Sean Conway is a record-breaking endurance cyclist who has cycled over 100,000 miles in the last decade including cycling around the world, LEJOG twice, and the world record for the fastest person to cycle across Europe.
In 2008 Sean Conway set off on a 1000 mile bike ride that would shape the next 10 years of his life as he became obsessed with the idea of becoming a real ultra-cyclist. This is his story, how he tried, and failled many times, to break a cycling world record, and the story about his final world record attempt, cycling 4000 miles across Europe. Sean nearly gave up on his dream after tragically losing two of his ultra-cycling friends, but decided to continue in their honour with his quest to chase big miles on two wheels. Sean looks back at some of his cycling heroes, heroines, and the boom in ultra-cycling over the last decade.
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One of the most beautifully written cycling books, Al details how he spent over 4 years cycling around the world instead of taking a good job in teaching. Doing a long journey like that before the luxuries of modern technology all adds to the real sense of adventure. I only wish I had had the courage to partake in such a long adventure when I left school.
Also very well written. Charlie chooses the roads less travelled and he meanders for nearly 4 years from the UK to Singapore then back and down through Africa to Cape Town before turning around and cycling back up Africa to the UK. He got arrested in Tibet. Had a pony stolen in Mongolia and nearly got killed by a drunken mob in Ethiopia. Gripping throughout.
Anna has done some serious bike ride but my favorite was her award winning book about cycling around South America with her friend Faye. From the heights of La Paz to cycling naked through the salt flat in Bolivia it’s a beautifully written travelogue about grand adventures on two wheels
Having grown up in Africa I found Mark’s Cairo to Cape Town cycling world record captivating from start to finish. Completing the ride in 41 days (which is faster than many people drive it) was a feat of unimaginable endurance.
I often find adventure books written by women to be way more honest and inspiring and Donnas book is testament to that. Cycling 5000km through Europe with no previous cycling experience proves that you don’t have to be an ex-Olympian or from a military to go off and have an epic adventure.
5,888 authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about cycling, South America, and Africa.
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From Keith's list on hiking, adventuring, and the outdoors.
The first line of the description roused my curiosity with this one: "Richard Grant has never spent more than twenty-two consecutive nights under the same roof." Curious about his own wanderlust, and theorising that America is full of wanderers, he went out to prove it. Delving into the whys of nomads and travellers, I now understand my own nomadic tendencies.
From Keith's list on hiking, adventuring, and the outdoors.
I’d just finished the Camino de Santiago, and my hiking addiction was borderline dangerous. I read everything I could get my hands on, especially about the Pacific Crest Trail, which was next on my list. This is a simple, well-told story of a guy and his girlfriend who decide to hike a long-distance trail. It’s a familiar tale which happens every year. White tells it well, speckles it with humour, and gives a fun-filled insight into one of the greatest long-distance trails on earth.
From John's list on books by descriptive popularists with humour.
Bryson is just a brilliant writer who makes you feel as though you’re with him in intimate conversation in his head. His powers of observation in small things, which may seem familiar but are extraordinary, wakes you up to life. This book means a lot to me because of its beginning. He mentions my first big project after designing Jorvik Viking Centre, which was to conceive of and design an exhibition in Dover on the coast of Kent, ‘White Cliffs Experience’. His arrival as a young man and subsequent time spent almost as a down-and-out in that town captured for me the feeling of such a place of transit, of not belonging. He is the most easily evocative writer whose gift is to take you there and smile.
