Let’s Ride! It’s the Love to Ride Somerset Challenge
Created by Yvonne Selander, collection development librarian
Late last fall, I purchased a Schwinn Cruiser at Walmart with visions in my head of cycling around Duke Farms after work to enjoy the first signs of spring. My visions have not become reality but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be out enjoying my new wheels! I needed a little motivation, and the Love to Ride Somerset Challenge has come to my rescue: www.lovetoride.net/somerset. If some of the names recording their miles look familiar it’s because SCLSNJ staff have risen to the challenge and you can too!
Want to read up on bicycle maintenance before hitting the road? The EBSCO e-book nonfiction collection is like having books from a public library shelf, a university library’s stacks, and a corner of a used book store all in one place. It sounds a little odd but it’s actually pretty darn cool and really fun to browse. And this collection is always available — no holds ever! You never know what you’re going to find here! In this booklist are practical, historical and just plain interesting books about the bicycle and bicycling.
- “Bicycle!: A Repair & Maintenance Manifesto” by Sam Tracy
- “Bicycle Commuter’s Handbook: Gear You Need, Clothes to Wear, Tips for Traffic, Roadside Repair” by Robert Hurst
- “Bicycle Design: An Illustrated History” by Tony Hadland and Hans-Erhard Lessing
- “Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road” by James Lewis Longhurst
- “Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling” by Carlton Reid
- “Bike Lanes Are White Lanes: Bicycle Advocacy and Urban Planning” by Melody L. Hoffman
- “Claiming the Bicycle: Women, Rhetoric, and Technology in Nineteenth-Century America” by Sarah Hallenbeck
- “Culture on Two Wheels: The Bicycle in Literature and Film” by Jeremy Withers and Daniel P. Shea
- “Cycling the Erie Canal: A Guide to 400 Miles of Adventure and History Along the Erie Canalway Trail” by Parks & Trails New York
- “Effective Cycling” by John Forester
- “Frostbike: The Joy, Pain, and Numbness of Winter Cycling” by Tom Babin
- “Mountain Bike Master: Essential Skills and Advanced Techniques Made Easy” by Mark Langton
- “Old Wheelways: Traces of Bicycle History on the Land” by Robert McCullough
- “The Road Less Taken: Lessons from a Life Spent Cycling” by Kathryn Bertine
Remember to stay safe on the roads by wearing a helmet and traveling with members of your household. It’s not so much fun biking alone so I decided to take a member of my household along for the ride!