Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico: A Guide to Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque Areas' Greatest Off- Road Bicycle Rides [Paperback]

Bob D'Antonio (Author)

Book Description

Series: Regional Mountain Biking Series | Publication Date: February 1, 2004

Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico gives fat-tire enthusiasts the skinny on the best rides around Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Toas, Los Alamos, and the Sangre de Cristos. Readers can choose from scenic forest roads to hot singletrack. Cyclists can expect exhaustive and comprehensive trail descriptions of more than 40 of the region's greatest mountain bike adventures, from beginner to advanced. Included are high quality, digitally designed maps and accurate route profiles showing the ups and downs of each ride. In addition, detailed directions get cyclists to the ride without getting them lost. Detailed mile-by-mile directional cues are also provided with difficulty ratings, elevation gain, trail contacts, and much more. Black and white photographs round out this book's presentation. It's not just a mountain bike guide to Northern New Mexico. It's a guide to Northern New Mexico by mountain bike.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The country around Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque truly is the Land of Enchantment, not only for the area's Spanish influence and surreal landscape, but also because it's home to some of the best mountain biking in the southwest. Technical challenges, rugged terrain, and fast descents are found on the old mining roads, jeep trails, and singletrack that crisscross the pinyon- and juniper-dotted landscape of the Rio Grande Valley or the spruce forests of the Sangre de Cristo and Sandia Mountains.
From the sinuous curves of the South Boundary Trail to the switchbacks of Glorieta Baldy and the arroyos of Otero Canyon, veteran mountain biker Bob D'Antonio outlines forty-five of the best rides from Red River to Tijeras. You'll get the inside track on everything from the best time of year to ride, to local events and attractions, and even where to get a cold drink and a burger after a hard day in the saddle. Insider tidbits about each ride make this more than just a trail guide. Also included: comprehensive ride descriptions; detailed maps; elevation profiles; ratings for physical and technical difficulty; tips on riding and trip preparation.
Wherever you ride and whatever your skill level, let Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico be your guide to this mountain biking paradise.

About the Author

A multitalented outdoorsman and professional writer, Bob D'Antonio has written several FalconGuides, including Hiking Colorado's Indian Peaks Wilderness, Hiking Colorado's Front Range, Rock Climbing Colorado's San Luis Valley, Mountain Biking Denver & Boulder, and Mountain Biking Grand Junction and Fruita. He lives with his wife Laurel and their three children in Louisville, Colorado.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: FalconGuides; 1st edition (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762728027
• ISBN-13: 978-0762728022
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,025,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Travel > United States > States > New Mexico

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars as good as it gets, June 17, 2005

By 

Jack Rawlins (Chico, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico: A Guide to Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque Areas' Greatest Off- Road Bicycle Rides (Paperback)

This is as good as a mtb guide gets. The focus is small enough that it can really cover the 3 areas thoroughly, the advise is good, the trail selection is good, and the maps are...standard Falconguide maps, which are OK. D'Antonio doesn't make the mistake of underrating the technical difficulty of his trails. Two caveats: he omits the wonderful Horse Thief trail in Taos--go to Gearing Up bike shop and they'll sell you a stunningly good map; and he tells you to ride the Chamisa Tr in Sante Fe backwards--take his advice and you'll do all the dirt uphill and all the pavement downhill.

1.0 out of 5 stars Missed by a mile, September 1, 2010

By 

mobettahbob - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico: A Guide to Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque Areas' Greatest Off- Road Bicycle Rides (Paperback)

I have a huge collection of mountain bike guidebooks and I rate this as one of the worst. Before moving to Santa Fe I purchased this book and was given the impression that there wasn't much great riding to be had. When an author includes a paved bike path in a mountain bike guidebook you have to figure there isn't much out there. Since living here, I have found so many outstanding rides that were not even mentioned in the book. That is what often happens when an out of towner comes to write a guide. They get a few of the classics like the wonderful South Boundary Trail, but the locals don't always let them in on the goods. I gave it one star for including South Boundary. Otherwise, not much of an effort.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good overall but lacking important closure info, April 20, 2005

By 

walsh - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico: A Guide to Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque Areas' Greatest Off- Road Bicycle Rides (Paperback)

This book has some great rides with good descriptions and directions. It is lacking some critical closure information that a NEW guidebook should have. For example, the Otero Canyon ride has been closed, but this book does not mention any access issues at all. Some similar problems on other trails.