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Fifty Places to Bike Before You Die: Biking Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations by Chris Santella PDF

267 Pages·2012·7.04 MB·English
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Preview Fifty Places to Bike Before You Die: Biking Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations by Chris Santella

Chris Santella—along with top biking expedition leaders and journalists— explores the world by bike. Every type of biker—from mountain enthusiasts to road warriors and everyone in between—will be introduced to trips ranging from the urban sprawl of New York City to trails along Texas Hill Country and coastal paths in Spain. The truly adventurous will find challenges in the Tour de Tuli, which begins in South Africa, and the Tour of Flanders, which winds through Belgium, while those seeking something a little calmer will find beautiful scenery in Vermont’s Champlain Valley and the Danish Isles. Commentary and insider tips from biking experts make this a can’t-miss guide, and Santella captures the special characteristics of these must-visit destinations. This book is for my girls, Cassidy, Annabel, and Deidre. I hope many more miles await us on our bikes. ALSO BY THE AUTHOR Fifty More Places to Fly Fish Before You Die: Fly-Fishing Experts Share More of the World’s Greatest Destinations Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die: Fly-Fishing Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales: Expert Fly Anglers Share Stories from the Sea and Stream Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die: Sailing Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die: Birding Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die: Diving Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations Fifty Places to Hike Before You Die: Outdoor Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations Once in a Lifetime Trips: The World’s Fifty Most Extraordinary and Memorable Travel Experiences Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction THE DESTINATIONS 1 Alberta: The Icefields Parkway RECOMMENDED BY PETER WEILAND 2 Argentina: Seven Lakes District RECOMMENDED BY ADAM BALLARD 3 Arizona: Grand Canyon—North Rim RECOMMENDED BY JARED FISHER 4 Australia: Western Tasmania RECOMMENDED BY RICHARD ODDY 5 Belgium: Flanders RECOMMENDED BY JOE PARKIN 6 Botswana/Zimbabwe/South Africa: Tour de Tuli RECOMMENDED BY JOE KURMASKIE 7 British Columbia: Okanagan Valley RECOMMENDED BY DAVID BAKER 8 California: Eastern Sierras RECOMMENDED BY ARLEN HALL 9 California: Wine Country RECOMMENDED BY JONATHAN HERSHBERGER 10 Costa Rica: Arenal to Guanacaste RECOMMENDED BY RONALD CALVO 11 Croatia: Dalmatian Coast RECOMMENDED BY CHRIS MARK 12 Czech Republic/Austria: Prague to Vienna RECOMMENDED BY ANGELA HORVATH BURKE 13 Denmark: Danish Isles RECOMMENDED BY RON VAN DIJK 14 France: Burgundy RECOMMENDED BY GEORGE BUTTERFIELD 15 France: Dordogne RECOMMENDED BY RENÉE KRYSKO 16 France: Provence RECOMMENDED BY JENEEN SUTHERLAND 17 Hawaii: Big Island RECOMMENDED BY JULIE ROBINSON 18 Idaho: Sawtooth Mountains RECOMMENDED BY ANNE ST. CLAIR 19 Indonesia: Bali RECOMMENDED BY EMILE LEUSHUIS 20 Iowa: RAGBRAI® RECOMMENDED BY T.J. JUSKIEWICZ 21 Ireland: Connemara RECOMMENDED BY CATHERINE DOWLING 22 Italy: Piedmont RECOMMENDED BY CRISTIANO BONINO 23 Italy: Sardinia RECOMMENDED BY LAUREN HEFFERON 24 Italy: Tuscany RECOMMENDED BY TANIA WORGULL 25 Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia: Baltic States RECOMMENDED BY MARIUS MAURAGAS 26 Maine: Casco Bay Region RECOMMENDED BY STEVE FULLER 27 Michigan: Leelanau Peninsula RECOMMENDED BY TIM MEYER 28 Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee: Natchez Trace RECOMMENDED BY PAUL WOOD 29 Montana/British Columbia: Glacier/Waterton Lakes National Parks RECOMMENDED BY LINDEN BADER 30 The Netherlands: The North RECOMMENDED BY DESIREE JANSSEN 31 New York: New York City RECOMMENDED BY ANDREW J. BERNSTEIN 32 New Zealand: South Island RECOMMENDED BY PAUL SMITH 33 North Carolina: Blue Ridge Parkway & Beyond RECOMMENDED BY REBECCA FALLS 34 Nova Scotia: Cape Breton RECOMMENDED BY GARY CONROD 35 Oregon: Crater Lake RECOMMENDED BY JERRY NORQUIST 36 Oregon: Chief Joseph Country RECOMMENDED BY JONATHAN NICHOLAS 37 Oregon: Greater Portland RECOMMENDED BY MIA BIRK 38 South Africa: Cape Town RECOMMENDED BY DAN AUSTIN 39 South Dakota: Black Hills RECOMMENDED BY ART BROWN 40 Spain: La Rioja RECOMMENDED BY ANDY LEVINE 41 Spain: Majorca RECOMMENDED BY DANIELLA SOEDER 42 Switzerland: Cross-Country Traverse RECOMMENDED BY JOHN KLEMME 43 Taiwan: Taroko Gorge RECOMMENDED BY PAUL McKENZIE 44 Texas: Hill Country RECOMMENDED BY STEVE COYLE & TAMMY SCHURR 45 Thailand: The Golden Triangle RECOMMENDED BY STRUAN ROBERTSON 46 Utah: White Rim Trail RECOMMENDED BY KIRSTIN PETERSON 47 Vermont: Champlain Valley RECOMMENDED BY GERRY SLAGER 48 Vietnam/Cambodia: Hanoi to Angkor Wat RECOMMENDED BY CHRISTIAN CHUMBLEY 49 Washington: San Juan Islands RECOMMENDED BY JOHANNES KRIEGER 50 Washington: Washington State Challenge RECOMMENDED BY JAN HEINE About the Author ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book would not have been possible without the generous assistance of the expert cyclists who shared their time and experience to help bring these fifty great bicycling venues to life. To these men and women, I offer the most heartfelt thanks. I also wish to acknowledge the fine efforts of my agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan; my editors, Wesley Royce and Jennifer Levesque; designer Anna Christian; and copyeditor Ashley Benning, who all helped bring the book into being. Finally, I want to extend a special thanks to my wife, Deidre, and my daughters Cassidy and Annabel, who’ve humored my absence during seemingly endless deadlines, and to my parents, Tina and Andy Santella, who are not cyclists, but always encouraged me to pursue my passions. FOREWORD There’s a revolutionary living under your roof. It doesn’t chant slogans or engage in armed resistance, but it’s a power to be reckoned with all the same. It bunks down in the garage, hangs from the rafters, or waits patiently by the door. To some it’s disguised as a child’s toy, a deceptively simple device for recreating on the weekends. In truth, bikes are lightning strikes in a top tube; a rebel with a cause just waiting to invigorate your life; Gandhi, Malcolm X, and The Clash in motion rolling down the road on some madcap adventure of freedom and discovery. They’re Teddy Roosevelt and all of his damn Rough Riders running roughshod over sloth, the ordinary, and sedentary living. They’re a symphony one day and an all-night rave the next. Pedal a bike and you’ll have all the proof you need of a balanced universe. The bicycle has saved drunks, junkies, and quietly discontented accountants alike. It’s defibbed couch potatoes out of the coma of the mushy twilight of a TV’s glow, and it’s turned back time for retirees who thought their best days were done. Quite simply, the bicycle is a time machine taking everyone who climbs on back to a ten-year-old self who believed in speed and the gorgeous savage inside. But like all time machines, it’s not just the when of the matter that’s important, but also the where. You’ll have an “experience” no matter where you roll, since the bicycle makes you a traveler rather than a tourist, but there’s something to be said for hedging your bets. That’s where Fifty Places to Bike Before You Die takes over as a road map to peak experiences in the saddle. From pedaling wine country to rolling up to the largest baobab in the African bush, why to go where and when have been distilled for you. All that’s left is to point your wheels, find your rhythm, and go as long and far as your desire will take you. —JOE “METAL COWBOY” KURMASKIE

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