Item - Mountain Biker

You are staying with your Aunt Sally in Colorado for the summer, and decide to take up mountain biking (or possibly finding a mine that still has gold in it, if you choose a different path). As you ponder entering a race, you find you have a nemesis that will stop at nothing to keep you from winning. Part of this book feels a lot like Skateboard Champion except instead of riding a skateboard, you're on a mountain bike. Its not a bad read, but overall it feels like its been done already.

More reviews by Countersound

Compared to most of these late-run sports books, Mountain Biker was a pleasant surprise.

There are three primary splits.

1 - You and your friends go on a challenging ride.
2 - You participate in the big race.
3 - You get involved in an abandoned gold mine.

What makes this book stand out is the first split. You ride with two friends, and there are legitimate decisions about which riding path you want to take. The story becomes a conflict with nature, which is a very nice change of pace. The big race isn't as big of a path, but it's still more engaging than most big race passages are.

The gold mine stuff is ridiculous, but within the context of this book, it's sort of charming. Not as much space is devoted to it, making it feel less like the book was losing focus.

It's much better than expected.

More reviews by Jordashebasics