South East Mountain Biking: Ridgeway and Chilterns

Well illustrated very useful tour guides. They open the countryside to day-adventures on bikes.

Brilliant starting point if you don't know the area.

Not seeing reviews that have actually road tested these routes. I tried my first one today. Now I know its not easy to write these and when I was a walker, I found walking routes in guides to be worse than useless. I know its a pain to follow every twist and turn the first time. However Nick has not included an address or email to add corrections to future editions. I gave up on the route a third of the way in. The road sign he mentions was not there and he several times names farm buildings and houses which simply do not have the names displayed. I spent 20 minutes trying to find a bridleway and gave up.

This is a quite small (a little smaller than A5) but chunky c.200 page book on Mountain Biking the Ridgeway and the Chilterns.You get an Introduction section on the area and its suitability to Mountain Biking, how to use the book, an intro to the routes and how to use them, Rights of Way, essential kit, what type of bike to use, night riding, general safety, rules, accidents, planning your rides, and the key symbols to the map. Then you get a map of the area (stretching from Cirencester in the west to Bracknell in the east, Oxford in the north to Andover in the south. All 24 rides are within this area.The rest of the book is then divided into 3 main sections: Ridgeway (11 routes), Hampshire Downs (4 routes) and the Chilterns (9 routes).About 6 years ago I cycled the Ridgeway on a mountain bike from start to end and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There is a huge amount of history to see - particularly near the start just east of Avebury but all along the route there are ancient monuments – white horses, burial chambers, Iron Age forts, standing stones etc plus some absolutely stunning scenery.These Ridgeway rides take you on and off the Ridgeway itself in circular rides – anywhere from 18-33kms. Each route is beautifully illustrated with photos, an altitude profile and a map. There is an introduction to each ride and a summary of it: distance, total ascent, starting reference and details, parking, café and pub details. Then there is the instructions as to the route- each twist and turn in a decent amount of detail. I’ve had a good look through them and am itching to try out some of them when I next visit my sister in Wiltshire!Section 2 is the Hampshire Downs which I have yet to visit. So there are a few there for the future I am looking forward to. They range from 20 – 38km. Lastly section 3 is the Chilterns – I’ve walked a couple of these areas but not cycled them so again I’m eager to try some of them out when I am next nearby.The very last section sets out "4 Mega rides" (which combines some of the earlier rides) and then tells you the "Top 10 Climbs" in the book and the "Top 10 downhills" described also.All in all, if you live near this part of the country or are holidaying/visiting the area with your bike then this book is a great addition to your routes to try out. It’s well set out – clear and concise and nicely illustrated.

I bought this book as help for planning a holiday to the area, specifically the rides along or incorporating the Ridgeway - it has been really helpful in this planning. The guide is helpfully split into three sections covering the Ridgeway, the Hampshire Downs and the Chilterns. There is good, clear advice about when and where to find the best riding conditions - for instance, what is marked on the map as a track may be wrecked by the actions of 4x4s , warning about how treacherous wet chalk can be, and how gloopy the mud gets in winter. All really good, useful tips. There are some good photos giving a taste of the rides, and a section describing how to fit a few of the rides together to create much longer `mega rides'. I also like the reference to the historic monuments through the landscape which makes it easier to decide which to visit in combination with a ride.Curiously the mapping is neither OS nor Harveys so you would definitely have to take a back up form of mapping as well. (I know this is advised in the other VP publications but you can get away with just the book in say, the Lakes). This is a bit irritating as the lack of contour lines means less of a feel for the whole route is available. Still, overall the guide has given me some great ideas and I look forward to testing the routes.

Very happy with this purchase. Wasn't sure what to expect from the grading system having never used a book from this series but have found them to be a good measure of both distance, and more importantly, technical challenge. To give you an idea, a 'red' ride I did recently had a 'red' climb that would be hard to walk up, so riding up was a good challenge.