BICYCLING AROUND THE WORLD: Tire Tracks For Your Imagination / Everything You Need to Know About Touring

by Forrest Wooldridge

Nowhere in the world can you bearrested for having too much fun while riding a bicycle! Unless, of course, youread 'BICYCLING AROUND THE WORLD'! Whether you're 'flying' over 15,000 footpasses with two condors in the Andes, riding with an emuin the Australian Outback, facing a king cobra in Nepal or meeting a manwalking across America on his hands, Wooldridge carries readers into theastounding world of long distance bicycle touring. From the first chapter to thelast, you're riding on the edge of your seat with laughter and wonder. This isthe best of 26 years in the saddle. If you've never smelled the breath of agrizzly bear in camp, you will. You'll find out how he discovered the'Voluptuousness of Living'. Wooldridge meets fascinating men and women fromaround the globe that will astound and inspire you. This book mesmerizes readers withanimal stories that bring a smile to your face. It will pain your mind andheart seeing the Third World. It chills you with a once-in-a-lifetime ride in Antarcticawhere you'll meet a family of Emperor penguins. Along the way, you'll find outthat you have to go without a mirror, sometimes, in order to see yourself. Thegreatest aspect of this book comes from--expectation! Not since 'Miles From Nowhere' has a writer captured the Zen and Art ofBicycle Adventure as well as Wooldridge. Not only that, you enjoy a finalsection--'EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LONG DISTANCE TOURING'. He showsyou 'HOW TO LIVE THE DREAM'. You'll have the right bike, equipment, money andtools to ride into your own long distance touring adventures. If you likebicycling, you'll go wild reading this book. If you don't like bicycling,you'll still go wild reading this book.

328 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2004

Reviews

[jennnnnnnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

so I took forever to read this book. And by forever, I mean, about four months. The reason for this is that the book in terms of textual formation is not good at all this, distract from the actual content of the book, turning the reading experience into one that is stressful and generally unpleasant.

The only thing that kept me from actually giving up on this book, and just gifting it to someone is that the writing itself, and the stories entails are very good. This book is absolutely underrated, and I secretly wish that it had an audiobook version of it, narrated by the writer himself. That is the reason why I am giving it a four star rating.

In terms of formatting, it deserves one star or zero. But the short stories compiled in this 330 page book made it worth it.

The last four chapters of the book were a bit of a Snoozefest, but the ones all the way up to that point, were really interesting, short and sweet, with overall lovely takeaways.


Although I used to be an occasional cyclist, I am no longer a bicycle rider Due to permanent injury. This did not make my reading experience any less interesting. The lessons described in this book can be taken and applied in any life setting.


If you like memoir books with interesting stories, and important life lessons, then this book is for you. Just remember that you will have to survive through the very poorly, edited formatting.