Follow Mike's journey into bikepacking, blending hard-won lessons with practical advice. Along the way, he shares stories from some of the UK's most iconic routes, including the Highland Trail 550, the Trans Cambrian and the Lakeland 300. At its heart lies his Cylchdaith Cymru (Welsh 550) ride around his adopted home of Wales.
A naturalist, mountaineer and educator, Mike weaves observations on landscape, land management and nature throughout his journey. Grinding up hills on a laden bike, he develops an intimate relationship with one of our last overlooked wild spaces, the roadside verge, capturing it in evocative detail.
On Mike's Welsh 550 route he gives us a bike-borne view of Wales: from the limestone-built Victorian resort of Llandudno beneath the Great Orme, to the wild Worm's Head at the tip of the Gower, just beyond Wales's second city, Swansea - and back again. The route heads south down the west side of Wales before returning up the eastern side, taking in encounters with of slate quarrying, coal mining, forestry and agriculture.
In the quiet expanses of central Wales, where services are few and far between, chance encounters become meaningful. Mike meets few people, but each has a story to tell. This is a bikepacking travelogue for our times.
The book includes sketch maps, route summaries, reflections on lessons learned, pen-and-ink illustrations, and an index.