From memory, the ‘Rough Guide’ travel-book series started life as a spin-off from a television programme of the same name a decade or so ago. Now some bright spark has hit on the idea of producing Rough Guides to cycling in capital cities, starting with London – the project getting off the ground with sponsorship from transport authority ‘Transport for London’. As with TfL’s award winning London Cycle Maps, the Guide is free, but on this occasion additional sponsorship has come from bicycle manufacturer Trek.
We’re not averse to sponsorship in principal, but we don’t think this formula works. It’s not that the Rough Guide dwells overly on Trek products and dealers, but there’s an insidious slant towards that sort of world.The result is a guide aimed at cycling newbies that puts loads of emphasis on MTBs, silly clothing, road bikes, and even cycle racing, but ignores hub gears, chain guards, and all the other essentials of urban commuting. How many new cycle commuters, for example, are interested in the pros and cons of leg-shaving in competition? Or Criterium Racing, whatever that might be? Under ‘Equipment’ we’re told to check reviews in Cycling Plus, What Mountain Bike? or Single Track. Are they serious? What about Velovision, or the CTC’s Cycle magazine, or even A to B? Magazines reviewing practical stuff for practical day-to-day commuters?
Strangely, for a book of this kind, electric bikes get half a page (with a few technical errors, unfortunately), but recumbents are dismissed, and folding bicycles – the key to city travel for a growing minority of cyclists – merit just a few lines. Similarly, cycling with children is virtually ignored, but in the Congestion Charge era, it’s a primary issue for parents looking for a non-motorised school-run alternative.
What we hoped for was the sort of insider information that have made previous Rough Guides such a success – where to find a bacon sarnie at 5am, or how best to navigate the capitals back streets.There is some route finding information in the Guide, but it’s a bit patchy – maps of key cycling cut-throughs would be better.
On the positive side, the first 20 pages on safety, the London Cycle Network and the financial advantages of cycling are useful stuff, as is the list of cycle shops in the capital, which alone make this a ‘must-carry’ guide. But much of the rest is either irrelevant or down-right off-putting to cycle returnees. Had we been asked (and we weren’t) we would have produced a very different Guide. Unfortunately, 200,000 have already been printed (although the cost is dwarfed by the £11 million being spent on cycling in the capital this year). Incidentally,TfL is asking for comments on its web site , so do make your views known.Yes, there are two gorgeous Treks to be won!
The Rough Guide to Cycling in London . Free from Trek dealers and HMV stores in the London area.
