What the roadbook is, and how to ride it.

What the roadbook is

A self-guided roadbook is a route that has already been ridden and written down. You get the road split into days, the stops that are worth the detour, the fuel and the beds, and the practical detail that usually only lives in someone else's head.

It is not a guided trip: nobody rides with you. It is not a bare track file either. The line on the map comes with the reasons to stop, the order of the day and what to check before you leave.

• The route, stage by stage, with distances and realistic riding times.
• The stops that earn their place, and what each one is for.
• Fuel, food and a bed, in the order you will need them.
• GPX files for your own navigator.
• Your own start date, inside the access period.

Reading a route before you commit to it

A route page tells you what the route asks of you before you commit to it: how many days, how many kilometres, which places are on it and what the days look like. Read the days, not only the picture.

Not every route has its day-by-day story published yet. When a route does not, the block is left out instead of filled with a description of a different road.

A day, stage by stage

Each day opens with what you need before setting off: what the day is for, what to check and what to watch out for. Then the stages follow in the order you ride them, with the notes that matter on that piece of road.

The stops are not a list of every village on the way. They are the ones that were ridden to and stood at: a viewpoint, a pass, the place where the tank needs filling before the next stretch.

• The day's briefing first, so you know what you are getting into.
• The stages in riding order, with their notes.
• The stops with a reason, each with its own detail.
• Where the day ends, so you know what to book.

GPX files and your navigator

Each day comes as a GPX file you can load into your own navigator or phone app. The file carries the road and the stops inside it, in the order they come on the road, so a navigator that rebuilds the route from waypoints follows the same day you read.

Load the file as a track or route, not as a set of favourites. The file does not invent altitude or timestamps: it carries the line, and the roadbook carries the decisions.

Access and dates

When a route goes on sale, buying it gives you a personal link by email, with no account and no password. You choose the start date inside the access period that route states; the days of the roadbook fall on the calendar from there.

Access is not open yet on this site. This guide describes the product as it works; the price, the access period and the checkout will appear on the route page when they are ready, and never before.

• A personal link, sent to the email you used.
• No account to create and no password to remember.
• A start date you choose inside the access period.
• Your dates move the days; they do not rewrite the route.

Weather, road and judgement

The roadbook is a planning and reference aid. It does not replace signs, the instructions of the authorities or your own judgement. Weather, roadworks, closures and opening times change, and the route has to change with them.

Any forecast you read is advice, not a guarantee. If conditions are not right, stop, wait or turn around: the route will still be there.

Help and legal

If something is not clear, write to the address at the bottom of every page. Say which route you are looking at and what you need to know; do not send card details or passwords, because we never ask for them.

The legal pages (notice, privacy, cookies and contracting conditions) are part of this same site and are linked in the footer.