Mike Carden

I have published three cycle travel books, each with a quirky sense of humour. I have also just published the first book of a historical novel series based on the life of Alfred the Great.

I wrote, designed, published and promoted the three cycling books under my own marque, Bike Ride Books, after I found publishers and agents at the time unreceptive. In 2007 from my own funds I printed firstly 1,500 copies of ‘The Full English: Pedalling through England, Mid-Life Crisis and Truly Rampant Man-Flu’. It quickly ran through the first print run and there have been two subsequent print runs. It is now available primarily as a Kindle e-book.

I followed the same procedure with ‘A Bit Scott-ish: Pedalling through Scotland in search of Adventure, Nature and Lemon Drizzle Cake’ in 2009 and then ‘A Lake District Grand Tour: Pedalling through Lakeland: The Challenge, The History, The Wildlife, The Scones’ in 2013.
In 2022 I have independently published my first historical novel, ‘Alfred of Wessex, Book One: Inheritance‘. This charts the life of one of the greatest historical figures, Alfred the Great. With this book I have used Kindle for the e-book and the paperback.
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Alfred of Wessex has been a long time in the writing (and researching). I am now writing Book Two.
Mike Carden.uk

Alfred of Wessex, Book One: Inheritance

Historical fiction

'Alfred of Wessex, Book One: Inheritance' is the story of the youngest brother of the Kings of Anglo-Saxon Wessex, who only centuries later would be known as ‘Alfred the Great’.

Wessex is under threat of invasion from the Danes and is divided by rivalries. A young Alfred is thrust into the midst of war and intrigue.

Alfred of Wessex is based around real historical events during the defence of Anglo-Saxon Wessex, as viking raids turned into full-scale invasion by the pagan Danes.

In Inheritance, the first book in the series, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia face a gathering storm of Danes threatening destruction and occupation.

Amongst all this, the Kingdom of Wessex is split by rivalries. Who should be heir to Alfred’s brother’s Kingdom? Powerful voices back King Ethelred’s boys as future Kings, while Alfred, with little experience of war or politics, must decide if he truly wants the Kingship.

With the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia destroyed and Mercia weakened, the Danes invade Wessex. Alfred becomes a war leader, fighting battle after battle.

Meanwhile, the intrigues and rivalries continue. How can Wessex avoid catastrophe: is this the end of Wessex itself?

The Full English: Pedalling through England, Mid-Life Crisis and Truly Rampant Man-Flu

Travel

Pedalling from one end of England to the other, the author struggles heroically with Mid-Life Crisis, Man-Flu and with Scott, a bike with a serious attitude problem.

From the Dorset coast to Northumbria via Glastonbury, Ludlow, the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales, he indulges a passion for the history of England through its castles, abbeys and ancient towns, while encountering England's people - the friendly, the funny and the deliciously eccentric.

"Warm, well-observed, unpretentious and very funny." Adventure Travel magazine.

"Articulate and witty." London Cyclist magazine.

“A delightfully tongue in cheek trip through England - past and present. Along the way you’ll find out about: Terry - Druid Keeper of the Stones, wartime secrets of the Gurkhas, the Society For The Prevention Of Getting Lost In The English Countryside, and much more.” Richard Peace, cycling journalist and author of the Excellent Books range of cycle guides.

“Mike's relaxed and chatty style is never less than entertaining, making The Full English the sort of book that can put a smile on your face even when it is cold, grey Winter outside.” Dorset County Magazine

A Bit Scott-ish: Pedalling through Scotland in search of Adventure, Nature and Lemon Drizzle Cake

Travel

In 'A Bit Scott-ish', his follow-up to 'The Full English', Mike Carden rediscovers Scotland with the same wry sense of humour as his first book.

'A Bit Scott-ish' is the tale of a journey through Scotland, chance encounters with locals and fellow travellers, delving into Scotland's tumultuous history, surviving storm and wind, and discovering just how hopeless it is possible to be at Nature. And at finding the way. And at quite a few other things as well. The author pedals via the Orkney Islands, the flow country of Sutherland, the Cairngorm mountains, rolling Perthshire, historic Stirling, the rocky coast of Fife, the romantic city of Edinburgh and the Borders, bringing his own descriptive style to a beautiful land.

“This is an easy to read, charming and very funny book taking in some of the most breath-taking sights of Scotland.” The Local History Magazine

“With almost unquenchable good humour, the author takes on everything that Scotland can throw at him in an unending quest for wildlife spotting, miniature bottles of whisky and lemon drizzle cake.” Velo Vision cycling magazine

“Loaded with laughs, yes, but also pathos and a certain infectious wonderment at the sheer diversity of mankind.” The Stirling Observer

A Lake District Grand Tour: Pedalling through Lakeland: The Challenge, The History, The Wildlife, The Scones

Travel

​"For the armchair adventurer, cycling the Lakes with Mike is an enlightening experience," according to the North West Evening Mail.

In ‘A Lake District Grand Tour’, Mike's third book, he visits all the lakes of Lakeland, pokes into its most distant corners, and cycles over every mountain pass (well, he attempts to).

Cumbria Life magazine writes that the book is "relaxed and chatty with a ready wit,” and The Cumbria Magazine speaks of "a sense of humour in abundance."

As Mike rides, he tells the story of Lakeland. He sees where poets wrote and climbers climbed, he tells of ‘oond trailin’ and fell-racing, and he hunts for golden eagles and elusive ring ouzels.

With his twenty-year-old son alongside him on the ride (actually more often ahead of him, disappearing up a hill) and sharing his sense of humour, Mike’s is a story of Challenge, History, Wildlife and Scones, though not entirely in that order.

As Arrivee magazine says, "Mike Carden’s easy style of writing, with its built-in gentle humour and his eye for detail that many of us would easily miss, belies the fact that he (and his 20-year-old son) have undertaken a serious tour." Join him on A Grand Tour of the Lake District.