Product Description

This is a mountain biking guidebook to Scotland. It includes 50 selected routes, single and multi-day routes, spread over the whole of the Highland region, i.e. Argyll, the Southern, Central and Northern Highlands and the Cairngorms. The fifty routes in this guide represent some of the best riding to be enjoyed anywhere. They range from short, easy jaunts to full-on epics penetrating deep into the heart of the hills and glens. Bad weather alternatives are listed. The book offers advice on access, nearest bike shops to the routes, and how to get there. It is the first guide to cover the whole of Scotland north of the Highland Fault Line. It is fulsomely illustrated with maps and inspirational photographs, and compiled by a highly respected Scottish biker.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322077 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

MBR (Mountain Bike Rider) Feb 2007
Kenny Wilson's 50 of the best Scottish trail forays really does
stand out from the crowd.

Singletrack Magazine March 2007
The real strength of the book is the sheer amount of new material

From the Author
Since the book came out it seems to have been gaining a bit
of a reputation as being for the hard-core epic rider. While there are
plenty of offerings that will test the hardiest, 20 routes are for those
riding at beginner to intermediate level.

There is choice accross the full range of ability and fitness. It's all
about getting into the wild places and through stunning scenery. Riding
doesn't have to be extreme to achieve this. It's surprising how much can
be reached without having to be super fit or skilled. Whatever category
your riding falls into there's plenty here for you.

Customer Reviews

MOUNTAINBIKE SCOTLAND - BRILLIANT
Anything I've ridden in this book has been fantastic. I've heard similar comments from several riders on various internet forums about days I've still to try.I can't wait to get out and do them. Even without those comments , the pictures and descriptions just make you want to go out and tackle the routes. Another good thing is that is that the book is split into different areas with road maps that show where all the routes are in relation to one another.
The only other comparable book has nearly 50% of its content taken up by marked FC trails. While thats a great idea for anyone who has no knowledge of where they are , it's not really what I'm looking for in a guide book.All I need to do for that sort of stuff is to contact the FC or IMBA then turn up and follow the marker posts. The Mountainbike Scotland book has less than 10% of it's total given over to that kind of riding. Even then it seems to be there to make sure you've got somewhere to head for if the weather is rubbish.
If you're looking for a guide book to quality riding experiences through real Scottish countryside , this is THE one.
A great book for a great day out.

Indispensable
This book is a superb resource for any mountain biker who rides in Scotland. The previous touchstone reference works; Ralph Storer's 'exploring country hill tracks'(1994) and Harry Henniker's '101 MTB routes in Scotland' (1998) are excellent works in their own right, but target a general cycling audience and could do with updating. Kenny Wilson does that and more with this book, which is packed with genuine epics that will test and inspire any rider. That said, the book is focussed more on the experienced rider who can look after their bike and can handle most types of terrain, there's slim pickings for the novice cyclist here. No problem with that, these books work better if the writer sets their stall out with regard to the target skill level of the audience.

The book itself is excellent value, nice photographs, and written with a pleasing brevity of prose. Its all about the information; where are the trails and what are they like? The writer does a good job of describing bad trail sections that might need to be hiked. Whilst I am sure that plenty of these trails are well-described on the web, or common knowledge amongst longtime Scottish riders, this is the first guidebook I have seen that really draws together the epics in a single reference work. Essential for any MTB rider who wants to do some serious riding in the Scottish hills.

Not sure about everything
A group of us meet up to mountain bike once month with an annual trip away somewhere. Our Routemaster has been using this book for inspiration on routes. Which on the whole have been pretty good. The routes have been in the main very rideable and always enjoyable. However we recently had a weekend in Torridon. Three rides were planned, one from MBR Magazine and two from this book. Of the two from the book, both proved to be very disappointing as large parts of the routes were simply not rideable. The fact that this was so became very apparent when on our second route we met two separate groups of walkers who asked '...where are you going?' ...'...on the loop route back around to Incheril' we replied. Both times we were greeted with '...there is not a route as such, you best turn back.' Turning back would have been the thing to do in retrospect. The author made only the faintest reference to the difficulties you would encounter and I found myself in my frustration wondering had he actually ridden them? As if he had surely he would said, for about 5 -8k you will mainly have to walk carrying the bike over tricky terrain which becomes even more tricky when you are wearing clip in cycling shoes. Whilst the book is not without its uses (the central Scotland routes have proved sensible) be very wary if undertaking any of the remote highland routes unless you are willing to do a fair chunk of hikey biking and may be bring a some walking boots!