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great scottish bike rides. 25 classic road cycling routes across scotland. dave barter. vertebrate publishing 159pp illus. £25
i confess, it's been a while since i received a cycling adventure book that did not concern the ubiquitous gravel bike. but dave barter has bucked the trend by publishing, in concert with vertebrate publishing, a concise and well-illustrated volume describing just over two dozen road cycling routes north of the border, though i must admit, i don't completely comprehend the pre-fixing of those with the word classic.
as evinced in a recent guardian article featuring couples who moved from the usa to scotland, though scotland is conjoined both physically and politically with the southern part of the uk, in many ways, it couldn't be more different. and possibly the first difference likely to be pointed out by scots and non-scots alike, is the substantial amount of precipitation suffered, predominantly on its west coast.
in other words; rain.
the map preceding the book's contents shows the 25 rides fairly evenly split between west, east and central. however, my parochial island sensibilities found themselves slightly disappointed that the author's only departures from the mainland, were a visit to arran and to mull (skye is no longer eligible to call itself an island following the opening of a bridge in october 1995 and bute is so close to scotland (35 minutes), as to be almost inseparable). the southern hebrides (islay, jura and colonsay), along with the western isles (the outer hebrides), were seemingly thought unworthy of inclusion. that makes it all the more ironic that he begins his introduction with "Scotland is old. It began approximately three billion years ago in the Outer Hebrides..."
he does, however end with the admission, "i'd love to have included many more...", without actually explaining why he didn't.
as with many cycle guide books, the author provides salient advice as to the best means of approaching the contents from the saddle, alluding to fitness, nutrition and hydration, suitable apparel ("Cyclists who venture out must be prepared for a whole range of weather conditions.") before moving onto mechanical considerations by way of tools and spares and coping with unforeseen emergencies, maps and navigation, and a helpful separation of the rides into three categories: moderate, challenging and epic.
each of the 25 rides is copiously illustrated and augmented with an introduction, its location on the map, distance, elevation gain, route profile and the relevant map references. some of this data is summarised in a single table inside the back cover. when it comes to maps, though each ride is downloadable as a series of gpx files for uploading to your gps device of choice, mr barter advises "...I always carry a paper map." alongside each ride description is a single-page, colour map of the route; less sophisticated than an ordnance survey version, but sufficiently detailed to provide at least a taster of what the determined velocipedinist might expect.
the elevation profile for the skye route will give you sleepless nights.
the ride descriptions are commendably 'chatty' in style, as opposed to the more usual step-by-step instructions. "The next section is a bit of a slog [...] I'm afraid there's not much to see along the way, apart from a military firing range." and "The late afternoon light will enhance the views and ensure that you have the lake road to yourself."
for those of us who still consider ourselves to be roadies rather than gravellites, this is a welcome addition to the cycling bookshelf. and the very fact that the author resides in devon would tend to confirm that the joys of scotland are not confined to those of us who live here.
friday 11 september 2026
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