Author: Lonely Planet
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa
While I know this July marks the beginning of the Olympics, if you’re a cycling fan like me, July also means the Tour de France. I watch as many stages as I can every year, and it is a bucket list item of mine to ride the route at least once in my life. I don’t foresee a last-minute trip happening this summer, so I picked up Lonely Planet’s Epic Bike Rides of the World as a good alternative for now.
This book features 200 routes in total: 50 main ones from all different regions of the world, and then for each one of those, three more routes that follow a similar theme, like lake rides, river rides – even literary rides! The routes range from Vermont to Scotland to New Zealand, and they include different styles, like road riding, mountain biking, city circuits, bikepacking, and more. You can dream of a Bavarian beer ride through Germany, a ride from Cairo to Cape Town in Africa, or perhaps a family-friendly ride around Cape Breton Island in Canada.
Epic Bike Rides of the World was first released in 2016, and while there are some details like expected weather and lodging suggestions, this feels more like an exciting overview, not a true guide book for an actual trip. The hardback version of this book would make a superb coffee table book though, whether for yourself or as a gift to someone else. I think the maps could have been presented better, but overall, the pictures are fantastic, the snippets of writing are interesting, and you’ll certainly be inspired to dream some dreams, whatever route that looks like for you.
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