Читать книгу Cycling in the Cotswolds. 21 half and full-day cycle routes, and a 4-day 200km Tour of the Cotswolds онлайн

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 The bike generally heads to the point you are looking at, so look at where you want to go (the route around the obstacle, not at the obstacle itself).

 Stay loose, grip the saddle lightly with your thighs, and let your knees and arms act as natural shock absorbers. Allow the bike to move around underneath you; in time you will find you act as a natural counterbalance to it.

 Often a bit of speed helps – but not so much that you couldn’t stop or swerve out of the way if something (or someone) is unexpectedly encountered.

 Bike geometry makes a difference and it’s worth reading up on this. I personally found a longer-than-usual frame length made a great difference to my off-road skills; other people prefer the fast response of a more ‘twitchy’ shorter-framed bike.

How hard are the routes?

Descending on the bridleway near Berryfields Farm

Everyone has different opinions on what makes a route difficult. Some people consider long distance the hardest thing, others the gradient or length of the steepest hill, or maybe the roughness of the surface underwheel or the use of A-roads. The information boxes at the start of each section in this book help to show the overall difficulty of individual routes.