As the book extends into the late chapters, however, and the bikes become airborne, the book begins to convey a sense of “I’m the kewlest dude because I’m a world-class mountain biker who can hop 12 ft drops – hands tied behind my back, blindfolded, and sitting backward on the bike. And if you do everything I tell you, you can be just like me.” Almost.

It’s clear that the book is geared to a particular audience. So I wrote a quiz to help people decide if this is the right mountain bicycling book.

1) My age is:
– a)14-24,
– b)24-48,
-c) over 48.
2) My testosterone level is:
-a) stratospheric.
-b) moderate.
-c) nonexistent.
3) I think of a bicycle as:
-a) a good way to keep a rider airborne.
-b) a good way to travel mountain trails.
-c) a good way to get a mile or two away from the house.
4) My fitness level is:
-a) olympic athlete level.
-b) college scholarship level.
-c) lettered in a sport or less.
5) The prospect of riding twenty miles an hour on a slippery-wet, six-inch wide wooden rail suspended 20 feet above a rocky mountain floor:
-a) is appealing beyond my wildest dreams.
-b) seems like it might be scary and fun.
-c) seems suicidal.
6) One cannot live life fully without constantly putting oneself in danger of death or permanent four-limb paralysis:
-a) I strongly agree.
-b) I think its partly true, partly hyperbolic.
-c) what, are you insane?
7) Biking:
-a) is my whole life.
-b) is the focus of most of my free time.
-c) takes less than 30 hours per week of my time. The amount I plan to spend on biking equipment and touring in the next five years is:
-a) $20,000 or more.
-b) $3000-$20,000.
-c) less than $3000.
9) I live:
– a) within five miles of hundreds of miles of mountain biking trails.
-b) within 50 miles of biking trails.
-c) cannot get to mountain biking trails from here.
10) I have:
-a) lots of “kewl” friends who live and die by their mountain biking prowess and I desperately want to be part of it .
-b) thousands of hours of mountain biking experience and you want to be much better in every way.
-c) the desire to get out on mountain trails a couple of times a week to enjoy the fresh air.

If you answered a) to all of these questions this is definitely a good book for you. If you answered b) to most of these questions, there is probably another mountain biking book that is better for your needs. If you answered c) to several of these questions, this is not the best mountain biking book for you. If you answered c) to all the questions, there is a more suitable activity for you: boating or bocce, perhaps.

My wife and I are young retirees who moved to Prescott AZ recently. We just discovered mountain biking, and we love it. We bought three books on mountain biking. This is the least favorite, because it is a little “over the top” for our needs.

The book is likely to bring young people to the sport, a laudable effect. But it may not be nearly as good at cultivating a frame of mind sufficiently guarded to avoid dangerous crashes. It might help young people to become members of the “kewl krowd;” but one might be tempted to conclude from the tone of this book – especially the second half – that to be genuinely KEWL requires a half-million dollar hospital stay that resulted from a failed Evil Knevil sized bike jump.

Those who wish to enjoy mountain trails but who have a healthy fear of broken bones and permanent paralysis, might find William Nealy’s highly illustrated Mountain Bike! a better fit.
Rating: 3 / 5