This will be my first:

• Solo tour

• Tour in countries where I don’t speak the language

• Tour where I’m staying in a tent, probably mostly in campsites but maybe a bit of wild-camping

So I’ve been looking up stories of other cycle tourists, particularly woman who have travelled on their own by bike. Alongside the many online blogs and YouTube channels, here’s a list of books I’m reading. I’m reading these mostly to extract tips for how to cycle tour safely and enjoyably. I’ll update this list as I go.

N.B. These are all white women; women of colour might have different risk factors, darker skinned women possibly more so. If you know of any books written by WoC about solo cycle touring, please let me know! I did find a few blogs, but they were sparse and rarely in English.

N.N.B. my friends Shanti & Shreyas are currently cycle touring from Türkiye to who knows where at the moment, and their blog is wonderful!

Where There’s a Will by Emily Chappell

Nina lent me this book when she heard that I’d be cycle touring, and I so appreciated it because it’s not the sort of book I would usually pick up! It started me on this frolic through cycling books which I’m thoroughly enjoying and finding very helpful for my trip.

Emily Chappell’s account of racing the Trans-Continental across Europe is beautifully written. The gruelling reality of ultra endurance racing across entire continents is a far cry from my tootle along Europe’s flattest and most popular routes, and for that reason, it gave me confidence that surely I can do this, if some humans can do that. The minutiae of bikepacking/stealth camping/cycle touring isn’t the point of the book, but I also picked up a lot of unknown-unknowns about the practicalities of touring in Europe, like where to buy convenient meals on the road, and the etiquette around finding secure storage for your muddy bike during overnight accommodation.

The book also explores depression, mental health, loss, and is a great read even if you’re not into cycling. The descriptions of the varying nature, countryside, and villages as she biked from France to Turkey was so exquisite, it really built my excitement for the trip.

Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman

After reading & loving Where There’s a Will, I immediately googled every long-distance-cycling-related book at the library and reserved all of them. This one was immediately available as both ebook and audiobook on Libby, so I dived in.

Again, a much more hardcore person than I, and this time with a very focussed mission to bike 10,000 miles following the migration of monarch butterflies, while raising awareness of their conservation and environmental protection. Firstly, it was a bit jarring, but also refreshing, to read the perspective of someone who feels all the emotions of biodiversity collapse and climate change so deeply. I’ve found that to some extent, I do have to neck-in-sand a little, to protect my mental health and be effective at my work in climate change. Therefore, having been in a bit of a “positive vibes only” bubble within the climate space for a while, it felt grounding to sit with the thoughts of someone who’s probably more in tune with their emotions around the topic, and is willing to sit with the discomfort a bit more than I am. Maybe all the biking through nature will be a good time to reflect and sob it all out.

The wide-ranging themes of environmental awareness, climate communication, bridging political divides, awareness of privilege (camping behind a random parking lot to be woken by policemen as a white woman, very different scenario for a black man; same with meandering along the Mexico/USA border) etc. were lightly touched on, and the monarch migration facts very interesting, but again I was looking out for cycle touring tips. Lots of clues like easy food combos (apple & peanut butter, capsicum & hummus, “lazy sandwich” where you take a bite of bread, then a bite of filling), showering frequency (infrequent), and secure bike storage.

Most notable for me was how casual she was about accommodation plans (or lack thereof). The author would stay with strangers, or stealth camping in the most random of spots - behind old churches, in the corner of cemeteries, deep in nature, etc. Again, a reassurance that if she did that, in USA of all places, then me staying at family-friendly campgrounds in Western/Northern Europe is probably chill, even as a WoC. It does mention one incident where her trust in the world was a bit shattered in a choice I probably wouldn’t have made (accepting an offer to stay with an older man, a retired principal and fellow cyclist), and now I’m doubly validated to not risk that kind of situation. Also, cycle touring through America generally sounds kind of terrible, relative to Europe or Korea at least. Not all that surprising given how car-centric and gun-violent the country is, but disappointing all the same. I’m sure the famous bike trails are different, but she was following a very unique path (literally following the butterflies) that took her far off the most well-ridden bike routes.

I’m really glad she included all experiences both good and bad in her book.

Bikes and Bloomers by Kat Jungnickel

This was a fascinating and well researched read on the rare venn diagram of cycling, fashion, Victorian engineering, and feminism. Bikes were a key part of women achieving physical (if not yet social/economic) mobility. Yet, the same discriminations that had barred them from being able to get around on their own, also created barriers when it came to making the most of the bicycle when it became available. The book delves into how expectations around women’s dress (roughly the equivalent of carting around a neutron star’s worth of fabric, without breaking a sweat or tilting an imaginary book off their head) made for dangerous riding conditions. Some women inventors came up with ingenious socially appropriate alternatives, while other women organised and campaigned for the right to wear pants without being subject to abuse and stigmatisation. Admittedly I had to skim it before returning it, but here are some wild excerpts.

I love histories like this, because it shows:

• We’ve come a long way (and I enjoy the feeling of gratitude towards these spiritual ancestors)

• The progressive ideas we consider radical and controversial now, will be common sense in a generation or less.

• Social change always comes about from a diverse group of committed, values-led people who tackle the problem through a myriad of approaches, persevering over many years. So if it feels like progress is happening too slowly, too jerkily, with painful internal disagreement within a movement, remember the bigger picture and persevere slowly and collaboratively towards your shared north star.

Mud, Sweat, and Gears: Cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats (via the pub) by Ellie Bennett

I was excited to come across a book that was about a middle aged women with a milder preference for adventure (and a generous appreciation for creature comforts) than the ultra endurance racers and boundary pushers who I had been reading about so far. However, I almost put it back down when I realised she was doing it as a pair, which moves it out of the very short list of books about solo women cyclists, into the much longer list of couples (or friends, in this case) touring together. But the delightfully illustrated cover, featuring cute clouds, tree, and beers, and the opening pages which featured them starting their 1000 mile cycle tour half a day late due to a pub detour, drew me in.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ellie Bennett is a fantastic writer, with that restrained, self-deprecating style of British humour that I love. I appreciated that the exploits of Ellie and Mick cycling the length of the United Kingdom, having not done much touring before, contrasted with the previous books in that it was really mostly about having fun (alongside fundraising for an Alzheimers charity), rather than pushing oneself to their absolute limits physically and mentally* (noble pursuits, but I’m here to holiday).

*having said that, it became clear as the book progressed that Ellie and Mick are actually kinda hardcore. Exhibit A: they only had 2 rest days in 32 days of riding, averaging a 70-80 km a day including some very significant climbs. And Mick knew his way around bike maintenance, unlike me, which makes me nervous for my trip.

The book also includes interesting local history, recounted in pithy vignettes, which occasionally dips into concise and common-sensical social/political/environmental commentary without ever getting preachy (I admire this because preachy is, unfortunately, my middle name). There are also plenty of practical insights about touring that I tucked away (e.g. on the hostel/rest days, ask for a place to hang up the tent to dry; use nappy cream daily and just use a pantyliner instead of undies inside bike shorts to minimise risk of saddle sores). Ellie also hates hills, like me, and that is very reassuring in a “if she can do it, i can do it” sort of way. It was at least more relatable than reading ultra-endurance cyclist Emily Chappell say things like “300 miles more to the next checkpoint up the mountain. I could get there in a day.”

Overall, it’s just great storytelling and conveys the sheer fun of cycle touring so well. I had been in a low-confidence funk, from struggling with bike mechanics the night before my flight, but when I finished this book a few days later, I was frothing again.

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy

A truly excellent book, a total classic of the genre. It’s a virtually unedited yet very readable recount from her travel diary after completing the journey as a solo 32-year old Irish woman with very limited gear and a bike that today would not even be considered as suitable for the Port Hills. The experiences, risks, and joys are so extreme, all of which she recounts in a sanguine and humorous tone. Some of the comments are dated as one might imagine, it having been written in the 60s, even quite racist/huge generalisations at times, but other observations are shockingly modern and relevant today.

She died in 2022 aged 90 having written a bunch more books about cycling solo!

Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road by Kate Harris

In progress!