Ep 12 - Nick Cotton on all things Mountain Biking

02/28/20 • 28 min

Inspiring Adventure by Vertebrate Publishing

This week Rae interviewed Nick Cotton, Mountain Biking guide author.
Vertebrate’s Mountain Biking Guides are one of our most popular series, with over a dozen titles and more on the horizon. Nick Cotton has contributed four titles to the series, with a further title in our collection of Cycling books, Traffic-Free Cycle Trails. Nick is a seasoned guidebook author, and the five titles he’s produced with Vertebrate only represent a small portion of his forty-plus guides from the last twenty years. He has ridden over 30,000 miles in research, trekked extensively, climbed over 5,000 metres on three continents, and cycled all over the world. If this is your thing too why not send me a quick email about your latest or favourite adventure on two wheels and I’ll give you a shout-out on an upcoming episode or feature you on our blog.
Nick’s passion for the outdoors and exploring on two wheels is quite infectious. So do share your bike adventures with us by using the hashtag #inspiringadventure on Instagram and Twitter. I’ll share our favourites on our blog or upcoming show notes. Meanwhile, if you need more bikes on your podcast have a listen to Episode 8, which features endurance cyclist Emily Chappell with some advice about getting into cycling.
All of Nick’s titles with Vertebrate are available on our website, including the pre-order of Traffic-Free Cycle Trails which will be publishing in April, and the newly released Yorkshire Dales Mountain Biking.
We always love to hear from you, so if you drop me an email at [email protected] you’ll get a special discount code for the website as a thank you.
In the next episode I’ll be chatting again with Suzanna Cruickshank about her epiphany in Crummack Water that led to her writing Swimming Wild in the Lake District, and life with her gorgeous but antisocial Jack Russell, Rosie.

Book recommendations:
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Travels in Alaska by John Muir
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
Wilding by Isabella Tree

Inspirational people:
Fridtjof Nansen
Mike Stroud
Ranulph Fiennes
Jesse Owens
Joss Naylor (features in There Is No Map In Hell)
Ernest Shackleton

Book recommendations:
The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Travels in Alaska by John Muir
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
Wilding by Isabella Tree

Inspirational people:
Fridtjof Nansen
Mike Stroud
Ranulph Fiennes
Jesse Owens
Joss Naylor (features in There Is No Map In Hell)
Ernest Shackleton

Previous Episode

Ep 11 - Deirdre Huston and Paul Webster talk Day Walks

This week Rae has been speaking with two authors; Paul Webster and Deirdre Huston, who've both written for the highly regarded Day Walks series.
Paul Webster co-founded the UK’s busiest walking website; Walkhighlands, with his wife Helen in 2006. This year they will publish Day Walks in the Cairngorms and Day Walks in Fort William & Glen Coe. Paul is an award winning photographer and responsible for most of the stunning photographs found in these books.

Deirdre Huston is an award winning writer, film maker and photographer. She’s authored five titles with Vertebrate Publishing. The second edition of Day Walks on the South Downs is published in March and, as with all Day Walks books, has been updated and revised to keep it as current and accurate as possible.
Pre-order Day Walks on the South Downs and Day Walks in the Cairngorms get 20% discount up until their publication on 5 March.
Tell me all about your Day Walks adventures by dropping me an email at [email protected] and I’ll respond with a discount code and you might even get a shout out in a future episode! And sign up to our newsletter at v-publishing.co.uk
Our next episode will feature Mountain Bike guide writer, Nick Cotton.
LINKS

Day Walks in the Cairngorms by Helen and Paul Webster
Day Walks on the South Downs by Deirdre Huston
Scottish Island Bagging by Helen and Paul Webster
Day Walks on the High Weald by Deirdre Huston
Sussex Walks by Deidre Huston
Cycling Days Out - South East England by Deirdre Huston
Cycling in Sussex by Deirdre Huston and Marina Bullivant
Walkhighlands Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Deirdre Huston’s website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Podcast Ep 1 - Scottish Island Bagging - Buzzsprout and YouTube
Ramblers Association
Mountaineering Scotland
The Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature
Waterstones Events
Saddlescombe Farm

Paul’s book recommendations:

Clear Waters Rising: A Mountain Walk Across Europe by Nicholas Crane
Sacred Summits by Peter Boardman
Sky Dance by John D. Burns

Deirdre’s book recommendations:

In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall
Waymaking
Wild About Cornwall by David Chapman
The Island Child by Molly Aitken
My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay

Next Episode

Ep 13 - Open Water Swimming with Suzanna Cruickshank

This week Rae is again joined by open-water and wild swimmer Suzanna Cruickshank.
Suzanna’s book Swimming Wild in the Lake District is published on Thursday 2 April and provides a definitive guide to open-water swimming in the Lakes. Suzanna is a qualified guide and has her own business leading swimming sessions in her beloved Lake District and beyond! If you have a wild swimming story you’d like to share drop me an email at [email protected] and I might just feature you on a future episode or blog. All featured submissions will get a voucher code for the VP website.
Swimming Wild in the Lake District will be the second title in our range of slow tourism guides, following the hugely successful Scottish Island Bagging, and in the summer we’ll be adding The Beaches of Wales. These guides invite you to experience these places in an in-depth, immersive manner. If we’ve tempted you to try a bit of open-water swimming yourself, get on to the website to pre-order with a 20% discount; and don’t forget that Suzanna has group-swim events up on her website, so head over to suzannaswims.co.uk to book your place!
If you’ve got any feedback on the podcast, or suggestions for topics to cover or people you’d like to hear from, please drop me an email at [email protected]
Our next episode is due on Thursday 26 March, and will feature conversations with the team involved in publishing the new edition of iconic climbing book; Hard Rock.