If you are looking for inspiration for your next ride, be it long or short then look no further than either of these two books, bike packing Wales by Emma Kingston and bike packing Scotland by Markus Stitz
I feel its ok to review these two books side by side because rather than competing with each other they in fact compliment each other. look no further than these two books if you want to dip your toe in the bike packing water or are a seasoned leathery skinned wanderer as there are easier routes for the inexperienced (me!) to full on out there riding on lumpy terrain for those with more experience.
The full colour pictures just make you want to drop whatever you are doing, check the air in your tyres and head out the door on an adventure. A tremendous amount of work has gone into these books from both authors, there’s so much detail. not just about the route and the conditions you can expect at various times of year but also what to look out for on your ride. places of interest you might have just ridden past are listed as well as the essentials like food stops, pubs and bike shops.
The maps are comprehensive and detailed but as you probably won’t want to carry the book with you on the rides there are downloadable GPX file links for every route making it simple to transfer the route to you mapping computer of choice.
You can of course adapt the routes to suit yourself, I adapted a route from the Forest of Dean into Wales as i was tight on time and this is one of the things I like about these books, they are very versatile, you can dip in and out of them, use the published route or join them up for a longer ride. all the rides are graded and the grading system is explained so you get an idea if the route is suitable for you before you start.
The thing I like most about them though is Emma and Markus’s enthusiasm for just riding a bike as it seems to shine through on every page.
If you’ve ever thought about bike packing or just want to go ride your bike in some wonderful places bike packing Wales and bike packing Scotland are must have books, and even if you haven’t thought about it they are worth buying just to look at, i can’t guarantee you won’t be tempted to swing a leg over a bike and ride off into the countryside though!
you can buy these books direct from the publisher, always a good idea for the author
Bike packing Wales by Emma Kingston
Bike packing Scotland by Markus Stitz
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