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"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"
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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
We've used this book in and around the Aviemore area and it proved very helpful. The range of routes and the directions (using an OS map) are quite impressive, though I would recommend anyone to buy the OS map for the region they wish to explore as well.
We also bought the "Bike Scotland Trails Guide: 40 of the Best Mountain Bike Routes in Scotland", the poorer of the two guides.
Its attention to detail is a vast improvement on the latter book - we got lost twice using it. Thus, buy this book and avoid the bike Scotland Trails Guide.
We also bought the "Bike Scotland Trails Guide: 40 of the Best Mountain Bike Routes in Scotland", the poorer of the two guides.
Its attention to detail is a vast improvement on the latter book - we got lost twice using it. Thus, buy this book and avoid the bike Scotland Trails Guide.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
after reading previous reviews regarding this book i sensed it was the one for me. I wasn't disappointed. currently I am looking for trails that are away from the usual. this has definately given food for thought. I am looking to do some cycling in skye. using the book and google maps/earth you can trace out the run and get a feeling for the run ahead. the book is small enough to carry on the trips.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
If you had to have 1 book on wild trails in Scotland. This is it!
If you love Mountain biking and want to get away from the crowds then this is a must. Trail centres definately have their place but this book will take you away to the great... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Big Sid
Challenging!
This is a well presented and neatly packaged guide.
A great variety of routes and the use of OS mapping places it ahead of many others around. Read more
A great variety of routes and the use of OS mapping places it ahead of many others around. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Rabbyl
Concise, clear and informative
This guide is very well written and very well presented.
The routes are clearly described, shown on OS maps and show ascent, descent, alternate starts etc. Read more
The routes are clearly described, shown on OS maps and show ascent, descent, alternate starts etc. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Rmoocoo
Brilliant
This book is fantastic. It shows with great accuracy the best wild MTB trails in Scotland. I have only completed a couple of them but they were extremely exiting. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Stuart M. Fenwick
scottish mountain biking
bought this guide for the bonus section on coast 2 coast and it did not let me down will be looking forward to going on trip
Published 19 months ago by Mr. J. T. Clark
These trails bite back!
There are planty of guide books out there for Scotland but most are either written by non bike riders (or people who have never riden the trails they are detailing) or written by... Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2010 by S. Fisher
Scotland Mountain Biking - wild trails
I've found the Vertebrate series of mounatin bike guide books very useful and easy to use.
Two reasons: 1) using OS maps is a big plus, it's easy to see where you are, what... Read more
Two reasons: 1) using OS maps is a big plus, it's easy to see where you are, what... Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2010 by Hilary Bloor
More good stuff
Anyone who is familiar with VG's great trailguides for the rest of the UK will know the format of their guides; great trailmaps, inspiring pictures and what I find to be the... Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2009 by Mr. Christopher N. Fryer
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