Riding Around the World on a Bicycle

Her first trip in the later 1980's

I think Travel Writing must be my favourite writing. Not just any travel writing as there is a lot out there. But really purposely, well written travel writing. I think this series of books by Anne Mustoe must be at the top of the genre.
 I read the book A Bike Ride when it first came out and really enjoyed it though there was much I didn't understand.  Anne Mustoe was an English headmistress of a private girl's school who decided at an age of mid 50s to ride around the world on her bicycle. She hadn't ridden a bicycle before but for some reason the wanderlust hit her and off she went.

A Bike Ride is the first book she wrote. She had a purpose to this ride. As she was classically trained she decided to follow the route of Alexander the Great and ride along the path of some of the old Roman roads. Her trip takes her from England through France, Italy, Greece, Turkey and right on through Eastern Europe eventually to Australia, the United States and back to England.

There is something about a road trip, of any kind that pulls me towards adventure. People walking, hitchhiking, bicycling, horseback riding, motorbike riding, there are all kinds out there doing the big adventure thing. Now a days with technology it is so much easier. But when Anne took off she didn't have a smart phone or a tablet with wi-fi.  She rode 50 miles a day and hopefully when she reached her destination there was somewhere to stay.

1987

I love the way she writes about the people she meets. Little snippets of the culture, the mood of the people she  meets, the funny episodes. There are a few times the reader really worries about her too.

There is a lot of history in this book. Sometimes at times there is too much. She can go off on a tangent at times. When she is in Turkey she does get carried away but this reading I understood much about it as I have visited Turkey and have seen some of the places she writes about.

One of her later books and on my TBR
reading list.

Quite a bit of time has passed since I read her first two books. I didn't know she hadn't written more. I was thinking of her last week. Don't ask me why but her name popped up into my mind. I looked her up on the web to see what had happened to her and was saddened to know she was on a bike trip in Syria in her 70's, became ill and died. For some reason that really resonated with me. But for 20 years she continued her bike rides. There are now several books on sale written by her and I hope to get through a few of them. The one she wrote about riding through South American especially looks appealing.

You can see the list of books she wrote here. 

I would have enjoyed meeting her but now with these unopened books in front of me I am really looking forward to more of her adventures.