An Ultimate List of Cycling Books

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Cycling is one of the most popular sports in the world. It has a long history and attracts millions of participants every year. The sport also has a lot of literature about it, written by professional cyclists, journalists, and enthusiasts.

For those who do enjoy cycling, there are many different ways to enjoy it. Cycling can be done for leisure, for exercise or even competitively. The different ways in which cycling can be enjoyed has led to the production of a number of cycling books that cover every aspect of this sport.

This article will provide you with a list of some of the best cycling books from funny to adventure books so that you can find one that interests you and learn more about this great sport.

Some of these cycling books offer insight into the sport from different perspectives and provide valuable information for anyone who wants to take up cycling as a profession or hobby. Some give an insight into the history of cycling and its development over time.

Best cycling books of all time

Best cycling adventure books

  1. Cycling Home from Siberia: 30,000 miles, 3 years, 1 bicycle – Rob Lilwall
  2. Through Sand & Snow: A Man, a Bicycle, and a 43,000-Mile Journey to Adulthood via the Ends of the Earth – Charlie Walker
  3. Remarkable Bicycle Rides – Colin Salter
  4. This Road I Ride – Juliana Buhring
  5. Riding Out: A Journey of Love, Loss and New Beginnings – Simon Parker
  6. Around the World in 80 Days: My World Record Breaking Adventure – Mark Beaumont
    Moods of Future Joys – Alistair Humphreys
  7. Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle – Dervla Murphy
  8. The Man Who Cycled the World – Mark Beaumont
  9. The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold: Adventures Riding the Iron Curtain – Tim Moore
  10. Janapar: Love, on a Bike – Tom R Allen
  11. Lone Traveller – Anne Mustoe
  12. Flying Scotsman: Cycling to Triumph Through My Darkest Hours – Graeme Obree
  13. It’s All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels – Robert Penn
  14. Richard Mitchelson’s Grand Tour: A Two-wheeled, Chain-driven Interactive Artistic Adventure – Richard Mitchelson
  15. Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes – Alastair Humphreys

Bikepacking books

  1. Bikepacking: Exploring the Roads Less Cycled
  2. Bikepacking: Mountain Bike Camping Adventures on the Wild Trails of Britain Laurence Mcjannet – Laurence Mcjannet
  3. Bikepacking England: 20 Multi-day Off-road Cycling Adventures – Emma Kingston
  4. Bikepacking in the Canadian Rockies – Ryan Correy
  5. The Bikepacker’s Guide – Kaitlyn Boyle and Kurt Refsnider – Stefan Amato
  6. The Scottish Bothy Bible: The Complete Guide to Scotland’s Bothies and How to Reach Them – Geoff Allan
  7. Escape by Bike: Adventure Cycling, Bikepacking and Touring Off-Road, Joshua Cunningham

For details on the bikepacking books, check this page.

Funny cycling books

  1. Back in the Frame – Jools Walker
  2. End to End – Paul Jones
  3. Bicycle Diaries – David Byrne
  4. 50 Shades of the USA – Anna McNuff
  5. To Shake The Sleeping Self – Jedidiah Jenkins
  6. Magic Spanner – Carlton Kirby
  7. Wide-Eyed and Legless – Jeff Connor
  8. The Hour – Michael Hutchinson
  9. Gironimo! – Tim Moore
  10. Bib Shorts and other short cycling stories – Kevin Haylett
  11. Me, My Bike and a Street Dog Called Lucy – Ishbel Holmes
  12. Just Ride – Grant Petersen
  13. From A to B: A Cartoon Guide to Getting Around by Bike – Dave Walker
  14. Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro – Phil Gaimon

Cycle touring books

  1. Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook: Worldwide Route & Planning Guide – Neil Pike and Harriet Pike
  2. Basic Illustrated Bike Touring and Bikepacking – Justin Kline and Justin Lichter

Cycling climbs books

  1. The Climb – Chris Froome
  2. 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs: A Cyclist’s Guide to Riding the Mountains of the Tour – Simon Warren
  3. 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs of Italy: A guide to the famous mountains of the the Giro d’Italia and and beyond – Simon Warren
  4. Alpe d’Huez: the story of Pro Cycling’s Greatest Climb – Peter Cossins
  5. Mountains According to G – Geraint Thomas
  6. Mountain Biking Virginia: An Atlas of Virginia’s Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides – Scott Adams

Cycling books for beginners

  1. The Bicycling Big Book of Cycling for Beginners: Everything a new cyclist needs to know to gear up and start riding – Tori Bortman
  2. Complete Book of Road Cycling Skills – Jason Sumner
  3. Training Plans for Cyclists – Gale Bernhardt
  4. Bicycle Touring for Beginners: Train and prepare for your cycling adventure in six weeks – Roy Everitt
  5. Bicycling Complete Book of Road Cycling Skills: Your Guide to Riding Faster, Stronger, Longer, and Safer – Jason Sumner
  6. Fuel Your Ride: Complete Performance Nutrition for Cyclists – Molly Hurford
  7. 1001 Cycling Tips – Hannah Reynolds
  8. Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream – Phil Gaimon
  9. Cycling Anatomy  – Shannon Sovndal
  10. Bicycling Science –  David Gordon Wilson
  11. The Rules: The Way of the Cycling Disciple – The Velominati
  12. Training and Racing with a Power Meter – Hunter Allen
  13. What Goes Around: A London Cycle Courier’s Story – Emily Chappell
  14. The Cyclist’s Bucket List: A Celebration of 75 Quintessential Cycling Experiences
  15. The Power Meter Handbook: A user’s guide for cyclists and triathletes – Joe Friel
  16. The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery: Rest, Relax, and Restore for Peak Performance – Sage Rountree
  17. The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Race-Winning Fitness in 6 Hours a Week – Chris Carmichael and Jim Rutberg
  18. The Midlife Cyclist: The Road Map for the +40 Rider Who Wants to Train Hard, Ride Fast and Stay Healthy – Phil Cavell
  19. Fat Tire Wisconsin: A Mountain Bike Trail Guide – W. Chad Mcgrath, Mark Parman
  20. Full Gas: How to Win a Bike Race – Tactics from Inside the Peloton – Peter Cossins

Cycling nutrition and training books

  1. Cycling Chef: Recipes for Getting Lean and Fuelling the Machine – Alan Murchison
  2. The Cyclist’s Training Bible – Joe Friel
  3. The Cyclist’s Food Guide: Fueling for the Distance – RD Clark MS Nancy, RD Hegmann MS Jenny
  4. The Cycling Mind: The Psychological Skills for Peak Performance on the Bike – and in Life – Ruth Anderson
  5. Fast After 50: How to Race Strong for the Rest of Your Life – Joe Friel

Best bicycle repair book for beginners

  1. The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance & Repair
  2. Bike Repair and Maintenance For Dummies
  3. Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance – Lennard Zinn
  4. The Complete Bike Owner’s Manual

Books about cycling and doping

  1. Racing Through the Dark – David Millar
  2. Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong – David Walsh
  3. Breaking the Chain – Willy Voet
  4. Put Me Back on My Bike, William Fotheringham
  5. One-Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels – Jonathan Vaughters
  6. The Secret Race – Daniel Coyle and Tyler Hamilton

Best cycling coffee table books

  1. Cyclist Ride: The greatest cycling routes in the world – Cyclist Magazine
  2. Mountains: Epic Cycling Climbs – Michael Blann
  3. The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles: Craftsmanship, Elegance, and Function – Jan Heine
  4. Japanese Steel: Classic Bicycle Design from Japan – William Bevington
  5. Mountain High – Daniel Friebe
  6. Epic Bike Rides of the World – Lonely Planet
  7. Great cycling climbs: The French Alps – Graeme Fife
  8. 20 Years of Cycling Photography – Graham Watson
  9. The Art of the Cycling Jersey: Iconic Cycle Wear Past and Present – Chris Sidwells
  10. Bicycle: The Definitive Visual History
  11. The Rough-Stuff Fellowship Archive – Mark Hudson
  12. Cyclepedia: A Century of Iconic Bicycle Design – Michael Embacher

Tour de France books (and other famous races)

  1. Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever – Reed Albergotti
  2. The Breakaway – Nicole Cooke
  3. Etape – Richard Moore
  4. Slaying the Badger –  Richard Moore
  5. Tour Climbs: the complete guide to every mountain stage on the Tour de France – Chris Sidwells
  6. French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France – Tim Moore
  7. The Ronde – Edward Pickering
  8. The Comeback: Greg LeMond, the True King of American Cycling, and a Legendary Tour de France – Daniel de Vise
  9. Where There’s a Will – Emily Chappell
  10. The Race Against the Stasi: The Incredible Story of Dieter Wiedemann, The Iron Curtain and
  11. The Greatest Cycling Race on Earth – Herbie Sykes
  12. The Yellow Jersey – Peter Cossins
  13. Circus: Inside the World of Professional Bike Racing
  14. The Story of the Tour de France: 1976-2018: How a Newspaper Promotion Became the Greatest Sporting Event in the World – Bill McGann, Carol McGann

Best cycling biographies/autobiographies

  1. Colombia Es Pasion!: How Colombia’s Young Racing Cyclists Came of Age – Matt Rendell
  2. Tomorrow, we ride – Jean Bobet
  3. Faster: The Obsession, Science and Luck Behind the World’s Fastest Cyclists – Michael Hutchinson
  4. Half Man, Half Bike: The Life of Eddy Merckx, Cycling’s Greatest Champion – William Fotheringham
  5. Rough Ride: Behind the Wheel With a Pro Cyclist (Yellow Jersey Cycling Classics) – Paul Kimmage
  6. In search of Robert Millar – Richard Moore
  7. The Descent: My Epic Fall from Cycling Superstardom to Doping Dead End – Thomas Dekker
  8. God is Dead: The Rise and Fall of Frank Vandenbroucke – Andy McGrath
  9. Shut Up, Legs!: My Wild Ride On and Off the Bike – Jens Voigt
  10. My World – Peter Sagan
  11. Jan Ullrich: The Best There Never Was – Daniel Friebe
  12. Domestique: The True Life Ups and Downs of a Tour Pro – Charlie Wegelius
  13. Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape: The Remarkable Life of Jacques Anquetil, the First Five-Times Winner of the Tour de France – Paul Howard
  14. It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life – Lance Armstrong

Books about cycling history

  1. The Dancing Chain: History and Development of the Derailleur Bicycle – Frank Berto
  2. Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle – Jody Rosen
  3. Bicycle: The History – David V. Herlihy

And others!

  1. Ride the Revolution: The inside stories from women in cycling – Suze Clemitson
  2. The Rider – Tim Krabbe
  3. A Sunday in Hell: Behind the Lens of the Greatest Cycling Film of All Time – William Fotheringham
  4. Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling – Carlton Reid
  5. Revolutions: How Women Changed the World on Two Wheels, Hannah Ross
  6. Bikes and Bloomers: Victorian Women Inventors and their Extraordinary Cycle Wear (Goldsmiths Press) – Kat Jungnickel
  7. The Death of Marco Pantani – Matt Rendell
  8. Land of Second Chances: The Impossible Rise of Rwanda’s Cycling Team – Tim Lewis
  9. Bespoke – Tom Bromley
  10. Roads Were Not Built for Cars: How cyclists were the first to push for good roads & became the pioneers of motoring – Carlton Reid
  11. The Secret Cyclist: Real Life as a Rider in the Professional Peloton – The Secret Cyclist
  12. How Cycling Can Save the World – Peter Walker
  13. Riding in the Zone Rouge – Tom Isitt
  14. Lost Lanes North: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Yorkshire, the Lake District, Northumberland and Northern England – Jack Thurston
  15. The Escape Artist: Life from the Saddle – Matt Seaton
  16. The Art of Cycling – James Hibbard
  17. Ride: Cycle the World – DK Eyewitness
  18. Lonely Planet Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks 5 (Travel Guide) – Greg Benchwick

Hope you enjoy the list. Happy reading!

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