Touring - Reference Book for Beginner Tour Biker

So I've been out biking around my area -Osaka Japan, and now I would am playing with the idea of bike tour-I really don't have a "bike group" around here-or at least one that I can understand
So what I would like is a good reference book to get me started.
At present I am searching for a bike shop here in Osaka that I can order a Jamis Nova bike through (this is quite the adventure between my limited Japanese and the bike shop English -ahhh the thrill of living overseas!)

Any suggestions for a reference book to start me off?
Diane
American Sensei

Man a bike tour in Japan, that would be awesome

Hi Diane,

I don't know of any reference books on touring, and to be honest I'm not sure you really need one. The trouble with reading something through a book or magazine (I've heard good things about Adventure Cycling magazine, but I've never seen it myself), is that you often only get the perspective of the writer. Personally I'd advise asking whatever questions you have here, which will allow you to get a variety of replies from a variety of perspectives. Then you can weigh them up and give yourself some options to choose from.

I get most of my info online because as Chris mentioned different people have different ideas on how to tour and a variety of opinion is helpful.Besides this forum I would recommend checking out the touring mailinglist,the adventure cycling site,Ken Kifer's touring pages and last but not least the journals at crazyguyonabike where you can focus on what others are using and how they fare.Here are the links
http://search.bikelist.org/
http://www.adventurecycling.org/
http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/index.htm
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/index.html?
You could probably find book recommendations on these sites as well if thats the route you want to take.

Eigo no sensei desu ka?

Hello Diane,
There's a good book by a bloke called Rob van den (or perhaps van der) Plas. The title is something like "Cycle Touring" - I can't exactly remember it even though I've got the book somewhere. If you do a search on Amazon.com you should be able to find it. Its a good straightforward book with a lot of practical, sensible advice. You'll get your own ideas as you tour, but one thing I've always found useful is a compass (even in cities) because if you've taken a wrong turn you can at least work out roughly which direction you should be going in.
All the best,
Andy.

There's a good book by a bloke called Rob van den (or perhaps van der) Plas. The title is something like "Cycle Touring"

Yes, it's Rob van der Plas. I have several older editions of his books which all have really generic names like "The Bicycle Commuting Book" and "The Bicycle Touring Manual".

Can you get the Fuji touring bike in Japan?

Richard Lovett: The Essential Touring Cyclist, Ragged Mountain Press/McGraw Hill, Camden, Maine, 1994.

I know that there is a newer, revised edition. Lovett gives some good advice. I don't agree with everything he says, but at least he gives you things to think about.

I second RegularGuy on The Essential Touring Cyclist. It's a great book for the beginner, good tips and such. Also, you must read Barbara Savage's Miles from Nowhere for the down and dirty day by day life of a touring bicyclist. I'll wager more than half the folks on this forum have read this one :) It's very entertaining as well as informational. Amazon.com has both of them.