At £16.99, this book is serious value for money. Not that I’m a mathematician, but it’s approximately 47p per route – 47p for hours and hours of the author’s painstaking research and planning. It’s a bargain… In the modern day of online route planning it’s wonderfully refreshing to hold a book that gives you well in excess of 30 routes on a plate, educates you about the surroundings you’ll be riding through, and inspires you to discover your own lost lanes.
Road.cc review of Lost Lanes Central England
Each of the 36 rides is described in loving detail. Not just the route and how it feels to crest each hill and glide each leafy lane – but the history and geology of the landscape you’re travelling through; which iron age fort might be to your left, which manor house rest stop of Elizabeth the First will be to your right… Lost Lanes is a reminder of country lanes we haven’t quite lost but are still there to be rediscovered and enjoyed.
Road.cc review of Lost Lanes (Southern England)
As with the best recipe books, Lost Lanes Wales can easily be read cover to cover, in an armchair, with a glass of wine and no intention of going anywhere near a bicycle. But that wasn’t my intention here, and soon Dad and I were spreading out all his old OS maps, trying to figure out which ride we should do, whether we could ride to the start, and how feasible it would be to link up two of them.
Emily Chappell review of Lost Lanes Wales in The Guardian
The routes are very varied, ranging in length from 26 miles to 65 miles and with the option of adding together more than one ride for some extra miles there’s definitely enough to suit most people, whether you’re Lycra clad, towing a child trailer or looking for an all day amble with plenty of cake.
Juliet Elliot review of Lost Lanes West in Bikes N Stuff
Overall, Lost Lanes West is a joy. From cover to cover it’s full of good riding, painstakingly researched and well documented. If you live in the West, or you like to visit, it’s a great guidebook to have on the shelf. Even if you don’t, it’s worth having just for the evocative writing and the beautiful photography.
Road.cc review of Lost Lanes West
It’s beautifully produced [and] lovingly researched. This is a book that wants you to use it and not just be left sitting on your coffee table for friends to admire.
Podium Cafe review of Lost Lanes (Southern England)
You don’t have to ride all the routes in Lost Lanes Wales to appreciate the book: Thurston’s descriptions of his suggested routes make for engaging reading, whetting your appetite not just for the lanes of Wales, but also for Wales itself. Thurston’s portrait of Wales is positive, suggesting a country that is ever more confident, ever more comfortable with its turbulent history and its journey from a rural to an industrial to a post-industrial economy.
Podium Cafe review of Lost Lanes Wales
Too many guidebooks concern themselves with the minutiae, turn left two kilometres after passing the red-painted cottage, they more or less assume you already want to be where they’re telling you you should go. Through their mix of words and images, the ‘Lost Lanes’ books, on the other hand, make you want to go to the places they talk about.
Podium Cafe review of Lost Lanes West
This detour to St. Ishows church summed up what the Lost Lanes book, and travelling by bike, is all about – being prepared to take alternative (longer) routes to discover gems off the beaten track and delve into the culture of the places we ride through.
Stefan Amato of Pannier.cc heads out for a Lost Lanes overnighter
The most beautiful guide to cycling in South East England.
London Cyclist review of Lost Lanes (Southern England)
It is a book to which I will return often, both for direct inspiration – in the form of rides that are mostly within reasonable reach of where I live – but also for reflection, about what it is to be travelling by bicycle through the UK’s wonderful countryside, enjoying the good things in life.
Bromptonology review of Lost Lanes West
Lost Lanes is very much a travelogue that makes it clear that the author has done the hard yards, the experience of cycling the routes and immersion in local culture and history all captured within a wonderfully readable and beautifully illustrated tome.
Cyclestuff review of Lost Lanes Wales