[.ca] Fat Tire Tales & Trails: Arizona Mountain Bike Trail Guide (ISBN 0966476964)

author replies:
This note is in response to a review by Mr. Tlangmd from Altoona, PA. Thank you for your comments. Mr. Tlangmd, you are correct, your GPS is "useless with this book, since there are no GPS points". Although I do see mountain bikers using cycle computers to calculate distance, GPS usage is virtually nill. You yourself did not carry one on your trip west. While in Sedona, you can look up from the trail and see 2000 foot tall monuments. These are your landmarks. Your waypoints if you will. If you require topographic maps, they are available at bike and outdoor shops throughout the area. "One had to wonder if Ray rode that ride." I assure you Mr. Tlandmd, Ray rode that ride . . . and many many more that were not good enough to make the book. I ride a 7 year old Merlin hardtail. I have ridden every trail in the Sedona, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson area over the past 20 years. If you ride a trail in my book, I have ridden that trail before you. My descriptions have usually been described as excellent. I am sorry they are not to your liking. The loops in my book do not require shuttles and I avoid long stretches of dirt or paved roads myself. However, they may be shown as an option for anyone not caring to do an out and back, preferring to bail and take the faster albeit less fun way home. Regarding some trails left out of my guide known as "secret". Yes, there are secret trails in Sedona. Hence the name. Many of these are not legal and are left for you to find on your own. However, what you hear from a bike shop in a verbal description and what I print are two different things. There is some legal responsibility to a certain government agency involved here. Finally, regarding your complaint about being unable to find your way around Mt. Elden in Flagstaff. I do not see your point. The turns all have wooden signs with the name of the trail, distance and directions engraved thereon. You also have a problem with a trail not included. "One segment that had sick exposure, log crossings, and technical rocks was missing from the guide." You were not looking carefully Mr. Tlangmd, the name of that trail is Jedi. It is there in black and white. I like that trail too. Perhaps you should bring the book along on your next ride. If you have any further complaints, compliments, questions or other feedback for me, my e-mail addy is on the last page of the book. I look forward to hearing from you.

It will show you where the good stuff is:
I used this book to find trails all over arizona. never got lost and found every trail i was looking for but its a drag to carry in your jersey pocket. also quite entertaining

Had a blast.!:
We just got back from Sedona and I had a blast on my bike. I stopped in Bike & Bean bike shop, picked up a copy of this and didn't put it down for 2 days! I read it cover to cover. Some laugh out loud stuff. The trail guides were accurate if I had only followed them the way the arrows pointed. Stupid me, had to take the hard ways. I was/am an intermediate rider who has not been on trail for a while. I didn't have the cajones to let go of the brakes going down some of the wicked downhill steps and really did a kickass endo-catwheel into a small tree and ripped my brand new computer from the transmitter . . . boo-hoo for me. I did come away with some excellent black and blue reminders of the trip. Now that I am back here in Tucson, I plan on doing more rides in this guide. I am in the Air Force stationed here at Davis Monthan. I rode a lot in Alabama, Kentucky and when I had to go on my remote to Cpyrus. I rode to the top of Mt. Olympus. Totally gnarly, off the "puck-o-meter" (as Cosmic Ray would say) scary stuff.

Great trails and humor, should be better guidebook and maps:
I just finished a week vacation to AZ from PA. I rode a Canny Gemini and am a sport level rider with good aerobic fitness. I do not have a mileage computer on my mtn bike. I do have a GPS, but it is useless with this book, since there are no gps points (how easy would that be to add!!?). I have now ridden about 10 of the rides in this book in sedona, cottonwood, flagstaff and prescott in 2002-3. There are incredible trails, but the maps are really not so good and the written descriptions of the turns and trails are lacking. One had to occasionally wonder if Ray rode that ride! Mingus mountain DH stunk and was not puck 10, just a lousy, dusty, long ride on road. Drive to the top of the mountain and then drive back down, or camp up there to prepare for riding at the Flagstaff altitude. The "loops" that ray makes often include long segments of road riding to get home-maybe better to do out and back rides or arrange shuttles in the sedona area. The trails in the Bell Rock area and Secret Trails are incredible. The map lacked an awesome area with hucks up in the secret trails area. Inquire at the local bike shops when planning a ride to find out about this sort of thing. Flagstaff has the Schultz trail/Elden road system and these trails are also incredible and technical. One segment taht had sick exposure, log crossings, and technical rocks was missing from the guide, as best as we could tell. The descriptions of the trail intersections in this part were sorely lacking and we wasted lots of time daily trying to figure out what to do. Since several editions of this book have been published, one would expect more accurate and detailed stuff. If someone has a better book, let us know. For now, I guess we have ray.

Great Book but not always 100% accurate in descriptions:
First, let me say what everyone else has - the book is the wonderful - the best mountain bike guide for the state of Arizona hands down. I like the format, the casual tone and depth of information. That said, there are a few trails that I've run into that don't match the author's description quite right. For example, I don't think most people would consider Lower Oldham Trail in Flagstaff "No Sweat" or "Darn Easy". Certainly, its not the hardest trail in Flagstaff, but it is no trail for beginners or the family, which these ratings may imply. Up is pretty brutal and even down - well, there is a pretty sustained, somewhat technical climb involved. And the comment "If you love to carve some level grove, this is the ride for you" - the trail doesn't gain a ton of altitude, but does have some step ups and downs. This description is much more accurate for the nearby "Jump Trail." FYI - If I were reading this review, I'd wonder if the author (me) is just a weak rider. All I can say is that there areother trails in the same that are actuall substantially easier (aerobically) yet rated harder than this one. Anyway, don't be misled. If you are into Mountain Biking in AZ, buy the book - it is well worth it. But if don't know the area and you've got beginners or kids with you (or are not used to pedaling at 7000-9000 ft), you may want to check with the local bike shop for a little more insight into the best trails for you.