Are you curious about Catalonia? Intrigued by Italy or baffled by Belgium? Are you eager to explore Europe but not sure where to start? Don't worry: you'll always know where to ride with the 100 tried-and-tested routes in my new book A to Z Europe for Bikers.
I know you're probably thinking, how did he come up with another 100 routes. Well, I'll be completely honest with you: I haven't. After the success of last year's Britain for Bikers the team at A to Z asked me to pick the best 100 routes from my two self-published Bikers' Europe books – and then they added their magic. By which I mean high-quality A to Z mapping and the two things the originals were criticized for lacking: a spiral-binder and high-durability paper (which I couldn't afford to use). That means the new book can go in a tankbag, keeping all the routes right in front of you as you ride.
That wasn't all we did to prepare the new book, though. Every route was carefully rechecked, with the team ironing out the handful of errors that had survived my home-brew proofing (jumbling numbers in road names usually) and I refined a couple of routes that could benefit from a light updating. At heart, they're all still the same trips – but everything's benefited from the careful attention of a team of publishing pros to take it to the next level.
So what should you expect, if you don't have the original books? Quite simply it's my attempt to deliver an unbeatably comprehensive guide to getting the best out of every day you spend riding in Europe, no matter where you go.
All the famous roads are there, from Route Napoleon in France to the Grossglockner in Austria, the Black Forest's B500 and Spain's N260. Like Italy's Stelvio and Switzerland's Five Passes, they're all packaged up in routes that get the best not just from them but also from the roads around them.
But there's so much more than that. From obscure passes in the Pyrenees to the quiet corners of Portugal, to the best roads everyone overlooks in France and the locals' favourite roads in Italy, everything I discovered and all the great roads I've been shown in 30 odd years of exploring Europe – not to mention more than a dozen years of producing riding guides and routes for magazines – has gone into this book.
The aim of the book is simply to help you make the most of your time on two wheels, to discover the roads and places that delight and surprise you. No matter what kind of bike you ride or what type of road you like, there will be something in here for you (unless you like motorways: there's none of that).
With practical routes from one to three days long, all over western Europe, there will be a ride to transform your summer trip – one you'll talk about for years to come. In fact, a lot more than one ride...
A to Z Europe for Bikers is on sale now, wherever you buy your books. You can order a signed copy from here, too.
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