After I read Anne’s book A Bike Ride, I just had to read one of her other books and got hold of Lone Traveller: One Woman, Two Wheels and the World.
This book is written in the same way as A Bike Ride, very witty and page turning. You get into the book and just can’t get away, not that you are looking for a “whodunnit”. But because you are eager to learn what’s next – not only the touring tips and tricks, but also the history about the location she is touring through.
This book is not really a narrative from start to finish about her second trip around the world. It is split up into parts, each covering what you will encounter en route, such as where to stay, obtaining money and dealing with bureaucracy. One of my favourite chapters is “Men and Other Animals” where she spends a page or so talking about the problems with wild animals and the rest about men. :)
When we are touring we tend to avoid the metropolis and enjoy the countryside, but I still enjoy reading Anne’s books. Even though she states that “The country, abroad as in England, has less to offer …

The TravellingTwo have just written a free eBook about the basic touring.
I have just signed up for their news letter and read their first eBook. It is well written and gives you plenty food for thought even for somewhat seasoned cycle tourer. If you are a newbie to the cycling touring world this is a must read, you will get plenty of links, pointers and ideas of what it is all about.
I’m looking forward to their next eBook.
From today, you can get the answers to these and many more questions in our new Bike Touring Basics eBook. It’s taken us many weeks of work but we think you’ll agree, the final result looks great.
It’s 60 pages of advice, tips and inspiration, drawn from our own bike touring experience and put together with photos, quotes and contributions from across the bike touring community.
In the book, you’ll learn about:
* Why bike touring is so much fun
* How to save money for a tour
* How to pick out a destination and a route
* Training before you leave
* What bike to buy
…

Anne tells a lie in her book A bike ride, she doesn’t cycle 12,000 miles around the world. She only cycles 11,552 miles around the world, but I too would round it to the nearest thousand if I ever managed what she did.
I only learned about this truly remarkable woman last year when she untimely died. At least it was in Syria doing what she loved, what a way to go.
Anne did something that was and still is totally unheard off as woman (in some countries), she travelled the world on her own and on a bicycle. And remember when she did her trip the world wasn’t that much travelled as it is now. You couldn’t just pop into a shop write an email or call over VoIP and ask for money.
The book is a joy to read and it tells her journey around the world where she among other things follow the Romans, Alexander and the Pony express across the world. Great history lessons and reminder of what I have leaned in school but happily forgot over the years. While reading about her hardships and low moments, she still manage to put a smile on your face. The stories …

I have never heard about Anne Mustoe until I was told about her untimely passing.
… what she termed her “new career”. When she resolved to cycle round the world, Mustoe was 54, somewhat overweight and unfit, and without any idea of how to mend a puncture. She had not ridden a bike for 30 years, wobbled when she tried again, and she hated camping, picnics and discomfort.
What what (totally speechless)… and reading her obituaries over on Times Online, I’m in total awe of her. She have travel the world and her first 12.000 miles (yes twelve thousand) took her around the world in 15 months in 1987. This resulted in a book, A Bike Ride, which dealt with all the preparations, route-planning, packing and budgeting, as well as the riding.
She has been everywhere in the last 30 or so years. Here are a few countries and routes that the Times Online lists … from Rome, following Roman roads to Lisbon, the Conquistadors across South America, Captain Cook over the Pacific, and the Silk Route from China back to Rome. And then there is the Australian Outback, the Gobi Desert, the Karakoram Highway, the mountains of Nepal, through …

I have just finished Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne, and I loved it, it is a very good read.