Lands of Lost Borders

Lands of Lost Borders

Author: Kate Harris

Publisher: Knopf Canada

Published: 2018-01-30

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 034581679X

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE RBC TAYLOR PRIZE WINNER OF THE EDNA STAEBLER AWARD FOR CREATIVE NON-FICTION "Every day on a bike trip is like the one before--but it is also completely different, or perhaps you are different, woken up in new ways by the mile." As a teenager, Kate Harris realized that the career she most craved--that of a generalist explorer, equal parts swashbuckler and philosopher--had gone extinct. From her small-town home in Ontario, it seemed as if Marco Polo, Magellan and their like had long ago mapped the whole earth. So she vowed to become a scientist and go to Mars. To pass the time before she could launch into outer space, Kate set off by bicycle down a short section of the fabled Silk Road with her childhood friend Mel Yule, then settled down to study at Oxford and MIT. Eventually the truth dawned on her: an explorer, in any day and age, is by definition the kind of person who refuses to live between the lines. And Harris had soared most fully out of bounds right here on Earth, travelling a bygone trading route on her bicycle. So she quit the laboratory and hit the Silk Road again with Mel, this time determined to bike it from the beginning to end. Like Rebecca Solnit and Pico Iyer before her, Kate Harris offers a travel narrative at once exuberant and meditative, wry and rapturous. Weaving adventure and deep reflection with the history of science and exploration, Lands of Lost Borders explores the nature of limits and the wildness of a world that, like the self and like the stars, can never be fully mapped.


Riding My Bike - A bikepacker's tales from the trails

Riding My Bike - A bikepacker's tales from the trails

Author: Mike Raine

Publisher: Paragon Publishing

Published:

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1787920666

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A bikepacker’s tales from the trails Bikepacking has been an activity since bikes were invented, but in recent years it has really grown in popularity. The UK has proven itself to be an exceptional place for bike-bound, off-road adventures. In this book, Mike takes you on his journey to becoming a competent bikepacker and it’s filled with top tips and good advice. It contains tales from some of our greatest bikepacking routes including the Highland Trail 550, the Trans Cambrian and the Lakeland 300 routes. The centrepiece of the book is Mike’s own Cylchdaith Cymru/Welsh 550 journey around his adopted home of Wales. Mike is a naturalist, mountaineer and educator and as such he comments knowledgeably on the countryside and how it is being managed. He tells tales of the people he meets, the people he cycles with, and the places he visits. This is a bikepacking travelogue for our times. ‘An engaging account of bikepacking as it should be done, with head up and eyes open.’ Jethro Jessop, Bikepacker and YouTuber ‘I love how Mike has added the nature writing and history into his personal story of bikepacking. This book emphasises the importance of being outside in nature and of movement through the environment. It contains great practical and technical information for those starting out, but it is a personal journey – from naïve beginnings to travelling and exploring the natural world – the unconscious competency. This book is so much more interesting than simply going faster, going stronger!’ Rosie Baxendine, she/her, Bikepacking Guide ‘This is a book full of information, anecdotes and useful insights, written by a man who has climbed, walked and biked around most of the UK and Ireland. Mike’s beautifully written travelogue clearly indicates his intimate knowledge of ecology, geology, history, travel, and a sense of place. A cracking read.’ Iolo Williams, Naturalist and Broadcaster


Best Served Wild

Best Served Wild

Author: Brendan Leonard

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1493028715

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An Outdoor Cookbook with a Distinctly Refined Palette “Roughing it” doesn’t have to include the food you eat when you’re in the backcountry. Even when you’re miles from a full spice rack and only have a single-burner backpacking stove to work with, you can—and should—eat well. Best Served Wild offers up good backcountry food meant to be shared with friends around an open campfire. Adventure writer Brendan Leonard and food writer Anna Brones team up to bring you veggie-focused recipes for taking your backcountry food game beyond freeze-dried backpacking meals and brick-like energy bars. They share recipes for everything from single day adventures to overnight trips to multi-day outings—real food for real adventures.


Bikepacking School

Bikepacking School

Author: Bill Poindexter

Publisher:

Published: 2020-06-03

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13:

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Preface: I brought all this information together, in a very simple way, so you, the person who wants to travel by bike, can! So go for a long or short ride and experience the Earth and its inhabitants. In 2000, I was a very different person, I was very focused on material possessions, money, work, and although I was passionate about the Earth and nature I had let my false need for respect from others to creep its way into my life; I gained weight and became dangerously unhealthy. I came across an Adventure Cyclists Magazine in a bookstore, which made me pine for travel and to be healthy. I admired people I saw walking and bicycling for transportation. I started to walk and bicycle for transportation, eventually becoming completely car-free. I downsized my lifestyle. I lost over 240 pounds over a period of 12 years, and eventually started to travel by bike. Now I teach how to travel by bike. I write these words to inspire, and I share the other peoples -words, art, links, and info so you can responsibly learn the basics of bike travel. Let me know how you like this book and send me your thoughts. Bill Poindexter, May 3rd, 2020. Kansas City, Missouri, USA.Bill Poindexter is a Kansas City based author


Wheels on Ice

Wheels on Ice

Author: Jessica Cherry

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2022-12

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1496233905

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Wheels on Ice reveals Alaska’s key role in bicycling both as a mode of travel and as an endurance sport, as well as its special allure for those seeking the proverbial struggle against nature. This collection opens with the first bicycle boom and the advent of the safety bicycle in the late 1800s, at approximately the same time gold was discovered in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. As bicycles evolved, Alaskans were among the first to innovate: the fatbike, for example, evolved from the mountain bike in the late 1980s into a wider-framed bike with fatter tires, making snow biking more accessible and giving birth to the Iditabike race. More recently, ultra-endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox rode all the major roads in the state, totaling more than 4,500 miles of gravel and pavement. Jessica Cherry and Frank Soos’s diverse group of stories covers cycling both past and present. From riders commuting in every kind of weather to those seeking long-distance adventure in the most remote sections of the United States, these stories will inspire cyclists to ride into their own stories in Alaska and beyond.


Basic Illustrated Bike Touring and Bikepacking

Basic Illustrated Bike Touring and Bikepacking

Author: Justin Lichter

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-10-01

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1493019236

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Richly illustrated and information-packed tools for the novice or handy reference for the veteran, BASIC ILLUSTRATED books distill years of knowledge into affordable and visual guides. Whether you’re planning a trip or thumbing for facts in the field, the BASIC ILLUSTRATED series shows you what you need to know. Discover how to: Choose the proper bike Select appropriate gear Properly pack your equipment Identify the best routes


The Bicycle and the Bush

The Bicycle and the Bush

Author: Jim Fitzpatrick

Publisher:

Published: 1980

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13:

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Examines the nature and widespread use of bicycle in the Australian outback from the 1890s ; includes references to the use of and reaction to bicycles by Aboriginal people (pp.206-208).


Mind is the Ride

Mind is the Ride

Author: Jet McDonald

Publisher: Unbound Publishing

Published: 2019-05-16

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 1783526920

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When Jet McDonald cycled four thousand miles to India and back, he didn’t want to write a straightforward account. He wanted to go on an imaginative journey. The age of the travelogue is over: today we need to travel inwardly to see the world with fresh eyes. Mind is the Ride is that journey, a pedal-powered antidote to the petrol-driven philosophies of the past. The book takes the reader on a physical and intellectual adventure from West to East using the components of the bike as a metaphor for philosophy, which is woven into the cyclist's experience. Each chapter is based around a single component, and as Jet travels he adds new parts and new philosophies until the bike is 'built'; the ride to India is completed; and the relationship between mind, body and bicycle made apparent.


Overlander

Overlander

Author: Alan Brown

Publisher: Saraband

Published: 2022-01-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1915089409

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"Sensitive, personal and culturally informed." Andy Wightman MSP Seeking a temporary escape from city life and a world gone mad, Alan Brown plots out a personal challenge: an epic coast-to-coast trip through the wild and lonely interior of the Highlands. He traverses paths historic and new, eschewing creature comforts and high-tech cycle gear, trusting his (mostly) serviceable bike. Armed with the essentials and a sense of adventure and curiosity, he discovers more about nature, history, people, his country, the concept of risk, and himself, than he ever thought possible. Alan traces a route from Argyllshire’s Loch Etive across remote Rannoch moors, dramatic Grampian terrain and the beautiful glens of Strathspey to reach the Moray Firth at Findhorn. Ready for all weathers and obstacles, he succumbs to the hypnotic daily routine of ride, eat, sleep, repeat. He’s savouring the landscapes, the wildlife and the solitude, and relishing the self-reliance. He is also picking up clues to past lives, and discovering how the land has been altered by industry, game sports and, sometimes, conserved for wildlife and trees. It’s a route where Alan gets to spend time with nature and himself, where he takes his time, wild camping under the stars, on a journey of discovery in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.