Guides

Riding an area you know with a guide book is like finding a friend who knows the area and suggests turning left where you’ve always turned right.

You know that there is great riding in places that you’re now missing, but you also stand to discover something you never even knew was there. This was the case last weekend. Before the snow made everything tougher I headed out on a ride in the Chilterns using the excellent South East Mountain Biking guide by Nick Cotton, published by Vertebrate.

On the Sunday I would try out a loop from here in the snow as I’ve mentioned, but on the Saturday I decided to hit the only “hard” rated route in the Chilterns at 30Km and on ground frozen solid by frost. The ride heads out form Hambleden and loops towards the M40, taking in some of the best views and riding in the area. With temperatures never above 3 degrees it was a not exactly warm but the climbs and flowing singletrack kept me warm enough to lose some layers as I went along.

Interestingly the top end of the ride overlapped with my old-faithful route in the Chilterns, but taking some sections in the opposite direction, giving me reason to think about whether event hat ride could be improved. Otherwise it opened my eyes to areas just off what I know well and some more fabulous riding in this area which is conveniently close to London.

Finally, the book itself impressed me. Some guides leave you lost and wondering if the author has ever actually been to the places they’re describing, but this one flags up hard to spot turnings and give a clear view of where to go and the best bits to enjoy.

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