A Guest Columnist Takes Us For A Ride Through Cyberspace. By Hector Acuña I'D SOMEHOW VOLUNTEERED myself to deliver a story to fill the Out There space for this week's issue. At the time it seemed easy enough: Go out, ride your mountain bike, write about it. The plan of attack was set. Get up really early, drive to cooler elevations, then ride. Yes, yes, the word "early" should have triggered loud bells and red flashing lights, considering in the last month my wheels had accumulated more miles by adorning the bike rack of a Sun Tran bus than hitting the trail. I was left to sulk in my coffee over the missed opportunity. I've practically built a career on busting deadlines, but this writing gig was something new for me. I knew if I 'd gone on that ride the story would have written itself and no matter how rough it turned out, the magic keyboards of editing staff would turn dirt into gold--or, in my case, neat-looking dirt. What would any '90s media slacker/writer do in my place? Where could I turn? Before I could finish asking myself the questions, she came to me--Patty Weiss. And then, the image of Patty, in that blouse that reminds me of a Mondrian, morphed somehow into the Netscape Navigator icon and I screamed--THE WEB! I have vague recollections of Miss Weiss happily delivering yet another KVOA story on surfing the web. You may remember the piece--it followed a 20-minute weather report they called "the news." So, thanks Patty. I owe you one. Over the past year the web has become my home-away-from-TV. So the surfing part was covered and, since my target outdoor activity was going to be mountain biking, it seemed like a good starting point. All of us "media elite" truly believe that everyone of you out there have computers and super-fast modems. Yup, everyone. Someone started the rumor that there was money to be made on the web and the mountain-biking industry appears to have picked-up the scent of green. The list of bicycle makers and gadget suppliers on the web is growing steadily, but we're surfing in the other direction. I try to maneuver around the advertisements and dig for the site that gives you a little something in exchange for the chance sell you their stuff. First stop is the Get Lost Adventure Magazine . Considering the number of times I've been lost, both on the web and on the trail, my rides are mini-adventures, so you can see why the name appealed to me. More than a mountain-biking site, they cover outdoor interests from snowboarding to mountaineering. I'm quickly drawn to the Slick-Rock Trail description and map. I'd love to ride the rocks at Moab, Utah, and somehow the cyberversion made me feel a little closer to getting there. After completely cleaning Slick Rock, I move on to my next ride. How about a trip to the Sierra Nevadas? The Lake Tahoe area is seconds away on the web. The Northstar-at-Tahoe Mountain Bike Park, located in the Tahoe National Forest just outside Lake Tahoe, Nevada, takes the hassle out of finding places to ride in the Tahoe area. You can rent all you need from them; or if you've got all your own stuff, they'll point you in the proper direction for some dirt-eatin' fun. Rounding out the page are several sample rides, a list of services and links to more "Doing Lake Tahoe Outdoors" web sites. I wrapped up my stay at the Alpine lake and pointed my cyber-cycle in the direction of Colorado. First, of course, I made a bookmark recording the site's location, so I can return later--sort of like a trail of bread crumbs on the infohighway. Colorado has made quite a name for itself in the world of mountain biking, and for good reason: The place is all mountains. Front Range Cycling Info page does a great job of grouping a substantial collection of links in Colorado. All the resource info you need for a successful cycling holiday in the Rocky Mountain State can be found on--or linked from--this single web page. It's a well-designed site with dozens of great links to riding locations in Colorado. Careful not to get stuck out on the trail past sundown, I started heading for home, pointing my browser in the direction of The New Arizona Mountain Biking Pages , produced in Phoenix by webmaster Bill Jamison. Like everything on the web, Jamison's site is always under construction. Use the locator map to find an area you want to visit and up comes a web page with rides in that region. If bikeboy's server is busy, take this detour down to Sierra Vista, location of the Dawn To Dust Mountain Bike Club. The page is an electronic invitation to join their club and you'll find details of how their organization works. By far the best features of this site are a detailed map and descriptions of rides surrounding Sierra Vista. It's just like being there! Out of memory and PowerBars, I've already exceeded the word-count for this story. It hardly seemed like eight hours of surfing, but somehow the experience has left me with a yearning for some real mountainbiking right here in the Old Pueblo. Here's hoping it only takes you half that to realize that virtual mud is no substitute for the real thing. Ride on, webheads! Hector Acuña's own Team Weakly mountain-biking web site can be found at http://www.racersedge.com/weakly.html

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