Rating: 
Summary: Good rides, BAD maps, bad categorization of rides
Review: I attend college in Flagstaff, Arizona, and have embarked on about 10 of the 17 rides Cosmic Ray outlines in this book. The rides themselves are great; he can't screw up the scenery or trails. But the maps are horrible. Mileage is off on nearly every leg of the map. There are helpful landmarks and signs not listed in his book which should be included. He rates every ride for skill, using "expert, not-so-tough," etc. but they are often misnomers. For example, one ride described as "rookie, comfortable," and "simple" was a grueling, rough downhill on singletrack trail and jeep trail that is often muddy as heck, followed by a extremely steep hike and bike uphill with massive rocks in the trail. Not exactly something to take the family on, but he bills it as such. Buy the book for the good compendium of rides, but check the rides out first before you decide to bring friends or family. It may not be all that is described, or much much more.
Rating: 
Summary: Love the rides and humor.
Review: I just dug out a copy of Fat Tire Tales and Trails that I purchased for our trip to Arizona about three years ago. Just want to say thanks. Love the rides and the humor. Made our trip in search of trails a lot easier and more fun.
Rating:
Summary: Great trails and humor, should be better guidebook and maps
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Great trails and humor, should be better guidebook and maps
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: It will show you where the good stuff is
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Cosmic Ray nails it!
Review: I've done a dozen of the rides from Fat Tire Tales & Trails and Ray delivers the straight skinny on trails in the Flagstaff, Sedona and Phoenix areas. The descriptions are very helpful before doing a ride and the contour profile really lets me know at a quick glance what a ride will be like before I give it a shot. He carefully lets you know how he rates every ride in the beginning of the book. He tells you straight up what kind of a rider he is then uses that for comparison in the amount of effort and skill required. Ray's maps are usually right on the money. They are cartoony but look as though the route has been traced from a topo . . . oriented north and pretty much to scale. You can tell that he puts a lot of effort into giving you the feeling that he is right beside you along for the ride with lots of insightful tips. Whether you are an expert or a complete novice, this is a great book and Ray's sense of humor makes it a kick to read whether you ride or not.
Rating:
Summary: Cosmic Ray nails it!
Review: I've done a dozen of the rides from Fat Tire Tales & Trails and Ray delivers the straight skinny on trails in the Flagstaff, Sedona and Phoenix areas. The descriptions are very helpful before doing a ride and the contour profile really lets me know at a quick glance what a ride will be like before I give it a shot. He carefully lets you know how he rates every ride in the beginning of the book. He tells you straight up what kind of a rider he is then uses that for comparison in the amount of effort and skill required. Ray's maps are usually right on the money. They are cartoony but look as though the route has been traced from a topo . . . oriented north and pretty much to scale. You can tell that he puts a lot of effort into giving you the feeling that he is right beside you along for the ride with lots of insightful tips. Whether you are an expert or a complete novice, this is a great book and Ray's sense of humor makes it a kick to read whether you ride or not.
Rating:
Summary: Fun read, but poor guide book.
Review: I've owned the Cosmic Books for over 10 years. I have always enjoyed the writing style and the maps are cute, but I wouldn't recomend using this book without an accurate map. As the other guy said, the rating system isn't real consistent. I'll keep it in my library, but bring my own maps when exploring something new.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Guide
Review: I've read and ridden every trail in Cosmic Ray's guide. If you love to ride twisty single track with an occasional rock, rut or root to challenge your skill, this is the book for you. If you want Sedona, Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff or Grand Canyon trails, this is the book for you. If you want the best of the best trails, this is the book for you. On the other hand, if you are like the reviewer who dissed Fat Tire because you encountered a rock, hill or mud, you should stay safe at home and watch a mountain bike video. Give me a break, Mr. Wankersmith
Rating:
Summary: I'm hooked.
Review: I've recently fallen in love with mountain biking. I'm 47 years old and fat. I started biking to get in better shape and bought a used mountain bike. Boy, it is a challenge and fun. I bought a copy of Ray's book and went to the White Tank Mountains' designated bike trail system near Phoenix with my son who is 16. We've been there twice and had a real good time both trips. I injured myself on both occasions, but that isn't going to stop me! The first time I went over the bars and landed on my shoulder. Got a lot of scrapes.Today, my front wheel slid out so hard I made a hole in the trail. You know I still enjoyed the ride back to my truck. I think I'm hooked., but need to work on my technique or lack thereof. Great guide. Thank you.
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