trailsource.com was a disappointment

KN@localhost.localdomain

I subscribed trailsource.com because it listed some mountain biking
trails in some areas in Europe where maps and trail descriptions are
hard to find, for example on Crete.

To my disappointment, these trail descriptions are not detailed enough
to ride the trails. Far from it. Or what do you think of the following?
This is actually one of the more detailed trail descriptions on
Crete...

COUNTRY: GREECE
PROVINCE: Crete
REGION: Hania
TITLE: Theriso Gorge
NOTES: From the northwest coastal town of Hania, a long mountain
bike ride (60 km) cruises through a 10 km section of the popular
Theriso Gorge from Perivolia. Next, continue onto Zouvia in the
hills, then descend radically, and pass through Fournes on the way
back to Hania. Other good rides are the new trail to Lakki, and
isolated trails on the Rodopou peninsula with its impressive
wilderness.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Hellas Bike Travel (30) 831-53328; Greek
Tourism, US (212) 421-5777.
BREAKFAST JOINT: Unknown
BASE CAMP: Amalthia Bungalows
LUXURY LODGE: Hotel Geraniotis Beach; Porto Elounda (30) 284-106-8000
ADDITIONAL READING: Rough Guide To Crete from John Fisher
SEASON: Apr. - Oct.

A 60 km mountain bike trail in less than 50 words (Notes section until
they start to talk about other trails not described anywhere.) That's
brevity!

Trailsource.com advertises trail maps and GPS data, but at least on
the destinations that I was interested in (Crete, Cyprus, Portugal) I
did not see any. The search facilities are also poor, and trails are
not classified based on length, difficulty, terrain, etc. The site
does not offer any example trail descriptions on user selectable areas
before subscription (obviously for a good reason!).

One more suspicious thing about trailsource.com is that the
subscription is automatically renewed, and canceling the automatic
renewal requires you to make a support request. The request is handled
automatically, but only after several days you get a URL where you
can cancel the subscription renewal. Why can't they give the URL when
you get the subscription confirmation? It seems to me that by stalling
the renewal cancellation this way they hope to get some accidental
renewals; this is just some kind of sick game. (For those interested
the cancellation URL was
https://www.trailsource.com/secure/cancel.asp)

Be careful with trailsource.com.

--KN

MattB

KN@localhost.localdomain wrote:
> I subscribed trailsource.com because it listed some mountain biking
> trails in some areas in Europe where maps and trail descriptions are
> hard to find, for example on Crete.
>
> To my disappointment, these trail descriptions are not detailed enough
> to ride the trails. Far from it. Or what do you think of the following?
> This is actually one of the more detailed trail descriptions on
> Crete...
>
> COUNTRY: GREECE
> PROVINCE: Crete
> REGION: Hania
> TITLE: Theriso Gorge
> NOTES: From the northwest coastal town of Hania, a long mountain
> bike ride (60 km) cruises through a 10 km section of the popular
> Theriso Gorge from Perivolia. Next, continue onto Zouvia in the
> hills, then descend radically, and pass through Fournes on the way
> back to Hania. Other good rides are the new trail to Lakki, and
> isolated trails on the Rodopou peninsula with its impressive
> wilderness.
> FOR MORE INFORMATION: Hellas Bike Travel (30) 831-53328; Greek
> Tourism, US (212) 421-5777.
> BREAKFAST JOINT: Unknown
> BASE CAMP: Amalthia Bungalows
> LUXURY LODGE: Hotel Geraniotis Beach; Porto Elounda (30) 284-106-8000
> ADDITIONAL READING: Rough Guide To Crete from John Fisher
> SEASON: Apr. - Oct.
>
> A 60 km mountain bike trail in less than 50 words (Notes section until
> they start to talk about other trails not described anywhere.) That's
> brevity!
>
> Trailsource.com advertises trail maps and GPS data, but at least on
> the destinations that I was interested in (Crete, Cyprus, Portugal) I
> did not see any. The search facilities are also poor, and trails are
> not classified based on length, difficulty, terrain, etc. The site
> does not offer any example trail descriptions on user selectable areas
> before subscription (obviously for a good reason!).
>
> One more suspicious thing about trailsource.com is that the
> subscription is automatically renewed, and canceling the automatic
> renewal requires you to make a support request. The request is handled
> automatically, but only after several days you get a URL where you
> can cancel the subscription renewal. Why can't they give the URL when
> you get the subscription confirmation? It seems to me that by stalling
> the renewal cancellation this way they hope to get some accidental
> renewals; this is just some kind of sick game. (For those interested
> the cancellation URL was
> https://www.trailsource.com/secure/cancel.asp)
>
> Be careful with trailsource.com.
>
> --KN

That looks really crappy. Sounds pretty shady to me. I'd never sign up
for a pay site like that unless it was Google Earth or something as well
known and respected.
Thanks for the warning!

Matt