Cycling

Cycle touring is becoming increasingly popular, and the best-known routes in the UK are probably the End to End (LEJoG) and the coast to coast (C2C). To cycle End to End, from Lands End to John o' Groats will take most cyclists two weeks to cover just under 1000 miles. It's an epic ride exploring the best of Britain. For a shorter but fairly challenging coast to coast route the C2C is just 140 miles and will take most cyclists about three or four days to complete, passing through the Lake District then crossing the Pennines in a series of hill climbs and long descents with far reaching views.

There are many other cycle touring guidebooks in the range. Mirroring the NC500 (North Sea 500) in northern Scotland, the guide to Cycle Touring in Northern Scotland takes a more cycle-friendly 528 mile route on quiet roads starting and finishing in Inverness. Cycling in the Hebrides has a selection of some wonderful routes, including a challenging 600 mile tour, all taking in the best of the island landscapes. Further south there are cycle touring guides to the Way of the Roses, Hadrian's Cycleway and the Lancashire Cycleway, while in Wales the Lôn Las Cymru covers 255 miles between Cardiff and Holyhead. For more adventurous cycle touring options in Wales, Cycle Touring in Wales has a two-week complete circuit of Wales, with six alternative cross-routes creating opportunities for tours of different lengths.

Other cycling guidebooks have selections of day rides and many have at least one multi-day tour. Cycling in the Lake District has a 5-day tour as well as 15 tough rides, Cycling in the Peak District has 20 day rides and a multi-day Tour, as does Cycling in the Cotswolds. Cycling in the Yorkshire Dales, covering an area between Leeds and Sedbergh has 23 day rides, and a 200 mile six-stage tour, as well as featuring the stage 1 route from the 2014 Tour de France.

For mountain bikers there is a good choice of guidebooks. Two books cover Scotland, the South and Central, and West and North-west areas respectively, the latter covering some rides in Torridon, Skye and the Outer Hebrides. Mountain Biking in the Lake District has 24 graded routes, while Mountain Biking in the Yorkshire Dales has 30 routes from which to choose. There is also a mountain biking guide for the Dales section of the Pennine Bridleway. The south of England has some good accessible mountain biking terrain in both the North Downs and South Downs.