Excellent Books range

Excellent Books

Excellent Books range
The cycling guide books

Excellent Books by Richard Peace

Excellent Books are specialists in producing cycling guides of outstanding quality and detail with the emphasis on quality mapping and route descriptions that will let you know what to expect on your ride. All of the Excellent Books range have great reviews in the national cycling press.

The route guide books are handily spiral bound, so you can turn to the page you want and fold the book in half, ready for quick reference. They have high quality colour photography, with notes on where to stay and what to see and do.

Brompton and Electric Bike books
Electric Bicycles and Brompton Bicycle

The ‘UK Cycle Route Planner’ and ‘South Pennines and Peak District’ are open-out maps.

The Brompton Bicycle and Electric Bicycle books are high quality paperbacks.

An introduction to each of the publications is below, or go to the full product description by clicking the links.

Richard Peace

Excellent Books is run by Richard Peace, a freelance cycling journalist writing for national media, including ‘Cycling Plus’ and ‘A to B’ magazine. Click here for more information on Richard Peace.

Richard Peace has also written a number of blog posts for this web site, including:

The Excellent Books publications by Richard Peace are as follow:

SOUTH PENNINES AND PEAK DISTRICT OFF-ROAD CYCLE MAP

Published in June 2019, this is a map of the off-road cycle routes of the Southern Pennines and the Peak District, concentrating on routes achievable by the adventurous leisure rider.

South Pennines and Peak District Off-road Cycle Map
  • 14 epic circular bike rides along classic trails
  • 20 family trails
  • Cycle-friendly accommodation listings

Routes shown include:

  • Sections of the Trans Pennine Trail
  • Sections of the Pennine Bridleway
  • and a 110 mile ‘Pike to Peak’ circular route

Click here for more information or to order your map

‘VELOSCENIC – Paris – Versailles – Mont-Saint-Michael by Bike’

Veloscenic - Paris-Versailles-Mont St Michel by Bike

The brand new guide to one of France’s most popular cycle routes, this is the official guide to the Veloscenic, including Paris, Versailles and Mont St Michel.

The guide books is spiral bound for ease of use on your bike.

128 pages in full colour.

Click here to order your copy of the Veloscenic guide book.

‘BROMPTON BICYCLE’

Brompton Bicycle

UPDATE: 3rd June 2020

Brompton Bicycle has gone out of print temporarily. A new print run is planned shortly.

If you would like to reserve a copy from the new print run, email me and I will let you know when the book is back in stock.

Brompton Bicycle” tells the fascinating story behind one of the world’s most unusual and popular folding bikes. Sections include:

•A brief history of folding bikes, putting the Brompton in the context of previous developments.

•The story of how the Brompton came about – from a sketched idea by engineer and Brompton founder Andrew Ritchie, to a bike with major sales throughout the world today.

•Brompton specials – converting for use by children and multiple riders amongst many other uses.

•Using and maintaining a Brompton – tips on caring for and repairing your cherished machine.

•New 184 page expanded and updated 2nd edition for 2017 including new material on electric options, the factory move and titanium manufacture

'A to B' magazine e-Brompton review issue
‘A to B’ magazine e-Brompton review issue

THE ONLY FULL REVIEW OF THE NEW BROMPTON E-BIKE IN THE LATEST EDITION OF A TO B MAGAZINE – AVAILABLE FREE WITH EVERY BROMPTON BICYCLE BOOK ORDERED

There have been brief ‘teaser’ reviews of the new Brompton Electric but the latest A to B magazine
covers the bike in a full extended review and compares it to one of the current retrofit options already out there.
It’s the perfect companion to the Brompton Bicycle book which is now in a second (and recently updated and expanded) edition
and also has plenty of further info on other electric retrofit options.

ORDER BOOK AND FREE MAGAZINE HERE

‘THE ULTIMATE UK CYCLE ROUTE PLANNER’

In the Ultimate UK Cycle Route Planner, for the first time all of the UK’s signed cycle routes are brought together on one map.

Using the outstanding quality and detail of Times Comprehensive Atlas mapping, route networks such as Sustrans’ National Cycle Network and the National Byway are traced. This is the Third Edition of hugely popular map.

UK Cycle Route Planner - new edition

‘CYCLING SOUTHERN FRANCE’
Cycling Southern France

Cycling Southern France: Loire to Mediterranean – updated 2016

A comprehensive guide to major leisure cycling routes south of (and including) the Loire Valley in France.

All the major traffic-free routes and signed touring routes are included with:

  • Factfile
  • Text description of what to see along the way
  • And, crucially, quality mapping at 1:200,000 for all the routes

‘CYCLING NORTHERN FRANCE’

Cycling Northern France

Cycling in Northern France

270 page spiral bound guidebook and waterproof, folded map bundled together in a plastic folder.

Book and map describe 8 touring routes.

Cycling Northern France and Cycling Southern France available together at a discount price
Cycling Northern France and Cycling Southern France available together at a discount price or order them separately:

1:200,000 Michelin mapping plus detailed area and town maps.

Also includes

  • touring route directions
  • cycle-friendly accommodation listings
  • places of interest

Also detailed are an additional 100-plus greenways.

You can order the Northern France and Southern France guides together here:

Cycling in Northern France AND Cycling in Southern France

‘THE ULTIMATE SCOTTISH C2C GUIDE’

 
This is a new cycle route through the Southern Uplands of Scotland, from coast to coast.
  • 122 mile signed cycle route
  • Linking Annan on the Solway Firth and South Queensferry on the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh
    Mix of country lanes, high quality cycle paths and seaside promenades
  • Two major climbs, over the Devils Beef Tub and through the Moorfoot Hills
  • Panoramic view of the Lothians, Edinburgh Castle, and the Firth of Forth
    Finishing under the Forth Bridge
 This is the complete guide, including:
  • maps
  • directions
  • attractions along the way
  • accommodation and much more.

Electric Bicycles book
‘ELECTRIC BICYCLES’

Electric Bicycles covers all aspects of this rapidly growing form of transport and leisure riding.

Chapters on:

  • history and development of electric bikes
  • classic models
  • choosing and using electric bikes
  • and much, much more.

Read Richard Peace’s blog about electric bicycles here.

‘THE ULTIMATE C2C GUIDE’

C2C Ultimate Guide

The Ultimate Guide to the C2C, with detailed route descriptions, maps and colour photos.

Hugely popular with C2Cers.

Features include accommodation entries cross-referenced to maps and simplified colour-coded listings plus lots of full-colour-photos in this all-colour second edition.

Devon Coast to Coast cycle guide
‘THE ULTIMATE DEVON COAST TO COAST GUIDE’

Devon Coast to Coast Guide Book

102 mile route from either Ilfracombe or Bude on the north coast of Devon to Plymouth on the south coast.

Wonderful route taking in coasts, estuaries and beaches, plus The Granite Way on the flank of Dartmoor, the Plym Valley Trail and the famous Tarka Trail.

‘THE ULTIMATE TRANS PENNINE TRAIL GUIDE’

Trans Pennine Trail Guide Book 2017

Guide book to this coast to coast route with full colour maps and photos of the 350 mile long Trans Pennine Trail.

The Trans Pennine Trail runs from Southport in Lancashire to Hornsea on the North Sea coast via Liverpool, Manchester, the Pennines, Doncaster and Hull, with links to Sheffield, Chesterfield, Leeds and York.

The guide book has:

  • 150 pages
  • Full mapping
  • Elevation charts
  • Places to stay
  • Where to eat
  • Places of interest along the way

Click here to go to the shop for more information on The Trans Pennine Trail guide book

OR you can pop any book or map in the basket, by clicking below.