Around the World on a Bicycle (Classics of American Sport) | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas Stevens
Creator: Thomas Pauly
Brand: STACKPOLE BOOKS
Category: Book
Buy Used: $46.98
Used (12) from $46.98
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 744564
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1072
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0 x 0
MPN: 0811726533
ISBN: 0811726533
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.41
EAN: 9780811726535
ASIN: 0811726533
Publication Date: January 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: FREE USPS Expedited shipping Upgrade! softcover, lots of shelf wear, corners/edges of cover/spine are worn/bent/frayed/curling, some smudges/marks on page edges, covers slightly scuffed/scratched, text only - no cdroms or access codes included, -ELE
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Product Description
BOOK, AROUND THE WORLD ON A BICYCLE,
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| Customer Reviews:
Across Asia on a Bicycle September 28, 2006
2 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you like this sort of book, you'll also like one about the second circumnavigation of the world by bicycle. That journey, taken by two recent Washington University graduates between 1890 and 1893, was also the first on the modern "safety" bike and the first to take the difficult north China route across the Gobi Desert. On the way, they also became the first Americans to climb Mount Ararat. In this book, they describe the Asian leg of their journey, at that time the "longest continuous land journey ever made around the world."
That book is Across Asia on a Bicycle (ISBN: 1587420201).
Some brave pair should repeat their journey, or at least the Asian leg, which is described in detail in the book. It'd be fascinating to compare what they saw with what can be seen today.
Superb July 2, 2004
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
San Francisco to Boston, England to the Balkans, Turkey to Afghanistan, India, China and Japan: Stevens boldly cycled where no bicycler had gone before!On the recommendation of a friend, I've been looking for this book for years. So I was delighted to learn that it had just been republished for the first time since 1902. Yes, 1902: Stevens started his trip in 1884. This intrepid wheelman (note: "wheel" is singular because Stevens' cycle was so dominated by the 50 inch front wheel he would often just refer to it as his "wheel") recorded his adventures and thoughts about the people and lands he visited during 13,500 miles of cycling. As you might expect from a bicycle journalist, Stevens carefully describes the riding quality of most of the roads and trails he followed, comments on his many headers, and joked about the amount of food he could eat at the end of a long day pedaling a 41 pound bicycle. But the book is far more than a cycling story, it is a glimpse into a world that is long-gone yet still relevant. He saw the hostility between different ethnic groups in the Balkans, he visited Kurdish nomads in what is now northern Iraq, commented on how the mullahs were preventing Iran from modernizing, etc. A man of his times, some of his words (e.g., not particularly flattering portraits of the Native Americans that he met) would definitely not be considered politically correct 110 years after he wrote them. But all in all, it was a delightful read.
 Quite a feat! November 3, 2003
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
It's amazing to think that Stevens was able to complete such a journey over 100 years ago on such a beastly bike. With no gears and bad roads, it seems he had to walk (or trundle) his bike as much as he rode it. It is especially interesting to see just how different some parts of the world are now, and yet just how little other parts of the word have changed since his journey. More than a travel book or bicycle adventure, the book is an interesting time capsule from long ago that is a pleasure to read!
Back in print at last! February 6, 2001
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Truly a classic traveler's tale, one that I'd been tempted to pay $100+ for a used copy of last year. This is an excellent reprint of the original, with all its illustrations, plus some of Stevens's other writings on his trip, with a well-footnoted introduction.
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