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Rating: 
Summary: Fat Tire biking bible? Not quite, but close.
Review: Ever since the mountain bike was invented two decades ago, fat tire aficionados have dreamed of an endless summer of endless downhill riding.Two years ago, Robert M. Immler, a Vermont freelance writer and mountain bike enthusiast, pursued this dream, spending the summer bombing down Alpine slopes on his Specialized Rockhopper at 20 downhill ski resorts in the Northeast that cater to cyclists. Immler wrote up his findings and distilled his experiences and observations in a book published this month. "The Mountain Biker's Guide to Ski Resorts is a long awaited compendium of downhill riding in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Quebec. This enticing volume deserves a place on he bookshelf of any serious mountain biker, and rates a read even by armchair adventurers who've only dreamed of hanging their wheels on a ski lift and riding into the clouds. The guide is easy to read, close to comprehensive in scope and excruciatingly thorough in attention to any details. Although the book's principal strengths in the area by area information, much of its appeal lies in the opportunities it offers for planning a fat-tire vacation this summer. There are only two major faults. Despite its title, the guide's scope is strictly limited to downhill ski areas and omits much fine off-road cycling available at cross-country centers. The second is really beyond the author's control: the ski-cum-cycle market is changing so quickly that several of the book's 20 detailed chapters - averaging nine pages per ski resort - will be seriously out-of-date by this summer. Some high points: In addition to hours, opening dates and costs, each chapter includes several suggested itineraries with best viewpoints, difficulty ratings, explicit directions and distances computed to hundredths of a mile. Other information for each resort includes rentals, bike shops, major cycling events and related attractions - such as water slides to cool off sweaty cyclists. Added information includes daycare facilities, on-mountain restaurants and even places to wash off mud-encrusted bikes. Secondary info directs vacationers to nearby accommodations, campgrounds, restaurants and nightlife. Only a handful of ski mountains provide lift service directly to the summit. Because most high elevation expert ski slopes are too steep and rocky for cyclists to handle, most resorts carry bikes only mid-mountain lifts. Vermont's 4,211 foot Killington Peak, is the highest lift-served summit in the Northeast. Other ski mountains with lift service to the to include Loon in New Hampshire and Jay, Stratton and Snow in Vermont. Several mounts operate an off-mountain shuttle service for cyclists. Among the most appealing is Loon's bike van, which carries riders to the height-of-land of Franconia Notch and allows them to cruise downhill along the famed Franconia Recreation Path. Along this graded, paved off-road path, riders can visit sites and sights such as the Old Man of the Mountain, Profile Lake, the Flume and the Basin. Before returning to Loon's cycle center, riders pass half a dozen ice cream shops in Lincoln. Before visiting any ski mountain, call ahead. Because of the changes in the ski industry, much of this book will be out of date this summer. Here are some notable updates: Add Sugarloaf to the lift-served list this season, while Shawnee Peak started serving cyclists last summer. In New Hampshire, add Attitash Bear Peak and delete Bretton Woods and Cranmore. Scott Andrews
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