The Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook

One of the most valuable resources I had when preparing to make the leap and begin cycle touring was the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook.

In fact, I’d say that it’s responsible for my ideas becoming anything more than just ideas. It was summer 2006 and I was living in Edinburgh during the festival season, working as a technician for a variety of venues and productions, and doing some DJing.

I had two days off during those 5 weeks of voluntary sleep-deprivation. On the first, I got up at 5am and went for an epic mountain-bike ride in the foggy Pentland hills. On the second, I wandered into Blackwells’ bookshop, bought the Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook and spend the afternoon reading it on the grass in the Meadows.

It was the first time I’d heard of people travelling across entire countries — continents even! — by bicycle. Until that day, I’d thought that my idea to cycle to Croatia to visit a mate was seriously far-out!

The book is the first of its kind, dealing with the practicalities of ‘adventure’ cycling — away from the cycle paths and long distance route networks of the developed world. It is a primer for a journey of any length in any imaginable region of the planet, from a few days to several years.

The best thing is that it doesn’t tell you what to do. It’s a handbook, not a guidebook. It leaves the route and the way you approach it entirely up to you, and gives you just enough information to make it happen.

The second edition, again compiled by Stephen Lord, has just been released and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it — not least to see how the photos I contributed came out! You can get it on Amazon. Visit the book’s site for more information.