15. Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook: A Worldwide Cycling Route & Planning Guide

This was a fun and partially useful book, although it concentrates more on bicycle touring in remote places. The first half of the book concentrates on finding a good bike for riding around the world and also getting the gear for camping out anywhere from the Himalayas to the Sonora Desert. And of course everywhere in between. The second half of the book is filled with brief report backs from different bicycle adventurers. This section is both filled with practical advice and inspiring stories as well as a few scary stories as well such as the traveller who had just been dropped off by a truck that had given him a lift and was waving goodbye to them when to his horror they unknowing waved back and ran over his bike. Ouch. Watch for that. Fun good, but there may be more practical books for cyclists who plan to stay in the US.

14: The Essential Touring Cyclist: A Complete Guide for the Bicycle Traveler

This is a good book to introduce you to Bicycle Touring. It has a really good chapter on training, with advice on building up enough weekly miles to comfortably bike a century (100 miles in a day) or start off on tour.

Also another chapter discussed the different types of touring. The simplest type is supported tours: where all you have to carry is a few bottles of water, your bike tools and a rain coat, and the rest of your luggage (usually a extra large duffel bag) is carted ahead on a van. The next step up is "credit card" touring where you bike from one motel or B&B to the next, carrying all of your clothes with you, but do not need to carry a tent or food or cooking equipment. Then the big one: fully supported touring where you carry everything on your bike: tent, sleeping bag, water, extra clothes, food, camp stove and pots. The author points out its not as rigorous as backpacking however, because you really only need to carry a days supply of food at a time and since your on the road its easy to resupply water and food a few times a day.

Another chapter covers the dangers and pitfalls of touring: weather, auto traffic, flat tires, broken spokes. And the final chapter covers travelling to your tour starting point via plane, train, or bus. And there is even a handy appendix with supported week long tours in different states. I found three intense week-long tours here in colorado.

A good resource for bicyclists who want to try out touring.