Mountain Biking Grand Junction and Fruita, 2nd [Paperback]

Bob D'Antonio (Author)

Book Description

Series: Regional Mountain Biking Series | Publication Date: January 1, 2002

From the Roller Coaster, north of Grand Junction, to the Rabbit Valley, west of Fruita, this guide covers twenty-two rides in an area that some consider to be the next Moab.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Mountain bikers, beginner to expert, all share a common need - a place to ride. Mountain Biking Grand Junction and Fruita gives fat-tire enthusiasts the skinny on where to ride. Here are twenty-two of the best rides in the Grand Junction and Fruita area, from the Roller Coaster north of Grand Junction to Rabbit Valley, west of Fruita. Take your pick from scenic road routes, hot single-tracks, lung-popping climbs, and demented downhills. Detailed ride descriptions make it easy to find the trailheads and follow the routes. You stay on track with accurate distances keyed to easy-to-read maps and ratings for physical and technical difficulty. This handy pocket-size guide will help you choose a ride that's appropriate for your fitness and skill levels. It's an indispensable companion for all your fat-tire fun. (4 1/4 x 7, 96 pages, maps, charts)

About the Author

Bob D'Antonio has written several FalconGuides, including Rock Climbing Colorado's San Luis Valley; Classic Rock Climbs #04 Garden of the Gods/Pikes Peak, Colorado; Classic Rock Climbs #03 Mueller State Park/Elevenmile Canyon, Colorado; and Mountain Biking Denver/Boulder. Bob lives in Louisville, Colorado, with his wife and three children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: FalconGuides; 2nd edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762712260
• ISBN-13: 978-0762712267
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,122,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Too short, and not very good advice, June 21, 2011

By 

Gunnison Biker - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mountain Biking Grand Junction and Fruita, 2nd (Paperback)

I have a few problems with this book.

First is the selection of trails. It covers the 18 road and Fruita area extremely vaguely, and you have to keep flipping back to the maps to compare where the trails are in relation to one another. I wanted a good guide of the 18 road trails so I could connect them all. Now I'm smart, I can just flip back and forth and figure out where which trails are but I beleive if they were all grouped together you could see it better. It gets confusing out there.
Second, is there is great coverage of the desert trails around Grand Junction, such as 18 road, and Rabbit Valley, and a couple trails towards the Colorado National Monument. But for the summertime, you don't want to be riding these trails, and if you have been in Grand Junction at all, you know that it is way to hot to stay in the valley. The author has one trail loop for "when it is hot in the valley" but there are so many high country places around there has got to be trails out there (I haven't found them yet).
Third, if you are a beginner you are basically screwed. The rating system used is so vague and 80% of the trails are rated "2-4" on a scale of 5. This suggests that these trails range from slightly difficult to fairly advanced? So if you are a beginner your options are the couple trails rated "1-3". Now I know that's not the authors fault, the trails are how they are, but if you want to write a book for all levels of bikers then you should add some trails that are DEFINATELY 1 or DEFINATELY 2. I know they exist out there, you have to start somewhere.

Now the things I like about this book are that he gives a detailed cross section log of each trail, so you can see where you are climbing and how steep the climbs are, also on the cross sections are numbers corresponding to the wacky rating system the author uses (which is explained in the front of the book along with an explanation of how all bikers rate things differently so you shouldn't beleive it). He has detailed descriptions of the pros and cons of the ride, and there is an awesome glossary of terms (some of which are quite hilarious!) in the back of the book.

I would recommend this book only if you know the area somewhat, otherwise the best directions he gives are how to get to the trailheads. But if you know the area somewhat, you are only using this book to tell you how hard the trails are because you know where they are and how to get to them, and according to the author "all bikers rate things differently" so his rating system would be useless for that as well.

Spend your money on a map and ask local bike shops about difficulty.

5.0 out of 5 stars The only one you NEED!, June 26, 2001

By 

"qsx" (Littleton, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountain Biking Grand Junction and Fruita (Paperback)

This is another great book in the Falcon Guide series. I first used the Moab guide, then purchased this one before my first trip to Fruita. I was not disappointed. The maps are not the most informational ones out there, but they are more than adequate.