Where else can mountain bikers complement a day's bike ride with a dizzying glissade down a mid-August snowfield? Where else can they descend nearly 40 miles through five biogeographical zones? Where else can they catch a major league game and be ripping along rocky singletrack 30 minutes later? Colorado, that's where. Snow in August, lighting above timberline, and 100 degree desert temperatures are all to be expected in the sport of Colorado mountain biking. As the country's highest state, Colorado offers its mountain bikers a unique perspective into the sport and raises the bar for all who ride. Under the expert guidance of local cyclist Stephen Hlawaty, come admire the beauty and revere the majesty that is Colorado. From this newly revised book, cyclists can expect exhaustive and comprehensive trail descriptions of more than 50 of the state's greatest mountain bike adventures, from beginner to advanced. Included are GPS-quality, digitally designed relief 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. More than 60 photographs round out this book's presentation. It's not just a mountain bike guide to Colorado. It's a guide to Colorado by mountain bike. "Anyone who rides a mountain bike, and wants to ride it in Colorado, needs this book. The amount of detail compiled by the author Stephen Hlawaty was a labor of love, and it shows. The maps, trail directions, local lore, plus a solid listing of local telephone numbers for more information, makes this book a must for the traveling cyclist." -- Bike Magazine " Mountain Bike America Colorado is setting a new standard for guidebooks." -- Mountain Bike magazine "If it's not in here, it's not worth riding." -- Outdoor Explorer ― Bike Magazine (UK) Colorado offers miles of trails over all types of terrain, from high-alpine descents to steep climbs out of desert canyons, to easy dirt road rambles through state parks, national forests, and grasslands. Veteran mountain biker and local cyclist Stephen Hlawaty outlines fifty of the best rides from Fort Collins to Durango and from Grand Junction to the Front Range, including a weeklong mountain bike adventure from Telluride to Moab, Utah. View Grand Mesa and the Book Cliffs from the top of Mack Ridge; take a dip in the hot springs at Mount Princeton; or climb Belcher Hill at White Ranch. This guide will give you 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 bite to eat. Insider tidbits about each route's historic background make this more than just a trail guide. Also included: comprehensive ride descriptions; detailed shaded relief maps; elevation profiles; ratings for physical and technical difficulty; tips on riding and trip preparation. Originally from Queens, New York City, Stephen Hlawaty has since set camp in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. After receiving his Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Northern Colorado, he embarked on his freelance writing career, publishing his work in Rocky Mountain Sports Magazine, Outdoor, Skier, Steamboat Springs Magazine, Scene, Boulder Weekly and Real Life . He is also the author of Mountain Biking Colorado's Front Range (Falcon, April 2003). MOUNTAIN BIKING: CO 2ND