John Woakes

John WoakesDervla cycled on a single-speed bike solo to India. This book is her diary. She has many adventures and setbacks but takes it all in her stride. She took a pistol which she had to use twice for self-defence. She nearly froze and nearly died of heat stroke, but she fell in love with some of the countries and their lifestyles that were so far removed from her own growing up in Ireland. She decided she was going to do this as a young girl but realized people would not take her seriously if she told them so she didn't. It was obviously a different time (she did the trip in 1963) and in a way, a lot was easier/more relaxed. Some border posts were unmanned. But the roads were much less developed and maps inaccurate and no internet. She would end up pushing her bike for miles due to bad surfaces, steep gradients, ice, and floods. She developed the habit of sleeping under a tree during the heat of the day by the roadside in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India - brave or mad?? And she was a smoker! <br/>She writes in an engaging relaxed style and throws in some reflections on western lifestyle vs the simplier rustic lifestyles she encounters. Some people she met had never seen a bicycle and she had to explain how it worked. There is a smattering of politics and the corruption she encounters but she is very open and accepting of the people and their lives. Less accepting of western tourists she meets who never stop complaining.<br/>I recommend this book to all but especially cyclists who have taken on longer journeys.<br/>This is a great interview she did much later https://youtu.be/eKFO597-bdw