Mountain Biking Colorado's Front Range: From Fort Collins to Colorado Springs (Regional Mountain Biking Series) Paperback – September 1, 2003

Book was in good shape, but I probably should have investigated into year published because it was an older version than I was expecting

2.5 stars. This book informed me about mountain biking trails that I otherwise would not have known about but it really lacks a realistic and comprehensive rating system of trail quality. I spent a lot of time trying trails on the front range that were not very good that he presents as being worthwhile and describes as "popular". There was a reason I had never heard of some of the trails in this guide. For example, the Ceran St. Vrain trail is described as being "a Boulder favorite" and people "drool over the pristine singletrack". What!?!? I had never heard of anyone biking that trail... nor did I drool and that's cuz it SUCKS!! We were the only morons on bikes!!! Heil ranch he describes as being great for those who like smooth singletrack... nothing could be further from the truth! Heil Ranch...for the most part...is as rocky as any trail around Boulder gets. Maybe he meant Hall Ranch,that's the best ride on the front range. And he describes the Mountain Lion Trail as technically and aerobically similar to Walker Ranch... not even close. Walker Ranch is waaay easier and waaay better quality.But enough complaining. The detailed descriptions of the geology and history are cool. The elevation profiles seemed accurate and the book got me to try some new stuff. It seems like mountain biking guidebooks would benefit from star rating system of trail quality that is the result if some kind of consensus. That way we could prioritize our rides...time is always a factor in our lives. Maybe on the next printing.Guidebooks are tricky business. They result in more traffic in our favorite areas...but if it's gonna be done, it might as well tell me what I really want to know: How good is it really?ADDENDUM: I also noticed that one of the trail maps in the book DID NOT jibe with the trail map at the trailhead. I trusted the trailhead map thankfully. It seems like the author did cursory research of that particular trail. So beware, that may be true of others as well. Once again, this guidebook gets you to the trailhead, but the rest is up to you.