modern city at the start of the twenty-first century.

The story of Lance Armstrong - the cyclist who recovered from testicular cancer and went on to win the Tour de France a record seven times, the man who wrote a bestselling and inspirational account of his life, the charitable benefactor - seemed almost too good to be true. And it was.As early as Armstrong's first victory on the Tour in 1999, Sunday Times journalist David Walsh had reason to think that the incredible performances we were seeing from Armstrong were literally too good to be true. Based on insider information and dogged research, he began to unmask the truth. Cycling's biggest star used every weapon in his armoury to protect his name. But he could not keep everyone silent.In the autumn of 2012, the USADA published a damning report on Armstrong that resulted in the American being stripped of his seven Tour victories and left his reputation in shreds. Walsh's long fight to reveal the truth had been vindicated. This book tells the compelling story of one man's struggle to bring that truth to light against all the odds.

Cocaine, amphetamines, EPO, heroin—all these are now considered not optional but necessary—not to win, but just to compete in the Tour de France. Details of how these drugs are obtained, mixed together to make cocktails, administered and concealed are all included in this graphic and uninhibited account by a fomer competitor.

The new memoir tracing story of cycling since the 1980s, throught he eyes of Jonathan Vaughters, founder of team Education First and one of the sport's most towering figures.Jonathan Vaughters' story is the story of modern cycling. From his early years as a keen cyclist in his hometown in Colorado to his unflinching rite of passage as a professional rider with US Postal to his elevation as one of cycling's most resilient, ethical and intelligent team bosses, the highs and lows of his career have mirrored those of the sport itself. Vaughters has had a front-row seat for most of the major events in cycling over the past three decades. He was both a former teammate of Lance and a leading witness against him. And he went on to renounce doping and start the first pro cycling team to dedicate itself to clean riding, which has grown into one of the most successful teams competing today and started a movement that has swept across the sport.This is also not simply a story of races won and lost: Vaughters shows readers how he navigated the complex, international business of building Slipstream into a world-class cycling team. Over the past decade, he has led the sport out of the scandal-plagued Armstrong era. By presenting the world with a team made of talented racers built around a rigorous approach to clean racing, he set a new standard within cycling that has since spread across the peloton. Written from the unique perspective of both a racer and a team manager, One-Way Ticket gives the complete story of what it takes to build a winning team and repair the reputation of a sport.

WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2012On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner in Boulder, Colorado. The two had met five years before while Coyle was writing his bestselling book, Lance Armstrong: Tour de Force. But this time, Tyler had something else on his mind. He finally wanted to come clean, about everything: the doping, the lying, his years as Lance Armstrong's teammate on U.S. Postal, his decade spent running from the truth. 'I'm sorry,' he told Coyle. 'It just feels so good to be able to talk about this. I've been quiet for so many years.'Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell his story, and his sport's story, in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The truth would set Tyler free, but would also be the most damning indictment yet of Tour winners such as Armstrong.The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven � and some flawed � characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.

It has been called the Tour de France's 'Hollywood climb', and there is no doubt that Alpe d'Huez has played a starring role in cycling's history since its first encounter with the sport back in 1952 when the legendary Fausto Coppi triumphed on the summit. Re-introduced to the Tour in 1976, Alpe d'Huez has risen to mythical status, thanks initially to a string of victories by riders from Holland, whose exploits attracted tens of thousands of their compatriots to the climb, which has become known as 'Dutch mountain'.

A retirement statement from a sports star rarely causes a flicker, but Nicole Cooke went out as she rode her bike: giving it her all. The contrast could not have been greater - as Lance Armstrong, a fraudster backed by many corporate sponsors and feted by presidents, was about to deliver a stage-managed confession to Oprah, so a shy, young woman from a small village in Wales took aim. She too had been a cyclist, the only rider ever to have become World and Olympic champion in the same year, and the first British cyclist to have been ranked World No.1, but as a woman in a man's sport, her exploits gained little recognition and brought no riches. She too had ridden through this dark period for the sport when drug-taking was everywhere. Nicole Cooke spoke up for those who had taken a very different path to Lance and his team-mates. In he frank and outspoken autobiography, Cooke reveals the real story behind British cycling's rise to global dominance. With a child's dreams of success, she left home at 18 to pursue her goals in Italy. Broken contracts, unpaid wages, a horrendous injury and drugs cheats were just some of the challenges she faced, even before she lined up to take on her opponents. The Breakaway is a book that will not only inspire all those who read it, but which also asks some serious questions about the way society regards women's sport.

The first book to cover in detail every major climb ever used in the Tour de France, including detail on the actual route (with maps and profile), length, height, list of winners and route descriptions of how to emulate the King of the Mountains and get from the bottom to the top.

'It wasn't a race but a war game' Bernard Hinault 'Without question, the hardest one-day bike race ever created' George Hincapie The Tour of Flanders – known to cycling fans as the Ronde – is the biggest one-day bike race in the world. It is a potent mix of grit , cobbles, steep climbs, narrow roads, national pride, beer, brutal weather and the maddest, most passionate fans in the sport. It’s the Tour de France boiled down into a single day of non-stop action – the Belgian equivalent of the Grand National, Wimbledon and the FA Cup final. And there’s yet more to it than that. Edward Pickering tells the story of the Tour of Flanders , its history, culture and meaning, through the prism of the 2011 Ronde, an incredible edition that was one of the most exciting bike races of the past half-century. He weaves the narrative of that day into a broader study of the race, with eyewitness accounts from the key locations of the Ronde and dozens of interviews with the riders. The Ronde is a textured portrait of a race, but it also explores the deep links between bike races and the landscape and culture in which they take place, and explains how cycling works, with the most detailed analysis of a single event ever seen.

A London cycle courier with a taste for adventure, Emily Chappell entered an extraordinary new race - The Transcontinental - in which riders must find their own way, entirely unassisted, across Europe in the shortest time possible. On her second attempt, she won the women's event, covering nearly 4,000 miles in 13 days and ten hours, sleeping in short bursts wherever exhaustion took her.In the aftermath of a win that troubled as much as pleased her she worked with Mike Hall, the founder of the race, until his tragic death on the road.Where There's a Will is a book about a normal person finding the capacity to do something extraordinary; the paradoxes of comradeship, competition, vulnerability and will and the shock of grief, combined in a beautifully written and very human story.

Discover this 100-year anniversary celebration of the hardest-earned and most sacred prize in sport, the Tour de France’s Yellow Jersey.The perfect Christmas gift for cycling fans.In 2019, the cycling world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of sport's most iconic and distinguished prize: the Yellow Jersey. Beautifully produced and packed full of interviews with riders such as Chris Froome, Thomas Voeckler and the oldest living wearer of the Yellow Jersey at 94, Antonin Rolland, The Yellow Jersey is a fitting celebration of the 'maillot jaune'.In 1919 the leading rider was first instructed to wear the Yellow Jersey, following a campaign from fans and journalists who were struggling to identify the winning rider. 100 years on, the jersey has passed into almost sacred status. You'll never see an amateur rider wearing yellow - it is reserved purely for those who have sacrificed themselves in the world's greatest race.Cossins will take the reader on a journey to the origins of the jersey and its early winners. He'll explore the effect of wearing yellow as a motivator and occasionally as a curse. Beautifully produced with original photography, The Yellow Jersey is an exquisite tribute to the greatest trophy in sport.‘Without doubt the most beautiful book to land on our desk this year… we can’t recommend this book enough’ Cycling Weekly

Raised in the extreme religious cult “the Children of God,” Juliana Buhring was frequently punished for being a rebel and finally broke away. Her soul mate was an explorer seeking the source of unmapped rivers in Africa. When he was killed by a crocodile, her world went dark.To escape paralyzing grief, Buhring set herself a goal. Never having seriously ridden a bike, she set out to ride one around the world. Her timing required going “the wrong way,” against the Earth’s rotation and most winds. Supported by a devoted Italian friend, random “road angels,” and other ex-cult “kids” around the world, she traversed small-town and big-mountain America, Australian desert expanses, South Asian rainforests and villages, and Turkish plains, ultimately beating the previous men’s record and becoming the fastest woman to cycle the world. Empowering, inspiring, often humorous, This Road I Ride is testimony to the power of sheer will to overcome any obstacle.

*** THIS BOOK IS AN OLD EDITION - IT'S NOW PUBLISHED AS 'THE UNITED STATES OF ADVENTURE'Please pop that title in the search bar to find the latest version of the book. Happy Adventuring :) ***BOOK DESCRIPTIONDisillusioned with corporate London life and with no previous experience as a long-distance cyclist, Anna decides to clamber atop a beautiful pink bicycle (named Boudica) and set out on an 11,000-mile journey on her own, through each and every state of the USA.Dodging floods, blizzards and electrical storms, she pedals side by side with mustangs of the Wild West, through towering redwood forests, past the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains and on to the volcanos of Hawaii. Along the way, she meets record-breaking grandmas, sings with Al Green at a gospel service and does her best to avoid becoming a grizzly bear's dinner.50 Shades of the USA is a down-to-earth, heartfelt and hilarious account of an adventure through a country well-known, but far less well-understood. It is a stunning tale of self-discovery told through the eyes of a woman who couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to life, and more to America too.

A fascinating account of a British woman's epic journey, cycling round the globe fron East to West. Using historical routes as her inspiration, Anne Mustoe followed the ancient Roman roads to Lisbon, travelled with the Conquistadors across South America, pursued Captain Cook over the Pacific to Australia and Indonesia and followed the caravans along the fabled Silk Road from Xi'an back to Rome.Full of exciting stories of police arrest, the threat of guerillas and attacks by wild dogs, Lone Traveller is an engrossing tale one woman's experiences on a remarkable journey.

The world's most epic bike rides from the world's biggest road cycling magazine.Explore 50 of the greatest, most thrilling road cycling routes the world has to offer, guided by the experts at the world's biggest road cycling magazine, Cyclist.Route maps, first-hand ride reports and truly breathtaking photography from the finest cycling photographers come together in this celebration of the world on two wheels.Covering the very best of Europe, from the twisting trails of northern Norway to the winding coast of southern Spain, this beautiful book also includes rides from as far afield as Vietnam, Ethiopia and Lebanon, as well as the USA.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDSMountain High is a book for cyclists of all interests and abilities - from experienced club racers to enthusiastic amateurs looking for the world's greatest cycle challenge. Packed with practical route information and advice on each climb, Daniel Friebe's beautifully written text explains why each mountain pass merits inclusion in the top 50 with superb descriptions of the majestic scenery, the heroic deeds of cycling's legendary riders or the sheer endeavour and exhilaration of reaching the summit. With over 250 specially commissioned photographs taken by specialist cycling photographer Pete Goding, this really is the ultimate guide to Europe's 50 best climbs.Featured rides include:Tour de France icons Alpe d'Huez, Col du Galibier, Mont Ventoux, Col de l'Izoard and Col du Tourmalet; the Passo dello Stelvio, Passo Fedaia, Le Tre Cime di Lavaredo and other sacred summits from the Giro d'Italia; plus Spain's formidable Alto de l'Angliru, Austria's Grossglockner and forty more mountain legends.

A revised and expanded edition of this popular photographic celebration of Europe’s most beautiful and grueling cycling climbs, for amateurs and hardcore cyclists alike.The mountains of Europe represent different things for different people. For the locals they are a way of life; for visitors they represent breathtaking beauty, active holidays, and moments of contemplation. For cyclists, however, these dramatic landscapes represent suffering, agony―and glory. For over a century, from the Ardennes to the Alps, mountains have provided a setting for the world’s great cycling contests, where determination and willpower triumph over terrain and altitude.Cycling makes us more active and takes us down less-traveled roads, and the mountains of Europe are becoming the primary destination for amateur riders who want to challenge themselves, experience fabled routes, and escape their everyday lives. Featuring over fifteen new cycling climbs from across Europe, this revised and expanded edition of Michael Blann’s beautiful publication is aimed at all those who are inspired by the challenge of mountain riding.With tributes, personal recollections from leading road cyclists, and a range of new climbs in the Alps and elsewhere, this richly illustrated guide to some of the world’s finest climbs will inspire awe and wonder in anyone who wishes to confront the power of the mountains. 250+ photographs in color

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisherDiscover 200 of the best places to ride a bike in this beautifully illustrated hardback. From family-friendly, sightseeing urban rides to epic adventures off the beaten track. Destinations range from France and Italy, for the world's great bike races, to the wilds of Mongolia and Patagonia. These journeys will inspire - whether you are an experienced cyclist or just getting started.The book is organised by continent. In the Americas we join a family bikepacking trip in Ecuador; we pedal the Natchez Trace Parkway and stop at legendary music spots; we ride the Pacific Coast Highway in Oregon and California; go mountain biking in Moab and Canada; and explore the cities of Buenos Aires and New York by bicycle.European rides include easy-going trips around Lake Constance, along the Danube and the Loire, and coast-to-coast routes; routes in Tuscany, Spain and Corsica; and professional journeys up Mt Ventoux and around the Tour of Flanders.In Asia, we venture through Vietnam's valleys; complete the Mae Hong Son circuit in northern Thailand; cross the Indian Himalayas; and pedal through Bhutan. And in Australia and New Zealand we take in Tasmania and Queensland by mountain bike; cycle into Victoria's high country and around Adelaide on road bikes; and try some of New Zealand's celebrated cycle trails.Each ride is illustrated with stunning photography and a map. A toolkit of practical details - where to start and finish, how to get there, where to stay and more - helps riders plan their own trips. There are also suggestions for three more similar rides around the world for each story. Each piece shows how cycling is a fantastic way to get to know a place, a people and their culture.About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, gift and lifestyle books and stationery, as well as an award-winning website, magazines, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in.TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves, it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)

A narrative guide to the most scenic and inspiring cycling climbs in the French Alps.The Alps are a place of legend for cyclists, road racers, and enthusiasts alike. Home to one of the most demanding sections of the Tour de France, the mountains offer some of Europe’s most glorious cycling climbs through Geneva, Chamonix, Annecy, Chambe´ry, Grenoble, Le Bourg-d’Oisans, and Barcelonnette.In this comprehensive guide, Graeme Fife, author, teacher, and passionate cycling enthusiast, presents the greatest mountain routes of the Alps. Aided by Peter Drinkell’s beautiful color photography, Fife reveals each journey with historical snapshots, humorous observations, and stirring stories from cycling’s past, detailing the challenges of each climb and the key features to look out for along the way. A selection of photographs of the routes and stunning scenery is included in each chapter, and illustrated maps document the climbs of each region.Whether planning a weekend tour or an epic cycling adventure, this beautifully illustrated guide is essential reading for cyclists of all stripes. 60 color illustrations

An illustrated history of the evolution of British women's cycle wear.The bicycle in Victorian Britain is often celebrated as a vehicle of women's liberation. Less noted is another critical technology with which women forged new and mobile public lives—cycle wear. This illustrated account of women's cycle wear from Goldsmiths Press brings together Victorian engineering and radical feminist invention to supply a missing chapter in the history of feminism.Despite its benefits, cycling was a material and ideological minefield for women. Conventional fashions were unworkable, with skirts catching in wheels and tangling in pedals. Yet wearing “rational” cycle wear could provoke verbal and sometimes physical abuse from those threatened by newly mobile women. Seeking a solution, pioneering women not only imagined, made, and wore radical new forms of cycle wear but also patented their inventive designs. The most remarkable of these were convertible costumes that enabled wearers to transform ordinary clothing into cycle wear.Drawing on in-depth archival research and inventive practice, Kat Jungnickel brings to life in rich detail the little-known stories of six inventors of the 1890s. Alice Bygrave, a dressmaker of Brixton, registered four patents for a skirt with a dual pulley system built into its seams. Julia Gill, a court dressmaker of Haverstock Hill, patented a skirt that drew material up the waist using a mechanism of rings or eyelets. Mary and Sarah Pease, sisters from York, patented a skirt that could be quickly converted into a fashionable high-collar cape. Henrietta Müller, a women's rights activist of Maidenhead, patented a three-part cycling suit with a concealed system of loops and buttons to elevate the skirt. And Mary Ann Ward, a gentlewoman of Bristol, patented the “Hyde Park Safety Skirt,” which gathered fabric at intervals using a series of side buttons on the skirt. Their unique contributions to cycling's past continue to shape urban life for contemporary mobile women.

Train to win with Joe Friel and the definitive guide to optimal cycling performance.Inside this all-new Cyclist’s Training Bible, Joe Friel—cycling’s most experienced personal coach—presents the latest discoveries in cycling science, data analysis, daily planning, and skills development to help you create a personal training plan for success. Whether you are training for road races, criteriums, time trials, or gravel races, or you just need to improve your climbing, sprinting, endurance, or recovery, The Cyclist’s Training Bible covers it all, including: Power Meter Metrics: Put cycling’s most advanced science to work during every training session. TSS-Based Training: Use the Training Stress Score to gauge training load and build a superior training plan. Personalized Planning: Create a custom training program to capitalize on your strengths and minimize your limiters. Field Tests: Evaluate progress and improve your training focus by performing Functional Threshold Power, Functional Aerobic Capacity, Sprint Power, Time Trial, and Functional Threshold Heart Rate tests. Timing Your Peak and Taper: Shed training fatigue while maintaining fitness in the lead-up to key races. Planning a Season: Joe Friel’s most advanced and comprehensive tools will help you create a winning daily, monthly, and yearly training plan. Strength Training: Develop climbing and sprinting power with targeted exercises on the bike and in the gym. Cycling Workouts: Follow detailed workouts to build aerobic endurance, muscular force, speed skill, muscular endurance, anaerobic endurance, and sprint energy. From the most trusted name in endurance sports coaching, The Cyclist's Training Bible is the most comprehensive and reliable training resource ever written for cyclists.

Bespoke presents 175 of the most lyrical, humorous and down-right vulgar terms complete with detailed usage and origin notes, with entries fully cross-referenced across cycling’s main languages and destinations.Some sports lend themselves to language: cycling is one of them. With its rich history and culture, and its professional roots across the continent and beyond, cycling has developed a terminology that goes well beyond borders, producing a lexicon all of its own.This book guides the reader through a land where the road to hell is paved not with good intentions, but with cobbles. This is a place where all the world is a stage, unless you are a one-day specialist. Where its inhabitants come with a litany of arresting nicknames - Badgers, Cannibals, Eagles, Pirates -each with a wonderful story of their own.Lavishly illustrated with specially commissioned artworks by acclaimed cycling illustrator Neil Stevens and historical photography from both the British Library collections and L’Équipe, this is a book that takes the reader from the tête de la course to the gruppetto, from the caravane following the race to the tifosi cheering on the mountainside. Insightful and irreverent, Bespoke is the book for anyone who wants to be able to speak cycling.