Book recommendations on touring?
 

Can anyone give me suggestions on books to read? I'm going on tour in 2016 and am interested in books related to touring, preferably across the USA but am open to any ideas. I'm not looking for "help" books. I'm ready for the tour but I enjoy reading about the experience of others.

I've already read these books:

Going Somewhere Brian Benson

Across America by Bicycle; Alice and Bobbi's Summer on Wheels Alice Honeywell & Bobbi Montgomery

Biking Across America: My Coast-To-Coast Adventure and the People I Met Along the Way Paul Stutzman

Thanks :)

Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage. It's about a round the world tour in the late 1970s. I just finished it for the 2nd or 3rd time.

Cycling Home From Siberia by Rob Lilwall.

Thanks! I'll check both of them out :)

While not a book, the Lovely Bicycle blog reads like an anthology collection of essays on cycling. And she occasionally reviews books on cycling. Her philosophy is comparable to that of a cycling tourist - non-competitive, in it for the joy of cycling for its own sake, with a generous respect for appreciation of the machines and accoutrements as important ingredients in that pursuit.

Rather than reading, or watching documentaries, done from a hobby/pursuit-specific perspective, I prefer more generalized perspectives on the process of the journey.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance remains a classic. I read it when I was 15 and one particular lesson stayed with me, regarding pragmatism vs the sort of puritanism that infects so many niche pursuits. Pirsig wrote about a motorcycle trip with a friend who had a new BMW and was so suckered by notions of purity and correctness that he wouldn't accept, as a simple solution to fixing a loose handlebar, a shim made from cutting strips of an aluminum can found along the roadside. Decades later, I've lost count of the number of shims and other expedient bits I've made from aluminum cans. But the book isn't just about the vehicles, but the journey and coping with our fellow humans along the way. His anecdotes about the strained relationship with his son are equally poignant.

The "Enjoy Every Sandwich" tribute to Warren Zevon attempts to express a similar "Be here now" philosophy, but in such a simplistic manner and lacking the power, irony and acute self-awareness of Zevon himself that I'd rather just listen to the original versions while keeping in mind the intent of the tribute project.

While mostly fictitious, Carlos Castaneda's "Don Juan" books remain powerful commentaries on the human journey, both in terms of the literal physical journey from place to place, and the way we are affected and changed by our physical journeys. The long hikes through deserts and mountains recounted in loving detail in the books compares well with long distance bicycle rides, including the blurred lines between total exhaustion and the endorphin rushes that keep us going - which parallels well with the references to mind altering substances and experiences in Castaneda's stories. If you can read only one, "Journey to Ixtlan" is a pretty good excerpt and summation of the entire series.

Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon might be an interesting addition to this list, although I never finished the book back in the 1980s. I'm not sure whether the book didn't quite grab me, or whether life interfered with finishing the book.

Most of Tolkien's middle earth stories are fundamentally journey stories. Whether you're traveling alone or with one or more partners, almost every conceivable personality and adventure written about by Tolkien has its analog in any real life journey. The "Speak, friend, and enter" password at the Doors of Durin is a valuable lesson for any traveler who encounters problems, puzzles and riddles along the way.

An easy and fun to read. Cycle Touring Primer · Urban Adventure League · Online Store Powered by Storenvy

If you haven't yet, check out the Adventure Cycling Association website. They have some relevant titles:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/cyc...se/books-dvds/

I haven't yet but just bookmarked the link, thank you! I am an ACA member but hadn't looked on their website much.

The ubiquitous touring cyclist/storyteller is Joe Kurmaskie, "The Metal Cowboy". He has several books out:

Metal Cowboy
Riding Outside the Lines
Momentum Is Your Friend
Mud, Sweat, and Gears
(another recent publishing whose title escapes me right now)

Also, Stan Purdum wrote "Riding Around Heaven All Day".

Thanks everyone! I just ordered 4 books from Barnes and Noble.

I got...

Mud Sweat, and Gears Joe Kurmaskie
Momentum is your Friend Joe Kurmaskie
Just the Two of Us; A Cycling Journey Across America Melissa Norton
Over the Hills; A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle David Lamb

And also ... check out the Touring forum here: Touring

Plus ... read Josie Dew's books.

Also, not about touring, but about travel in general, I like Bill Bryson's books. They're a good read. :)

Read Books on the places you Plan to Go, so you Know the History of them. Including the Pre Columbian Invasion from Europe.
Patronize Your Public Library.

I have read A Walk In The Woods. I have not read any of this other books though. Can you recommend another one of his titles?

I grew up in Germany so I know about that, nothing I care to revisit. Have already read about the places I am going though in general :)

Quiz: what native tribes were there in the first place & what were their Trade interactions ?

"Winky-Eyed Jesus" is a book about a guy's recumbent ride across the U.S. It is available through Amazon.

I'll look it up! Thank you. I've always wanted to try a recumbent bike.

I've read several ... haven't come across one I don't like yet.