RSS
Home
Dreaming about the big ride.
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
After a dismal week here in the Pacific Northwest I find myself wondering how easy it would be to just check out and go for the Big Ride. Lots of cyclists are entering into the brave world of bicycle touring with no experience as self sustaining travelers and somehow manage to enjoy the simplicity of the adventure. Reaching out to the internet garners only a few good examples of how people actually adapt to being a touring cyclist and the community is amazingly hard to locate(maybe on purpose). Having only undertaken long solo rides that were done in a day, I went searching for the best blogs about bike touring.
Among the most prolific of the bicycle touring writers in North America Russ Roca has two of the best blogs. His <a href="http://epicureancyclist.com/">Epicurean Cyclist</a> website has been a great venue for the study of all things fine in the world of adventure cycling and <a href="http://pathlesspedaled.com/?page_id=2">the Path Less Pedaled</a> project he is riding with his Wife(girlfriend?) Laura Crawford provides one of the best running commentaries on bike touring. My favorite piece of their website is the amazingly detailed and constantly updated gear list. As far as touring cyclists go these two are great at providing good information with stunning pictures to back it up. Following their path along the West Coast of the United States has been amazing.
Looking farther abroad there is one blog that blows most out of the water. Peter Gostelow, a British Geographer cum BIke Tourer cum Photographer has an amazing website dedicated to his tour from England to South Africa. <a href"http://www.thebigafricacycle.com/">Big Africa Cycle</a> has an amazing amount of information on his specific tour but more importantly it also features a great gear list. He also provides plenty of really engaging links that open up new worlds to any bike tourer.
If you want to get the most out of searching for touring information on the internet look at the <a href="http://www.adventurecycling.com">Adventure Cycling</a> site. Long viewed as the seminal source for all things touring in North America they also have created some interesting communities with their forums. Not being a forum hound I tend to stay away from them but there are some amazingly simple topics covered down to the most infinitesimal detail.
There are a ton more sites about riding your bike away from the daily grind. I find it a bit overwhelming sometimes to comprehend the adventures some people manage to take. If you aren't dedicated to the Big Ride, look around Washington. There are great three to four day tours from Seattle that take you to places you didn't know existed. I keep planning my own trips but for now I'll just have to focus on what I have on deck for this weekend: <a href="http://www.sscxwc09.com">Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships</a> here I come!
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
