Touring Books

The title says it all. This book is filled with intriguing stories filled with symbolism and philosophy. Also a great book to read if you like biking or want to learn some history about Russia and the Soviet Union.

This is an excellent book. It offers a brief peek into the vast Russian hinterland that plodded along under the Soviet shroud. Russia is not Moscow. It's written sometime in the late 80's, not long before the USSR collapsed, and shows us people who's main priority is survival, not Communism. Jenkins writes in a rambling style that paints a vivid picture. Having gone to Russia since reading it for the first time, I can say the picture is very accurate.

Seems like the author is trying to pretend to be this geat hero riding his iron stallion across the frozen reaches of Siberia.

I found him to be a true bore. Out running and out smarting Soviet KGB agents on a bicycle? Oh please!

If you want to read a true adventure, read Miles From Nowhere by the late Barbara Savage.

Jenkins does an excellent job of conveying the feelings he experienced during this trip. Sometimes spirits were low and sometimes they were high. His writing captures the reality of the trip and reveals the spirit of the Russian people with great emotion. I disagree with the review above that states Jenkins hated Siberia. He clearly had a great appreciation for the people he met there and valued his experience. It was obvious that he had a problem with Communism, and hence did not understand the Soviets. This is a book about people. Who cares whether they were the first group to ride across the country? The objective of the book was to describe a journey, and that has been done very well.

Mark Jenkins clearly did not like Russia and the system. I agree on his view of the old system, but my thoughts were again and again: What does he do there. He don't like it at all. In spite of all the trouble of Mark Jenkins, the fact is that a Russian biker crossed Russia one sea to another in 1967, 22 years before Jenkins. The first do cross all of Russia was a Dane, me, who did it in 1997 from Magadan to Kaleningrad (more to the East and more to the West than Jenkins route). The brother of Fjordor Koinikov (who followed Jenkins), Nikolai, tried to do it before me. He failed because of cold. I succeed because I loved Siberia. Jenkins hated it.

I found this book to be generally pretty useful. My only real issue is that there are quite a few hot spring gems that I'm aware of in CA and NV that aren't featured in this book. I did a recent tour of the Black Rock Desert area in Nevada and I passed several spectacular hot springs that weren't listed in the book. I have also backpacked in to some hot springs in the southern CA area that weren't described.

If you're looking at doing a hot spring tour in NV and CA it might be worth looking into getting some other guide books (in addition to this one) or doing more research online or elsewhere. Once again this book did do a great job of describing in great detail how to get to some very out of the way places, but there are other springs that are well worth exploring that aren't mentioned.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1YSMB6ZYXFYYN Matt. C. Bischoff has clearly and concisely listed all the great hidden and publicly known hot springs in Nevada and California. It's a great regional hotsprings guide.

There have been many guides covering this subject in the past but this one is really the benchmark. Matt Bischoff includes interesting history, and geology notes for his subjects. I have visited a few of his springs listed in the book and found his descriptions to be complete and factual. His maps area really good too, as anyone who has searched for a hot spring just based on someone's verbal directions knows, they can be darn hard to find. Good job, Matt!

Very bland and writing without soul or true appreciation for the environment. Directions poor. Not worth your money. Prefer Gersh's Hot Springs book.

This guide is a great, very detailed instruction book that takes you to the best hot springs around. It lays out detailed directions on how to locate these springs, even down to physical landmarks, and exact distance. Without this type of direction springs like the one near Santa Barbara I would have NEVER found. I really appreciated the fact they tell you the current staus of the spring, if it has been renovated, or is in disrepair, it saves a trip to one that is too rundown to go to. Pay attention to the temperature of the springs also, they give you exact numbers on every spot, and some are too hot to swim in.

Over all I enjoyed this book but did have a few problems that I feel that people should be made aware of before deciding if they wish to purchase this book. The description of the wine roads does not include all of the wineries that she suggests visiting and includes some that are not in her book. The maps are utterly useless, with a black dot indicating that there is either a restaurant, winery or shop in that spot but doesn't indicate what it is. Many of these places indeed have fax numbers which I found on my own searches that she doesn't list. A better description of where each place is located and how to get there from a major landmark would be very helpful. Also some of the listings have letters such as E,F,G after the winery (one said "B" available in 2000) but I can not find anywhere in the book what these mean. I really did enjoy this book, the details of each winery is helpful as well as the restaurants but feel that you will need a companion book to go along with it.

This is a very helpful book. We have similar guides in the series for Burgundy, Alsace and Rhone. I highly recommend them. Our experience in Italy is that wine tourism per se is much less formal than France, Germany and US. That means the traveller must be a lot more curious and self sufficient. Bring along a fullscale Michelin road atlas and be prepared to ask a lot of questions. Try to learn an little Italian. It goes a long way. People were uniformly friendly and went way out of their way to draw local maps, add add'l restaurants to your list and even call wine makers for tours (on your behalf). Wine makers (such as Tenuta dell'Ornellaia) who otherwise don't open their doors to the public. Buy the book if you plan to tour wine regions in Tuscany!

Just returned from Tuscany and used the book extensively. Here's what I found. THE GOOD POINTS: The hotel and restaurant recommendations were excellent (although one particular hotel in which I stayed based on the book, which was called a "Haven" was just ok). Each city and chapter was broken down nicely with fine points and attractions that I used extensively. THE BAD POINTS: Although there were many, many wineries, and their phone numbers, and maps detailing the countryside in which they were located, the SPECIFICS were horrible. Never on any of the highlighted routes on the maps does it POINT OUT where these wineries are actually LOCATED, and on several occasions I was lost beyond belief trying to find them (even though I had made appointments). That made for a very frustrating wine tour, and considering this is a wine tour book, it needed to be more specific.

Touring In Wine Country: Tuscany provides a richly illustrated overview for anyone considering a tour of the towns and vineyards of Tuscany. It is disappointing, however, in its lack of detail. It would be easier to navigate your way by following the author's narrative than by attempting to read the maps, which are almost completely useless. There are recommendations for shopping and restaurants, but this information also is quite condensed, written in small pale type, and rather vague as to price range.

A far more useful book is A Traveller's Wine Guide To Italy, by Stephen Hobley.

We found the book in our rented hous in Toscany. We were located in the middle of the Chianti Classico area. We follewed one of the trips in the book and we saw one of the best castellos in the Chianti: Castello di Brolio. Absolutely fantastic.

Who knows whether I'll actually push the pedal that begins a coast to coast bicycling trip but having read Donna Lynn Ikenberry's "Bicycling: Coast to Coast," I now know what to feel, smell, taste and enjoy along the journey. The sunshine pours through her scenic descriptions and your legs ache during her climbs. As she comes close to each day's destination you can feel the anticipation of soothing well-used muscles. This is a guidebook to prepare for the trek as well as take along for reference. Buy two and leave one with someone responsible for knowing your itinerary.

This book goes the wrong way, namely East to West. The book follows the old 1976 Bike Centennial trail that is well described and updated at the Adventure Cycling website. I followed this route, East to West. It would have been a lot better to have gone East to West. The wind gets pretty strong and it blows West to East; so, if you are riding East to West, you have to work much harder than if go would go the other direction. While I enthusiastically recommend the route, I suggest that it would be better to start in the West.

Donna Ikenberry's "Bicycling Coast to Coast" is a well laid out, day-by-day guidebook for a bicycle trip across the country. From maps, to sights to see, to places to camp and eat, this book has everything you need to get across the country and not get lost.

The only thing I wish this book included was trip preparation hints (of which it has very few). However, this book along with Steve Butterman's "Bicycle Touring - How to Prepare for Long Rides" make a great cross country bike touring set.

I biked the TransAmerica trail last summer and I used this book for pre-trip planning and as a guide while on the road. The vast majority of the route Ikenberry takes is along a trail that was first ridden in 1976 and was designed by Adventure Cycling. If you just need maps of the roads to take, you'll be much better served by getting them from Adventure Cycling. If you want to use this book as a companion to the maps, you should realize that this book was written for westbounders. If you are riding from west to east (like i did) get ready to learn what dyslexia feels like as you try to decipher all the directions backwards.

The book is thin on trip planning info and simply points readers to other sources for info on bike touring. In general, most of this book merely describes points of reference along the TranAm trail (ie: mile 1 - You'll pass a convienence store on the left; mile 2.3 - You'll see a lake with picnic benches to the right). I felt that it lacked a real focus (sometimes it reads like a diary, sometimes it reads like a guidebook, etc) & was full of superfluous fluff (the state flower of virginia is blah blah, a family in kansas fed me cake, etc) that only made my saddlebags that much heavier.

Overall though, it's not my objective to dissuade you from buying this book... as unbelievably it seems to be the only guide written about riding the TransAm trail. Ikenberry's book certainly has some usefullness - perhaps mostly so in providing info on places to sleep along the way. But even then, she fails to mentions whether these places have showers or food on numerous occasions. It's worth the 15 bucks... but the book could (& should) have been so much better... (for example: there is no mention anywhere of suggestions on what kind of bike to use, gearings, tires - nothing even remotely technical)

I used this book this summer, riding from Florence, OR to Yorktown, VA (yes, the book goes from east to west, so I was reading "backwards"). For my purposes, I used the book to help figure out how large towns were and what services they offered. 9 times out of 10 the book gave fairly accurate assesments of services. There were times when "full-service" towns were no longer in existance and the grocery or restaurant we had been relying on was nowhere in site.

That said, I would NEVER bike the Trans Am, or even a portion of it, without consulting Adventure Cycling first [on their web site]. Their maps are indespensible and when used in conjunction with their up-to-date addendums, they are incredibly accurate. Ikenberry makes it pretty clear that she is using the Adventure Cycling maps as her guide as well.

I also found it odd that Ikenberry only biked the Trans Am once. She makes comments on terrain and areas which are purely cicumstantial (such as mentioning "dog-prone" areas in Kentucky - where we had no more dogs than any other day - and areas with mean drivers.) It was sometimes hard to tell whether her descriptions of places were based on one pass through or fact. Plus, I would have trusted her judgment of "steep" and "trafficky" had I felt more confident in her bike touring past.

On the plus side, Ikenberry does offer some nice background information on historical areas which the Trans Am cyclist may not otherwise recieve.

Overall, I am glad I lugged the extra pound on my tour. It was helpful and since I wasn't relying on it for accuracy, I wasn't affected at all by the closed services. It would be great if someone would update the book! Some towns in the book are no longer on the Adventure Cycling route. Also, she breaks the route into 70 different biking days. Some are rediculously long. She must have had some serious tail-winds at some points! Again, had she biked the route several times, I am sure her days would have been more "normal" in some instances.

In any case, bike the Trans Am since it is awesome and contact Adventure Cycling for your most accurate information. If you have [any money] left over and some room for a medium-sized book, squeeze Ikenberry into your pannier.

I used an earlier edition of this book for a trip from Genoa to Barcelona in September 1989, and for a trip from Lisbon to Tangiers in May 1990. I was 23/24 at the time, and had never toured on my own prior to those trips. The book was perfect: good advice for purchasing/maintaining a tour bike, good description of routes and side trips, good advice on special little things to see and do along the way (I think I used it in conjunction with the relevant 'Lets Go' guides). I had two fantastic adventures. Somewhere along the way I lost my book so, nearly 20 years later, I am buying a new copy to share with my husband and daughter.

The copy I was looking at had been reprinted in 2005, so I assumed it would be pretty up to date. I was a bit taken aback when they suggested that I could make cassette mix tapes of songs to give to friends I met along the way. Even moreso when they were telling how you could arrange in advance with friends to have mail sent to you at certain post offices you would pass by along the way, and how nice it was to be able to keep in touch that way. Also they gave addresses you could write to asking for maps and tourist information to be mailed to you before your trip. And then there was mention of cycling through Czechoslovakia. On closer inspection it was a second edition that had five reprints between 1993 and 2005, but they've still managed to leave it completely un-updated.

I'm sure a lot of the basic directions would still be fine, but keep in mind it hasn't been updated in nearly two decades, and so a lot of the information isn't to be trusted. You may as well get an old copy second hand rather than a new book.

I found the book to be quite informative, however there is one problem that I found. The reader/rider can only do the tour in the direction in which the tours take place in the book due to the fact that the directions are given one way. I just finished a tour using this book and thought that I may be able to maneuver from the end of a tour and go toward the beginning with the help of some good maps. If I had a one Euro cent for every time I got lost I would have been Trump by the end of the trip. I did a tour in the U.S. with maps and directions that went both directions... north AS WELL AS south and east AS WELL AS west. The directions are impossible to follow unless you are going in the Whitehill's prescribed direction. Aside from that, information regarding campgrounds and distances is extremely on target and helpful.

I used their first edition for my first bike trip in 1991, and can't recommend it enough. I really didn't have any other bike book then, and this one got me across Italy, through part of France, and across Germany. I used the same edition a couple years later, and it was still helpful.

The advice was all clear, particular the directions--what to look for, where to turn. Maps were good. I've had time over the years to compare it to a couple other bike touring books, and this was clearly the best. Roads change, of course, and I hope to see new editions.

I used the 1991 book to plan my 2002 solo biking trip from Salzburg, Austria to Budapest, Hungary. 11 years later I found their directions were still quite accurate. That trip was an absolute delight.

I am now planning another solo bike trip in September 2006 that will follow the Whitehill's route from Brussels Belgium to Versailles, France to Angers, France and back to Versailles.

I bought this book because we were planning a trip to Munich and took daytrips by car almost everyday. This book does not go into great detail about anything. There are several driving tours that last 2-3 days, however, no mention of how much time to expect spending in each location. Almost every driving tour does not start from a base city like Munich, Frankfurt, or Berlin either (like most people would start from and want to return to). I would rather recommend Earl Steinbicker's Daytrips Germany. That is a great book and gives you vital information about each location.

My wife and I know Germany pretty well, but this guide was an excellent addition for our next trip there. It is very upbeat and informative, with just the right amount of detail.

I've just returned from my first trip to Germany, and the Best-Loved Driving Tours was among the three books I toted along. This book was an excellent tool for planning our trip -- the photos are beautiful, and the tour layout helped us figure out where we should go and what might be worth seeing. Its short descriptions of each stop helped us grasp what a place was about, and as a result we budgeted about the right amount of time for each stop.

As a tour book to take along, though, it's not nearly as helpful. On the plus side, it's the only book I encountered that imagines you might actually be *driving* through Germany (the rest of them start describing a city beginning with the train station, with no clue for car drivers on how to get downtown). Also, most of the other books don't quite grasp that you might explore outside the big cities; this one does just the opposite, which I appreciated. However, the directions from place to place are a bit sparse, and it provides almost no useful information about lodging or dining.

This is a good guide book. But don't let it be the only one you carry.

This book has lovely photos and some good suggestions for driving to places not listed in every guidebook. It also talks a bit about the various towns and cities along the routes, which makes it easier not to miss something that you otherwise would not have known about. And descriptions do not start out in the center of each town, by the train station, very useful if you are driving, rather than traveling by train. However, the actual driving directions themselves are a bit sparse - you need a good recent map of Germany to accompany the book. And there are no suggestions in this book for places to stay or to eat - unfortunate - as sometimes the book takes you to off the beaten path locales, and suggestions on where to grab a bite or a bed would be helpful.

This review is for the 5th edition, 2002 printing. A newer edition is coming out: 7th edition to be released on March 20, 2006.

Excellent guide to seeing Germany with a sports car or a BMW motorcycle. You will enjoy some great driving tours and routes through this historical region of Deutschland.

Frommers has recently come out with more "Best-Loved Driving Tours" series ... guides that are not very inexpensive, but are very well researched and quite comprehensive. One will have plenty of driving tours and routes to chose from, whether you like arts and museums, scenic roads and breathtaking views, urban towns and shopping, or just want to experience a regione's culture and life.

Unlike the other Frommer guides that are fatter and heavier, this little book gives you not too many specifics on lodging or eating. It is geared strictly for the person behind the wheel and her or his passengers.

I have had a great experience using this guide and will recommend it to anyone who can afford it. Also, you might want to check to see if your library carries it and check it out for the duration of your visit abroad.

When I backpacked 4 months through Europe I had a copy of the Lonely Planet for Europe (a thick and heavy book) because it covered more cities and esoteric towns, a ripped chapters of all the international youth hostals Europe of the countries I visited, and as primary guide for nominal cities and capitals I used Frommers (ripped the book and kept only chapters of countries planning to visit - so I can keep the weight down).

The Adventure Of Two Lifetimes by Peggy Newland Goetz and Brian Goetz, with June Meyer Newland, is part travelogue, part memoir, and all excitement as it tells of an American husband and wife who embarked on a bicycle tour from New York to California. The Adventure Of Two Lifetimes also transcends generations, viewing the great journey through the eyes of mother and daughter and son-in-law. An exciting, fascinating, and unique look at America from the point of view of highly dedicated and exuberant people, The Adventure Of Two Lifetimes is rewarding, enjoyable, thoughtful, and occasionally inspiring reading!

I hated this book. I admit I didn't finish it, but what I read was dreadful. These people seem to be so impressed with themselves, you'd think no one but them had ever cycled across the country. I'm somewhat upset that I have to give the book one star, because there doesn't seem to be a 'no star' rating.

This is not the type of book I normally read. It arrived in the mail and I had a hard time putting it down. Life passes us by all too quickly. This shows us to stop and smell the roses. Brian is my cousin. They stopped at our house on the trip through Nebraska. They were tired but happy. I hadn't seen Brian for years since life took us to different parts of the country. We had a wonderful but all too short visit. Any time I hear about someone taking a long bike trip I have to tell them about this adventure. Now I have a book to recommend. It's great!

I enjoyed this story immensely. Peggy's descriptions made me want to get out and really SEE these places, minus the Winnebago of course. Sweat Boy, nice job and good info on the "gadget" aspect! Enough to give me some understanding without causing my eyes to glaze. Alternating the writing between the two authors, together with the infusion of June's writings, made the book an easy read. And June, what a character! She reminds me of Steinbeck's Mary Talbot from Cannery Row.

A true picture of how traveling by bike can focus on the scenery not the speed. 40 years of contrast in highways, stores, accommodations, but little change with people wanting to help. Not only should we take time to "smell the roses" but we should enjoy the poeple of this country. What will the next generation depict of our country's scenery/pollution, roads/superhighways, and people? Will fear of assault, roads blocked to bicycles, hotels unwilling to take in exhausted travelers, prevent future bicycle travel? Let's hope not. This kind of adventure should always be available.

This new format is fine for browsing as part your trip planning. But it lacks the detail on art and culture that the old TCI Heritage Guides have; especially missed are the suggested walking tours. The new format does have more info on food, wine, shopping, etc than the old Heritage Guides, but it is not worth the tradeoff (at least for me.) As a result, Authentic Tuscany will stay on the shelf, while Heritage Guide to Umbria gets to come with.

TCI guides are usually superb for serious and independent travelers. Authentic Tuscany is a bit more mainstream than others in the TCI series, which is understandable given the region's popularity. There are more illustrations and photos, all of which are excellent, as well as sections devoted to food and shopping. The book does provide solid historical information, plus hotel and restaurant recommendations, that will satisfy most tourists. However, if you're driving from town to town (which is the best way to get to know Italy), you'll really miss the detailed itineraries and maps that other TCI guides contain. At the very least, you'll need to pick up a separate map, which isn't always necessary with other TCI books (e.g. the excellent Umbria guide). You may also miss the more in-depth descriptions of towns that TCI is known for. Authentic Tuscany is closer to a 5-star book when compared to other Tuscany guides; it only falls short when judged by TCI's high standards.

I bought this book with the hopes of getting some more detailed information about the Tuscany region to better plan a week's stay there. The book is nicely organized with sections devoted to food and history, and the lesser discussed areas of folklore, special events, arts & crafts, shopping and even some info. about activities for children, which is almost impossible to find in other books. This was the first book I found a detailed description of the Salvatore Ferragamo museum (amazing shoes) in Florence. There are tons of websites listed for everything, which will fuel your search into greater depth. There are several maps and expoded views of famous buildings and some nice quality photos of the towns. This is a nicely organized book. There is also info. in the front about joining the touring club of Italy (the sponsor of the book). For 25 Euros you get a one year membership and discounts at a variety of hotels, eateries, and other places which are highlighted throughout the book. Seems like a good deal. I would recommend this book, and I'm interested to see other books put out by this organization.

This guide is written by the Italian Touring Club. That alone should tell you that they know what they're talking about. As an Italian, I love this guide, it's true to reality, essential, useful. Your search has ended! No need to wonder anymore "Do these people know what they're talking about?", because they do. You can take that from a native Tuscan! :-)

This may be the best travel guidebook I have ever seen. I've been a fan of the so-called "TCI" books for years; they are very popular among those whose hobby is exploring Italy, because of the tremendous insider's detail and information on the interesting small towns, all written from an Italian tourist's point-of-view.

But, this new format is fantastic. The book is divided into color-coded sections. The red "Heritage" section is similar to a classic Michelin Green Guide description of the major cities in Tuscany - the illustrations and maps are outstanding (less spectacular and slick perhaps than the "Eyewitness Guides" but more to my tastes).

What really sets the guide apart are the other sections however. The "itineraries" section includes detailed descriptions on some really intriguing "industrial museums" including such things as the Salvatore Ferragamo shoe museum in Florence and the Piaggio motor scooter museum in Pisa, tourist attractions that were previously unknown to me.

I would give the book 5 stars for the 40-page food section alone, if that were its only contents. Not only do they list and describe all the different cheeses and sausages of Tuscany, I particularly appreciate the fact that they indicate which towns are especially famous for what type of Pecorino (for example). Next time I'm in Grosseto, I'll know what cheese to look for.

This is incidentally, the first guide to Tuscany (or Italy) that I have seen that goes into any kind of detail on Grosseto as a tourist attraction.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading travel guides, even if you have no specific plans to visit Italy. I am really looking forward to additional TCI guides in this new "authentic" series.

Good book. Full of great information. I have rode the trains in Europe and never understood the system. Thanks to this book my next visit to Europe will be much easier.

I graduated from a handheld labeler and have been very pleased with the Brother p-touch. The PC software enables much better formatting and design vs. standalone so I would recommend loading it. The most surprising plus I liked was the battery powered mobile capability - I find myself taking it back and forth to work and home so portability is great. You can make your labels as fancy or plain as you want and the amount of formatting options is certain to please just about anyone. I would highly recommend this model if you are looking for a good all around model. The tapes come in many sizes and colors so again, you have plenty of choices - tapes are expensive but you get a lot for the price.

A very good overview of train systems, costs and best ways to get where you want to go!

I read this book for planning a trip to Europe. What impressed me at first is the introduction chapter that gave me some tricks and tips and necessary info how to use the EU railway network. The suggesting itinerary is also quite useful. The most confusing thing about the book is the train schedule. It might get obsolete. When I check on the Eurail website, the schedule looks quite different from what is in the book.

I ordered this because I had found the 1997 edition of the Eurail Guide exceptionally well compiled and incisively useful, and secondly because I couldn't find a current edition of the Eurail Guide. In fact I thought this may have been the current edition I was was looking for. Sadly it is not, and it is not half the book the Eurail Guide was. For me this a rather dull book containing some useful information. I can't imaging me consulting very often.

One of the few books dedicated to motorcyclists. Great pictures, and insightful content.
The organization of the book makes it a little confusing or difficult to find something you are looking for. But once you find the content, the information is great.
I just came back last week from riding in California, Oregon, and Washington, and I read this book just before leaving. I tried portions of the rides suggested and was very pleased. Most of the rides are loop oriented, meaning they bring you back to where you started from, while we were riding through those States. But I just picked interesting legs of his trips and included them in our path.

I am impressed with the book - lots of new roads to discover, many of which I would not tend to take on my own. Good book, worth the cost - also check out Destination Highways Washington (expensive but excellent)

This is a great resource for anyone new to the area, new riders or for anyone just looking for some new rides. Most of the pages are devoted to major attraction, there are many great rides that are not mentioned, but there are only so many pages in a book. A great job of covering the Northwest area. Directions, distance and travel times have been pretty accurate. Accomidations mentioned are fairly current and up to date. I have used this book for inspiration on many occasions and have never been disapointed.
If you are from outside the area and planning a scooter trip thru the great northwest, this book is a must! If you are from the area and just looking for some new ideas, this book probably isn't it, but it is still worth the read. Bruce has obviously put in a lot of miles on his bike in this area.

For a book so full of excellent detail on cities, roads, scenery, plus excellent photography, the reader's focus is systematically derailed due to chapter after chapter of oddly applied analogies.

If only the author had stayed on task, (in writing a tour guide) and tossed out the truly weak references to area rides that he says: are like smorgasbords-don't go straight for the beef; national parks are like big fair rides-ferris wheels; touring roads that are like the rooms of a house; likening historic homes in coastal towns to homely sisters, and a host of other remarks that make the reader go, "Huh?". Can't tell you how many times it forced a re-read to see what 'must' have been missed. Every time, it turned out it was just plain goofy.

One example? Pg. 94., 3rd para. the author talks of a river gorge and water cutting through it. "You can look at the dramatic torrent of water- a flow twice that of Niagara Falls-and wonder how a blind cow ever made it through alive."

Huh?

If there is a historical, regional, mythological, or folklore "cow" tale that the average reader might be too young, sheltered, or untraveled to know of, it behooves (not behoofs) the author to go the extra mile and explain. Otherwise it's goofy.

It would have been a considerably better offering without the introduction of the numerous and curious distractions. And probably easier to write (although shorter). The effort would have garnered a strong four, perhaps more, but for the wasted ink. But due to goofy asides, and the dozen or more candy coated uses of: I love it, you'll love it, bikers will love, love this road/this ride; the multiple uses of romantic/romance, picnic, ice cream, and my honey, your honey..

I can tell you Honey, a 3.5 is a fair (if not generous) call.

It's a book about the Pacific NW motorcycle rides. The reader should not be distracted by the presence of the author. Not unless he's a whole lot funnier.

Bruce Hansen has written a great travel guide for the motorcycle enthusiast. It doesn't have as much about the roads as it does the places to see and visit. My wife and I have read it cover to cover and Bruce's writing style is easy to read and entertaining. I recommend it for anyone looking to find some out of the way places to visit in our fine state.

If you're looking for the best and most challenging roads for motorcycles in Washington, look no further than "Destination Highways Washington: A Motorcycle Enthusiast's Guide to the Best 346 Roads in Washington State". This is a very comprehensive collection of the curviest, most scenic, and best engineered roads, and has the best road specific details available.

Between these two books, you can't go wrong. Both are well worth reading.