“…Perhaps it’s this long term and autonomous involvement that separates the camping cyclist from racers and around town bikers. A tour is a whole thing, a unit, and going about it day after day gives you a special sort of satisfaction. In effect, the tourist loads everything they need into a few cubic feet and leaves. As long as she is traveling and is more or less isolated from easy sources of assistance and so has to maintain herself, her machine, and all her gear. Tending to the business of the trip isn’t a matter of survival so much as it is of measured accomplishment. Although the rider isn’t always lost in the wilderness, the cyclist does make herself responsible for her small mobile world. It’s her strength that turns those miles…
I take my fleeing seriously. It’s a kind of Pooh and Bear adventure, vicarious, controlled, and good humored, but still I like going to see the country. I like being physically close to the place I’m traveling through. I really enjoy concentrating on my bike and gear, on camping techniques and food and rain, to the exclusion of less important matters. I like to run away even if I have to admit that pretty soon I’ll turn around and go back to work. It’s a little demanding and sort of trivial, and some people say it’s just a phase I am going through, and that I’ll soon have it out of my system. But I enjoy thinking about and practicing all the aspects of camping and cycling. I like the riding and the work and I like the problems that have to be solved so that things don’t go too wrong.”
—from Two Wheel Travel BICYCLE Camping and Touring, Reading for the confirmed bicycle fanatic, edited by Peter W. Tobey, and published in 1974.
This almanac inspired book measures 14.5″x10.5″ and it packed with tips, rants, raves and very outdated gear recommendations.
The first long page reads:
retreat gracefully
A collector’s item!
