Although summer is stamping its feet in defiance, if you’re an off-road aficionado like me, you’ll know the ground out there is surprisingly dry.

Mud-free trails are the business, meaning low-rolling resistance and fast riding.

My favourite city escape is the Chilterns. I used to catch trains out to the Cotswolds, but the Chilterns are better for cross-country biking plus it’s easier to get there from Oxford. From where the M40 bisects the hills like a giant scar, I tend to head south for the best off-road routes around Christmas Common.

A favourite ride starts with some downhill and flat sections by way of a warm-up before the hard work starts. Cycle north from Christmas Common with the radio beacon on your right and take a bridleway left, down a steep chalky hill, marked on maps as the Oxfordshire Way. Turn left and follow the Icknield Way and then Swan’s Way along the bottom of the hills. These ancient rights of way are wide and easy riding – you could easily make a day out of it with a family picnic along these quiet tracks.

At Sliding Hill, turn left and head south over Ewelme Downs to Harcourt Hill. In winter, these tracks are a quagmire but for the last few months the mud’s been dry and the ride a lot quicker than usual. Pick up the Chiltern Way as it heads through the woods north of Nettlebed, and head for Stonor.

Make sure you’ve got plenty of water and energy bars as there isn’t a shop or even a pub for miles around. You can feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but whenever you jump onto a road section, the SUVs are thick on the ground.

Depending on your energy and enthusiasm, there are half a dozen fun bridleways between Maidensgrove and Turville where you can spend an hour or two messing about on single-tracks. The valley sides are steep but worth the thigh-ache getting up for the long downhill blasts. When you’ve had enough, the best way back to Christmas Common is up the rough lane just west of Stonor Park through Queen’s Wood. Once you catch sight of the radio beacon you know you’re nearly there – but make sure you have reserves for that last climb, it can feel like it’ll never end. The Fox and Hounds in Christmas Common is biker-friendly and now a fixed part of our ride.

When Oxfordshire gets too muddy, I cannot commend highly enough the wild moors around hilly Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. This Bohemianesque town between Leeds and Manchester is the perfect base for riding long, flinty, mud-free single-track trails without the crowds that throng the Welsh trail centres and the Peak District. The trails and the views are stunning, and Hebden’s pubs are not to be sniffed at.

I stayed at the quirky hebdenhideaway.co.uk, a holiday let run by a woman involved in transforming Calderdale with smart projects like community herb and veg gardens.

I’ll be back again at the beginning of July 2014 when the Tour de France’s “Grand Départ” features two full stages in Yorkshire, passing through Hebden. Book your accommodation now to avoid disappointment and be sure to set aside a day or two for you and your mountain bike – or your road bike, if you must.