{"product_id":"9781399406468","title":"Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain's National Cycle Network","description":"Author: Laker, Laura\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781399406468\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 27 Aug 2024\u003cbr\u003ePages: 304 Format: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE VICKI ORVICE AWARD FOR WOMEN'S SPORTS WRITING 2025\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Just wonderful     two wheels good, Laura Laker brilliant. Part travel diary, part love poem to Britain's cycle network ... it's difficult not to be inspired by this fabulous book.' \u003c\/b\u003eJeremy Vine \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eA unique journey around the UK's National Cycle Network and one journalist's quest to investigate the state of our country's cycling. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eWhat if we were less reliant on our cars? What if there were safe cycling paths to take us places instead? What if those paths led to the next town, the next village and the countryside beyond?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis was the dream of a group of Bristolian idealists in the 1970s when they founded Britain's National Cycle Network, which now runs to nearly 13,000 miles across the country. Journalist Laura Laker sets off on an odyssey around the UK to see where the NCN began, and where it is now.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWhat has gone right     and wrong     with this piece of national infrastructure? Why is it run by a charity whose CEO once admitted 'we've had enough of it being crap, we need to fix it'? Laura lifts the lid on this maddening, patchy, and at times dangerous network, and the similarly precarious politics and financing that make it what it is.\u003cbr\u003eShe discovers beauty, friendship and adventure along the way, from the Cairngorms to Cornwall, from the Pennines to the South Wales coast. On her mission to pin down what the NCN is and what it means to those who use it, she also meets up with high-profile travelling companions, including Chris Boardman and Ned Boulting.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn a country where 71% of trips are less than five miles, two thirds of Britons say they want to cycle more and doing so could help our climate, health and wellbeing. Laura is on a mission to see if we can make that dream a reality.","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46643201441950,"sku":"UBD-9781399406468","price":34.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781399406468.jpg?v=1774483881","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781399406468","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}