Guidebook: Cycling In The Peak District - Off Road Trails & Quiet Lanes
18th Dec 2007
Not content with a pair of comprehensive guidebooks and a fold up pocket-sized map detailing selected rides in the Peak Vertebrate Publishing have produced another book, this one aimed at the more leisurely cyclist. It covers 18 routes from 9 to 23km in length, all away from the traffic in the world’s busiest national park, The Peak District.
On most fronts its as you would expect – good quality maps, decent route descriptions a height grain and loss profile for each ride, and plenty of useful tit-bits of information to make the ride as enjoyable as possible. The main deviation from ‘normal’ guidebooks is the format of the book. It’s a little bigger than average and square. Not quite sure what the thinking is here as it obviously won’t fit into many pockets. I guess that most people cycling the rides within it are likely to have a rucksack or some sort of carrier on the bike, and will not be in a rush to get it out and check for directions.
It is aimed at families off on a leisurely ride after all… Priced at £12.95 and featuring 112 larger than average pages it represents very good value for money by today’s prices. The orientation map on page 9 could have done with some route lengths next to the names and page references so to make quick choices easier. Other than that it’s pretty watertight as guides go and would make a nice stocking filler this Christmas.
Reviewed by Matt Heason on behalf of planetFear