Rosie Fuller checks out stuff to fill the gaps in your bookshelf and places to while away your time online
TITLE: The Hunt for Puerto Faglioli: A motorcycle adventure in search of the improbable
AUTHOR: Paddy Tyson
Paddy Tyson is a very fortunate man – in fact you could say he’s blessed with the luck of the Irish (he is, actually, Irish). As he enters middle age, he’s happy to report a loving partner and family, great friends and no real job, which means he can pack up his panniers and bugger off into the sunset whenever money allows. Paddy Tyson is living the dream. But before you go green with envy, it would appear that, when it comes to motorcycle travel, Paddy’s luck is intermittent at best… The Hunt for follows Paddy as he haphazardly attempts to ride across and around the North and South American continents on his reluctant Aprilla Pegaso 650. Full of personality and tongue-in-cheek humour, this refreshingly anecdotal book reads like a mate down the pub who’s travelled and can tell a good story; the perfect antidote to the been-there done-that mentality and entertaining to the end. The pics are a light-hearted mix of holiday snaps and stunning views, and as you feel you’re on the road with Paddy, the photos of folk he’s met along the way really add to the story. £12.74 from www.paddytyson.com
TITLE: Greetings from Route 66: The Ultimate Road Trip Back Through Time Along America’s Main Street
AUTHOR: Collaborative
This hardback tribute to America’s most famous highway is an archive of photos, memoirs, trivia and facts. Divided into eight sections, each chapter covers a different state through which 66 passes from Illinois to California, with smaller sections on each of the significant towns en route. It’s bursting with full colour prints, photographs and memorabilia, and the scrapbook-style presentation means it’s the sort of read you’ll want to pick up and look though again and again. A real treasure for American cult fans of all ages. £20 from www.voyageurpress.com, or by calling 01476 541080
TITLE: Travel Photography: How to Take Striking Images
AUTHOR: Edited by Tony Halliday
Ever been on a great road trip but your photos don’t do it justice? Embarrassed to get the relatives round to look at your shots? Help’s here, in the form of this easy-to-use how-to book from Insight Guides. Insight Guides was the first company to make guidebooks with decent photography, and this guide celebrates its 40th anniversary. It comes in a simple format so you can dip in and out of it as you need, and it’s full of tips, advice on everything from equipment to how to approach people to ask to take their picture, and, as you’d hope, inspirational examples of great pictures. A lovely reference book. £14.99 from www.insightguides.com
TITLE: Oz: Around Australia on a Triumph
AUTHOR: Geoff Hill and Colin O’Carroll
This book’s hysterical. Motorbike author Geoff Hill (he’s written other books like Way to Go: Two of the World’s Great Motorcycle Journeys) and his Irish/Australian colleague Colin O’Carroll take it in turns to narrate the story of their journey around Australia, starting and finishing in Adelaide. The trip’s more than 15,000 miles long, along Highway 1: unsurprisingly the longest road in a single country. The duo come across killer speed humps (aka wombats) and lethal kangaroos, as well as getting well acquainted with an unreliable camper van called Matilda. It’s a story of motorbikes, adventure and of Australia. Well worth a read, and pass it on to your friends afterwards. £9.99 from www.adelaideadventures.com
WEBSITES
www.bestbikingroads.com A fantastic trip-planning tool which allows you to check out and compare motorcycle touring roads all over the world, read reviews about the kind of ride you can expect and gain inside local knowledge on the highs (great twisties, pubs and vistas) and lows (speed cameras, rampant wildlife and tolls). With over 1,600 European roads listed and the collective wisdom of over 13,080 worldwide members there’s plenty to keep you busy as you paw over that well-worn map. Don’t forget to log in and review your fave local biking roads too.