Jeff's Mountain Bike Trails:  http://www.jeffstrails.com

Disclaimer:  Use these trail descriptions at your own risk.  Read "Ride Sensibly" for more information.

Below are some unsolicited product recommendations from me.  These are products or businesses that I have found very useful.

TOPO! and TOPO!GPS Interactive Topographic Maps

TOPO! is a series of digitized USGS 7.5' topographic maps available on CD-ROM.  In addition to giving you all the USGS 7.5' maps for a given region (which you can print), you can plot out routes on these maps, calculate and display elevations profiles (so you know how much your trail goes up and down), and many other features.  If you haven't used the new version 2.0 yet, it is much improved over the old version in terms of the ability to print maps.

In addition, TOPO!GPS is a very cool extension that allows you to upload and download GPS data from most popular GPS units directly to TOPO! maps.  I ride with a GPS and collect waypoints and track log data. With TOPO!GPS, I can then transfer all this data directly onto the TOPO! topographic maps, allowing me to see my route, compute elevation profiles, etc.  TOPO!GPS will work with all the 7.5' TOPO! maps.

All the TOPO! products are quite affordable.  Each TOPO! map region currently retails for $49 (I have purchased them for $35 at Fry's Electronics), and TOPO!GPS USA retails for $39.

For more info, contact Wildflower Productions at www.topo.com, or email them at info@topo.com.

Garmin GPS12 and GPS12XL Handheld GPS Units

When riding in unknown territory, I have found it extremely useful to have a GPS with me.  It gives me a much better idea of where I am traveling. You can learn a lot by comparing the track log of a GPS with a map you are trying to follow to see if you are going in the right direction--or if a loop ride is really looping you back to where you started.  Further, if you have something like TOPO!GPS, you can load the routes for rides directly into your GPS from files located on this site.

Several years ago I started riding with a Garmin GPS38, which is a single-channel GPS unit. It works ok in the open, but has a hard time keeping a satellite lock when riding through trees, canyons, etc.  Now that GPS technology has advanced, I would highly recommend using a 12-channel GPS.  The Garmin GPS12 (street price of about $150) is just such a unit and works great for hiking, biking, etc., and I would highly recommend this unit to any mountain biker or hiker.  (I built my own padded GPS mount for my bike several years ago, but you can now buy mounts from Garmin.)  I ride with a GPS12XL, which is essentially a GPS12 that allows you to plug in an optional external antenna, which can be useful if you plan to use it in a car. However, the GPS12XL costs about $250, and the antenna will run you another $100, so it will cost you about an extra $200 for the external antenna option. Most people I know find that for saving $200, they get acceptable performance by just putting the GPS in their windshield (which works pretty well since most modern cars have very sloping windshields that give a large view of the sky from the front edge).

Note that if you want to transfer GPS data to/from your computer, you will need a data cable to connect your GPS to your computer, and will need software on your computer to interface with the GPS, (such as TOPO!GPS or Garmin's PCX5).

Comments about this page? Have your own trails to add? Send to: jeffstrails@jeffstrails.com

This page last updated 01/10/1999 09:11 PM