Top Ten Epic Bike Rides

Damascus—not quite the simple trading town it used to be (ALZ)

Plain and simple: The Silk Roads smack of romance and mystery. Silk (of course) and spice and camels and desert caravans. Trade across vast distance and through lands and cities whispered in poetry: Antioch, Damascus, Baghdad, Samarkand, Bukhara, Tashkent, Kashgar. Unfortunately, today these places are embroiled in the aggravating politics of the Middle East, Iraq and Iran, the -stans of Central Asia, and China. Travel here is prohibited, discouraged, or made unrealistic by a bureaucracy worthy of the worst. However, for an intrepid adventurer ready to dive beyond the spoiling touch of balance-of-power jockeying and meet the gentle pace of life practiced by people settled into millennia-old routines, there are few treats more exquisite. This is especially true when enjoyed on a bike. Don't let diesel fumes spoil your taste for history. Travel the ancient routes at the speed of a camel without the discomfort of a poorly placed hump. From the cradle of civilization, across the remote steppes and deserts of an Asia unknown to most, to the immensity of China, biking the Silk Roads is truly living romance and mystery.