Never got a chance to review a copy of the Adventure Cycling Handbook by Stephen Lord. I really wanted to see it before I leave, I guess not. It was supposed to be out in January ‘06, then it has been postponed to mid-April and finally to June. Seems like it is out in the UK but not in the US. At least, it’s nowhere to be found in NYC bookstores. Not even Amazon.com has it in stock (LINK)!!!
If you ever have a chance to watch Michael Wood’s BBC documentary In Search of Myths and Heroes, go for it!!! It is great series. In the second part, Shangri-La, Michael Wood takes on a journey to India and through the Himalayas to discover the mythical place of Shambala, the paradise deep inside the Tibet, which inspired the 1933 novel by James Hilton: Lost Horizon (and the 1937 movie with the same title by Frank Capra). He eventually reaches ruins of the Guge Kingdom and Mount Kailash grounds, both places I like to see on my journey… I love Wood’s enthusiam and fascination.
Lastly, I bought a great paperback to read while in the air or waiting around airport lounges: The Places in Between written by Rory Stewart, a walking journey through Afghanistan during the winter of 2002. (And they say the age of discovery and exploration is dead. Don’t believe it. It’s just different!!) Saw it mentioned first at World Hum and reviewed by Tom Bissell in The NY Times (free registration required, or use Bugmenot.com 
Just from scanning the cover and first few pages, it looks like great read. Let you know later, don’t really want to start it now. I’m afraid I’ll finish it before I get to the airport;)
June 27th, 2006
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Rich |
Blogging, Preparation |
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These are just a few maintenance tips before going off-line;)
I changed my Countdown Clock to how many days left ’til the end of my trip. Hope it’s not too premature;)))
When searching the blog, I’m using Google Blog Search BETA. It works beautifully, but… I have realized that when I change title of my post after it has been posted for the first time, it will be listed among search results but when I try to follow the link, I get “404 - Page not found”. The only way to get around it, it to go back to Google Blog Search results, find the date of the entry and navigate through the blog’s archived pages to the month of the actual entry. Sorry about it;((( I promise never again to rename blog titles!!!
June 27th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Blogging |
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I have no idea if the title of the post is grammatically correct as I don’t speak French;) That’s my adventure ‘tour’ as opposed to the Tour de France race, the greatest cycling event in the world. The annual three-week stage race starts on July 1st, about the same time as my cyclo-touring trip, and I will miss watching and following it. Hopefully, I’ll catch results enroute online;) My prediction: Alejandro Valverde will win the yellow jersey and will ‘ascend to the throne’ left vacant after the retirement of Lance Armstrong!!! I know many cycling aficionados will says that’s a long shot and they favor the more usual suspects of Basso and Ullrich but I’m sticking to my choice;) It’s time for younger riders to claim their place in history. Damiano Cunego showed that by winning another famous three-week stage race in 2004: Giro d’Italia. And Tom Boonen did the same among sprinters by winning many races over the past two years, among them the World Championship in 2005 and some of the ‘Classics’ (world-renowned one-day races): Paris-Roubaix ‘05, Tour of Flanders ‘05 & ‘06. I bet he’ll win the green jersey of the TdF race this year (best sprinter)… In the mean time, I’ll be having some fun (and little of suffering too) on my Tour d’Himalaya;)
For those interested, you can follow the TdF here:
and countless more sport news websites;)
June 27th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Cycling, Preparation |
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