Favorite Climbing Books

In my cycling library, two books are well worn, much more so than all others. These two are the climbing bibles from John Summerson:


The Complete Guide to Climbing (By Bike)

The Complete Guide to Climbing (By Bike) in California

The first one contains 100 climbs from all over the US and was my go-to resource for quite a while. For me, the list of climbs was, if nothing else, a great motivator. I quickly started treating it as a bucket list, trying to knock off as many climbs as I could.

This was eventually followed by the California edition, which became my go-to for CA climbs. It is the same format as the first one, but with better overall coverage of CA. Whenever I am considering a new climb, it is always the first book that I reach for.

John Summerson also has a few other region specific books out:


The Complete Guide to Climbing (By Bike) In Colorado

The Complete Guide to Climbing (by Bike) in the Southeast

While I don’t have personal experience with either, I’m guessing they are also quite good, based on the quality of the US and California editions.

Random Posts Recent Comments

  • FedererExpress Says:

    I don't know if this counts as an official road, but Socrates Mine Road (HWY 175, north of Middletow...

  • tech Says:

    Heya! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was h...

  • Joebar Says:

    My wife and I just rode up Hicks Rd yesterday. But that was only half the climbing... We continued u...

  • rallison Says:

    Edward, oddly enough, I finally got back out to 39 and cycled it for the first time in months on Sat...

  • Edwardk Says:

    As of March 2014 there is a new rockslide in the uppermost stretch of CA-39 (past the gate blocking ...

  • Melissa Luna Says:

    Hello, I plan on participating in the 6k in October at the Palm Springs Tram. First time for me and...

  • Greg Says:

    This is a GREAT climb, took it on this weekend for the first time. We opted for the extra 5 miles u...

  • Jeff Parker Says:

    Greetings from Shanghai! It's been well nigh 30 years since my cycling days in Santa Barbara, but th...

  • dtube Says:

    Thanks for the nice documentation of this epic climb. My buddy and I did this ride on 11/24/2013. We...

  • PB Says:

    Thank for such a great post. After reading your post, I went to Hicks Rd today. But unfortunately I ...

Tag Cloud

2nd Street 33 Angeles National Forest Belmont Shore Buellton CA-84 Camino Cielo Cleveland National Forest Costa Rica Decker Deer Creek Double Metric Encinal Figueroa Mountain Glendora Glendora Mountain Road Glendora Ridge Road Happy Canyon Jalama Beach La Honda Loma Mar Long Beach Los Olivos Maple Spring Road Mt Baldy Lodge Mt Baldy Road Mt Baldy Ski Lifts Ojai Ojai Valley Century Old San Marcos Pass Organized Rides Painted Cave Pescadero Playa Flamingo San Bernardino National Forest San Gregorio Santa Barbara Santa Monica Mountains Santa Paula Santa Ynez Valley Santiago Canyon shared lanes Silverado Canyon Ventura Yerba Buena