Sunday 19 April 2015

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.

11 comments:

  1. I've read a couple of Anne Mustoe's books too and thoroughly enjoyed them. I too was rather shocked to look her up last year only to find she had died in Syria. What a sad thing!

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  2. I was just so surprised that she died and only about 74 or something. She was such an incredible brave, insightful, intelligent woman. I get really annoyed when the really interesting people die too young. Haha

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  3. I love travel books as well! Especially of trips that I will never make myself. I haven't heard of Anne Mustoe, and I am more than a little in awe of her trips. I will be checking for her first two books.

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    1. I hope you do find her. I really enjoy her writing though her knowledge of European history overwhelms me.

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  4. Since my preferred method of travel these days is via armchair, these books sound perfect for me. Thanks! I've just ordered the 12,000 miles around the world one.

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    1. I do hope you enjoy it. . Thanks for dropping by.

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  5. I'm a sometime fan of adventure travel writing. While this doesn't quite sound like adventure travel, they are usually about travel involving serious hardship, it does sound like a fun read, and a fun trip though not one I would like to take.

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    1. I would love to do this except on my scooter. However the countries she traveled through would probably not be open to that. Though the rest of the world would be interesting. When I did my 7300 km 250cc scooter trip a couple years ago on Australia the highlight besides the scenery was meeting the wonderful people. It does restore your faith in humanity what with all the awful media news.

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  6. Oh, that would be so fun! I'm sure I would be a bit sore, I have to "get my legs back" on my Canondale after a long winter, but how lovely to travel those ancient roads. Like Beryl Markham's story, these books inspire me. I may never actually take the same adventures they do physically, but I sure am with them in spirit.

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    1. It is certainly a way to get into shape in a hurry. I did a 7300 km trip to northern Australia a couple of years ago and just wanted to keep going. The people we met in the outback were so interesting and friendly. Would love to go again. It is hard to find people to go with me as I would not go to remote areas alone in this world.

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  7. I read A Bike Ride a couple of years back, and rally enjoyed I liked her descriptions of the people she met, and the places she passed through, and I liked the historical bits as well. I had no idea she'd written anything else - I shall have to look for her them.

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