Wild Cycling ― A Pocket Guide to 50 Great Rides Off the Beaten Track in Britain

This book is written for all those who love riding off-road. Cycling is a unique way to see and experience wild places and Wild Cycling is a hardworking guide book that takes the reader on a journey through the wild and stunning scenery of the British mainland, whilst providing inspiration and enough information for readers to get out and explore it for themselves.

The concept of wild cycling means taking a bike on natural routes to explore wild places. The routes in the book link country lanes, green lanes, bridleways and towpaths to use natural and sometimes ancient ways between places to explore.

Wild Cycling is a guide book with inspirational photographs, descriptive copy, annotated route maps and ride profiles and GPS details. An introductory 'how to' section discusses bikes, techniques and safety. The rides are then divided by region and each ride is given between two and six pages depending on length and complexity. The title in each case sums up the ride's spirit and location. A fact-file gives details of ride length, geographical location, highest point, total height gained and notable hills with individual gradients. Each fact-file gives an indication of how hard the ride is, and how wild.

Each ride is linked to a person, a race, a challenge, a moment in history or simply a landscape, or anything that makes the ride a unique challenge for two wheels and leg power. The ride names echo those given to rock climbs. A section of each description will draw the reader's attention to points of interest: something, some person or an event that defines or is uniquely connected with each ride.

Each route includes 'escape points', where a ride can be cut short in case the weather changes or because of an emergency. Some rides can be completed in half a day, whereas others may take several days with overnight stops.

CHRIS SIDWELLS is a freelance writer, editor and photographer whose words and/or photographs appear in every edition of Britain's best-selling cycling magazine, Cycling Weekly. His most recent project has been to produce and edit ten very successful bookazines in a series called Cycling Legends for Time Inc, which carry the Cycling Weekly brand. Chris also writes for Cycle Sport and Cycling Active. In addition he has carried out commissions for Cycling Plus, GQ Magazine, Men's Fitness, Running Fitness, the Sunday Times, the Guardian and the BBC.

He also works as a regular cycling pundit for several BBC local radio stations, including working on BBC Radio Sheffield's live coverage of the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart in Yorkshire and the Tour de Yorkshire.

Chris has written, or part-written, seventeen books on cycling, three of them coffee-table guide books, in the twelve years he has worked in this business, supplying photographs as well as words for three of them. His books, many of which have gone to multiple editions and been bestsellers in their genre, cover every aspect of cycling, and in total they have been translated into 24 languages.

His most recent book is a collaboration with Chris Boardman called The Biography of the Modern Bike, published by Octopus in 2015. He is currently writing a book on the history of cycling jerseys, and under his own publishing brand The Pedal Press in 2015 he published the British pioneer professional Barry Hoban's autobiography, Vas-y Barry.

Chris has a degree in geology, is a qualified cycling coach and fitness instructor and is an active cyclist with years of racing and riding experience in every aspect of the sport. He has won races in every cycling discipline, road, track and off-road, and in every age group from youths to masters.