Boxing day bike rides
Because walking is so last season ...
Been there has teamed up with cycling advocats Sustrans to bring you a fab competition and help burn off those Christmas calories.
Their new book 'Cycling in the UK' picks the best routes from the National Cycle Network and puts them all in one place, together with handy maps and illustrations and, most importantly, directions.
We have five copies of the book worth £20 to give away. All you have to do is share something with us: your favourite Boxing Day bike ride. It can be any length; it could be one you like to do on your own, or one you love doing with your family; it could be hard with hills, or really flat along a canal. Here's an interactive mountain bike map so you get an idea - but it doesn't have to be a MTB route.
The best five win a copy of the book and the routes will be turned into an article which will go up on Guardian travel on, yes you've guessed it, Boxing Day. The entries will be judged by Richard Mardle ex-pro racer and Brand manager for Castelli cycle clothing.
So here's my favourite route:
Kicking off in Pratt's Bottom (don't laugh) - tinyurl.com/ylek7vu -
Kent, chugging up through the leafy lanes of Cudham before plummetting down the inconceivable steepness of Hogtrough Hill into Brasted. From there it's a two mile climb up Toys Hill to the Fox and Hounds pub. Now, if this were any ordinary Sunday ride I would plough on, down the other side to Hever Castle, Penshurst and the Sevenoaks Weald before beginning the thigh-stinging climb back up to Cudham. But this being a Boxing Day ride, I think I'll stop at the Fox and Hounds and enjoy a nice pint of ale.
Get the idea? Just email in your ride to been.there@guardian.co.uk and if you could pop in some coordinates for the start, or somewhere we could get some more information that would be super. And seeing as it's Boxing Day, if you know a good pub along the way ...
Been there has teamed up with cycling advocats Sustrans to bring you a fab competition and help burn off those Christmas calories.
Their new book 'Cycling in the UK' picks the best routes from the National Cycle Network and puts them all in one place, together with handy maps and illustrations and, most importantly, directions.
We have five copies of the book worth £20 to give away. All you have to do is share something with us: your favourite Boxing Day bike ride. It can be any length; it could be one you like to do on your own, or one you love doing with your family; it could be hard with hills, or really flat along a canal. Here's an interactive mountain bike map so you get an idea - but it doesn't have to be a MTB route.
The best five win a copy of the book and the routes will be turned into an article which will go up on Guardian travel on, yes you've guessed it, Boxing Day. The entries will be judged by Richard Mardle ex-pro racer and Brand manager for Castelli cycle clothing.
So here's my favourite route:
Kicking off in Pratt's Bottom (don't laugh) - tinyurl.com/ylek7vu -
Kent, chugging up through the leafy lanes of Cudham before plummetting down the inconceivable steepness of Hogtrough Hill into Brasted. From there it's a two mile climb up Toys Hill to the Fox and Hounds pub. Now, if this were any ordinary Sunday ride I would plough on, down the other side to Hever Castle, Penshurst and the Sevenoaks Weald before beginning the thigh-stinging climb back up to Cudham. But this being a Boxing Day ride, I think I'll stop at the Fox and Hounds and enjoy a nice pint of ale.
Get the idea? Just email in your ride to been.there@guardian.co.uk and if you could pop in some coordinates for the start, or somewhere we could get some more information that would be super. And seeing as it's Boxing Day, if you know a good pub along the way ...