PHOTO GALLERIES

Gallery 1 Pennine Cycleway

This is a truly stunning route, and here on the outskirts of Derby is where the Pennine Cycleway really begins. Quiet country lanes, three canals and towpaths, dozens of miles of disused railway tracks, bridges and tunnels, farmland and high, open moors, reservoirs, tarns and lakes, former industrialised mill towns mixed with cobbled-street villages, and rare wildlife of deer and wild ponies. This is a chance to travel along the backbone of England, the Pennines, and a cycle journey through three National Parks - the Peak District, Northumberland, and the Yorkshire Dales.

Gallery 2 Trans Pennine Trail

"The Long One", local cyclists call it, the Trans Pennine Trail crosses northern England from the Irish Sea at Southport to the North Sea at Hornsea in the east. The Trail runs parallel to the C2C cycle route which is 100 miles to the north but differs greatly in gradients. It escapes the hills by using the many disused railway tracks, later canal towpaths and and finally miles of flat country roads stretching through the vales to Hull and then a final railway section to Hornsea. It crosses the Pennine's but uses its valleys all the way.

With the debris of floods to come, there's the history of coal mining and its transportation along the railway lines, the River Mersey and its estuary, canals, reservoirs and waterfalls, cycling along on the top of a dyke, down a forgotten disused airstrip, and snatches of conversation with locals along the length of the Trail.

Gallery 3 Hull - Harwich Cycle Route

Gallery 4 The Celtic Trail 

This is the western section of the Celtic Trail which uses long traffic-free sections between Swansea and Fishguard in south-west Wales. The route is coastal in nature and after 75 miles alongside the sea it heads into Pembrokeshire National Park which initially heads inland but the route always heads back to the coastal villages and towns.

For families cycling with small children, there�s the fantastic cycle section along the Millennium Coastal Path which begins at Swansea and goes west for 30 miles, almost all traffic-free cycling. This is a real highlight of the route before it enters Pembroke Coast National Park's cliffs, beaches and disused railway lines. The Celtic Trail is typically diverse like all the other long distance cycle routes and the journey will be memorable and different for everyone. It's a primarily safe route, especially the busy Millennium Coastal Path, and if you have a full week then you could include the eastern part of the Celtic Trail on your bike trip and head to Cardiff and the English border.

Gallery 5 Clyde - Forth Route 

Gallery 6 South Midlands Cycle Route (Oxford - Leicester section) 

Gallery 7 C2C 

Gallery 8 Coast & Castles

Gallery 9 White Rose Cycle Route

Gallery 10 Northumbria's Cycling Kingdom (Berwick - Newcastle)

Gallery 11 Three Rivers Cycle Route

The strength of the Three Rivers Cycle Route is that it's safe. Almost all of its 135 miles is off-road and on good surfaces. The cycle route uses sections of other routes including the C2C (flat bits) and is ideal for one day circular rides, linear rides and family outings. On a note of cycling history, Haswell village, the junction point for three of the route's sections, is the birthplace of Tommy Simpson, once holder of the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France.

Gallery 12 Inverness to Carlisle

Gallery 13 Coast and Castles

Gallery 14 Aberdeen to John O'Groats (Orkney and Shetland Sections)

The Orkney and Shetland Islands are part of the 'Aberdeen to John O' Groats Cycle Route' and take cyclists from John O' Groats by ferry to the Orkney Islands, across the Churchill Barriers and then to the northern tip of mainland Shetland. For anyone wanting to continue northwards to Muckle Flugga Lighthouse, there's a final short cycle to the top of Britain where the Lighthouse and Outer Stack are the final building and last land fall before the Faroes and the Arctic Circle.