This book will make you contemplate doing hitherto unthinkable things, like cycling into Birmingham city centre for fun or spending time on two wheels in the backwaters of Milton Keynes. In short, it's a colourful and cheerful introduction to the 6,500 miles of national cycle network currently in existence in Britain and Northern Ireland.

In the introduction, Tony Robinson laments the passing of the Edwardian era when working men and women would ride off in their Sunday best from polluted cities for healthy fun. Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity, which has the aim of creating a 10,000-mile network of car-free or car-lite routes for cyclists, is striving to make that the case once more.

It includes sections for each of nine UK regions with a summary map of cycle routes. Not all the routes on the network are covered in detail - you'll have to buy the excellent Sustrans maps for those. Luckily, this guide gives helpful links on how to order the maps as well.