EPIC BIKE RIDES OF THE WORLD

Explore the Planet’s Most Thrilling Cycling Routes

Lonely Planet, Hardcover $35 (320pp) 978-1-76034-083-4

At first glance, what stands out most about this volume is its beauty—the gorgeous cover, the breathtaking interior photos full of personality, the maps that are simple and useful yet visually appealing. But that level of excellence and attention to detail simply befits the beautiful world these memorable bike rides showcase, and this volume contains information and insight that reach far beneath the surface.

The book focuses on fifty featured routes, each one paired with three bonus ideas of similar rides. The rides are organized by continent, with the Americas and Europe having the most rides (two in Africa). Each ride has a map showing an overview of the ride path and a map showing where the ride is in the country. Then, each has a luscious, engagingly personal firsthand description of the ride, with a straightforward description and the intangible flavor of the experience. The narrators are clearly travel enthusiasts, so they pay attention to culture and history as well as fun and adventure. The toolkit sidebars provide at-a-glance data on each ride, plus where to find out more.

The book has the expertise and excellence you’d expect from Lonely Planet. It is best suited to experienced cyclists, but it by no means requires the most advanced skills, readers are assured. The table of contents features icons that indicate the difficulty of each ride, and the narratives give a sense of physical difficulty of the terrain. There are rides for twenty-something trekkers as well as families and retirees. And even armchair cyclists will enjoy paging through the book. With everything adventurers and cycling enthusiasts need to get inspired and pull off the rides of a lifetime in every corner of the globe, riders will only be sorry that this book is a bit hefty to take along on their adventures.