Product Description

"Scotland Mountain Biking - The Wild Trails" is the 11th title in Vertebrate Publishing's bestselling series of UK mountain biking guidebooks. This book showcases 25 routes in Scotland, between 6 km and 290 km in length, suitable for all levels of mountain bikers. Scotland has been named a 'Global Superstar' by the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) on a number of occasions, and the variety of terrain, the locations and the jaw-dropping scenery mean it is an incredible place to ride a mountain bike. The author of this guidebook, Phil McKane, is a Scottish Mountain Bike Leaders Association (SMBLA) qualified mountain bike leader and expedition leader. Phil has over 15 years of experience in all aspects of mountain biking, from cross-country racing to epic tours. The book is illustrated with stunning action photography from MBR Magazine photographer Andy McCandlish, a name synonymous with images of mountain biking in Scotland. Each route in this guide is described with easy-to-follow directions and details of distance, grade of difficulty, refreshment stops and is plotted on clear and easy to use Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 mapping. A Bonus Section includes the sought-after Coast-to-Coast tour from Fort William to Montrose.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29108 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-20
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
"Vertebrate Publishing has made a name for itself with a series of glossy, highly polished and well researched guidebooks to some of the UK's favourite riding spots." Mountain Bike Rider (MBR) Magazine "I'd say the best Mountain Bike Guide I've seen to date." Planetfear.com on Yorkshire Dales Mountain Biking - The South Dales"

About the Author
Phil McKane is a Scottish Mountain Bike Leaders Association (SMBLA) qualified trail cycle leader, mountain bike leader and expedition leader, and has over 15 years of experience in all aspects of mountain biking, from cross country racing to epic tours. Phil runs Scottish Mountain Bike Guides (www.scottishmountainbikeguides.com), leading mountain bike holidays and skills courses all over the country, from the 7Stanes to the Western Isles.

Customer Reviews

Wild to the heart.....
Another mountain bike guide from the Vertebrate Publishing stable using the same tried and tested format as proven with their guides to the Peak District, the Lakes and the Yorkshire Dales.

To me a guidebook should be more than just a set of instructions on where best to go: It should be a sage that offers advice and encouragement to enable you to push the envelope and to travel far beyond where you would go normally. And that's what has been achieved here. Up until this guidebook became available, the only source of information on mountain bike routes in the Scottish Highlands were either some fairly bland guidebooks, occasional descriptions in the magazines or adaptations gleaned from walking routes, which are frequently unridable. The guidebook itself is small enough to fit in a bum bag, comparable in weight to a map and robust enough to survive being taken out on each ride.

To those who think Scotland is primarily trial centres and man made playgrounds, think again: The highlands are an awesome area of wilderness. To put it all in context: Snowdonia is pretty much fits on 1 Landranger OS map. You would need more than 40 to cover the Highlands alone. The Lake District has 3 mountains over 3000ft, Scotland has in excess of 280.

I've just returned from a short trip with a fellow middle aged, middle capability partner, both of us riding XC hardtails, where we sampled some of the routes up the west coast.

* Glen Finglass: A short, sweet circuit in an area frequently driven
past on the way North. An excellent circuit with a gruelling climb
rewarded by a roller-coaster descent.
* Glen Sligachan: We rode this the opposite way to described: A
fantastic ride through the spectacular mountain scenery of the
Cuillins and Blaven to the sea.
* Torridon Circuit: I'd seen these paths marked on the map but had
never had the confidence to try to ride them. Although describing
the ascent as 'mostly ridable' might have been stretching it a
bit, the single track descent into Torridon was superb.
* West Highlands Tour: I'm not sure if I'd go along with splitting
this into 2 days, we rode it in a day although it was very, very
rough and tough (rocky). An number of other options are available
to take the ride further East, although this would add to the
amount of road, and these weren't mentioned.

We found the descriptions and directions accurate and easy to follow. We finished the rides well within the times given, however we did have the benefit of good weather. The suggested extensions give some good pointers for pushing on a bit further. A gentle word of warning: Although the guide includes sections of OS maps for the route, in some cases you do need the maps themselves to give us a better appreciation of where you are and what our options were.

So all in all: At last a quality guide to help open up the wilderness of the Highlands. 9/10.