Cycling remains one of the most popular leisure activities in Britain today & continuing numbers of people are taking up the sport whether for leisure enjoyment for all the family or for health & environmental reasons. The Midlands has a high density of towns & cities & because of the congested & dangerous roads there is a growing need for a useful guide to safe traffic-free cycling around the area. Cyclists living in the area want quick easy access to a range of enjoyable new cycling routes where they can quickly escape from their usual crowded environment & explore quiet routes in attractive natural or man-made surroundings. In recent years there have been many initiatives to develop traffic-free routes through national or local government schemes & organisations such as Sustrans but it is often impracticable for leisure cyclists to keep right up to date with the latest information on the many thousands of miles of paths & lanes where it is possible & legal for cyclists to pursue their hobby away from traffic. All the more welcome then is this brand new title from experienced author & cyclist Nick Cotton who brings together 30 of the best routes in the Midlands & the Peak District. As well as offering practical general advice for the cyclist the author gives clear instructions for each route a useful diagrammatic map suggestions on where best to park and/or start the trip distance gradients & hills places of interest & suggested refreshment stops along the way or close to the route. This volume covers a large area of central England with the majority of the rides concentrated in the counties of Cheshire Derbyshire Nottinghamshire Staffordshire Leicestershire & Northamptonshire. There are also descriptions of rides in & around the cities of Birmingham Leicester Nottingham Derby Stoke & Sheffield. Several sections of the Trans Pennine Trail are featured.