Ride Britain by Simon Warren

In Ride Britain, Simon Warren – the author of the 100 Greatest Climbs series – links together some of his favourite ascents to offer 40 spectacular cycling routes and a compelling vision of the great riding available throughout mainland Britain. Widescreen images, engaging writing, maps and Simon's guides to the showpiece climbs will have you itching to get out there.

Cycling has been a saviour to many of us during the last year, and we are lucky to partake in a sport that has – group rides aside – been largely left alone by government restrictions, enabling us to get outdoors and ride as often as time allows. But travel advice to stay local has often meant that unless you're a hardcore audaxer prepared to travel the length of the country on your own two wheels, there have been limits on where you can ride and still respect the guidance.

With the promise of a return to something like normal later this summer, but with overseas travel still so uncertain, Simon Warren's latest book could just be the perfect guide to getting back out there and exploring our own land by bike. From south-west England to the north of Scotland, the uphill addict has linked together some of his favourite climbs to create 40 breathtaking – figuratively and, in some cases, literally – rides.

Broken up into eight chapters, the book covers south-west England, south-east England, the Midlands, Yorkshire, north-east England, north-west England, Scotland and Wales, so no matter where you live – or where you're hoping to travel to – there will be rides in here nearby.

Simon is an engaging writer, and his style allows you to vicariously enjoy the thrills and the struggles of each route alongside him. He might climb faster than most of us, but he feels the pain and the drive to overcome it and taste satisfaction at the top that we all do.

He also has an eye for the spectacular, and the images in this book are a class apart from many of the admittedly impressive self-shot photos in his pocket guides. Here Simon has worked with experienced cycling photographers such as Andy Jones and Phil Hall to capture the widescreen nature of the landscapes through which his rides take us. Britain is often at its best when it is at its most rugged and the rider at their most isolated, and the book certainly had me wishing I could get away more to ride these stunning locations.

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The layout is clear, giving you the story of the ride, a decent map and gradient profile of the route, and Simon's guide to the key climbs.

What you don't get is a link to a downloadable gpx file for any of the routes. The book is more coffee table inspiration than jersey pocket guide book, so unless you're prepared to cut it up you'll need to plot Simon's maps on something like Komoot or Ride With GPS to get a digital version you can download to your device. On the plus side, the maps in the book are of sufficient detail to make this process relatively easy.

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As a guide to some of the best riding in the UK, this book is a great resource. And of course, once you've travelled to the areas Simon highlights, and ridden his routes, the author himself would no doubt encourage you to seek out more of what the area has to offer. Ride Britain could be just the start of a great adventure.

Verdict

If you're looking for post-lockdown riding inspiration, this book delivers it in spades