Grand Rapids makes Outside magazine’s 25 Best Towns 2010 – for mountain biking

Outside magazine lists Grand Rapids as the best town in the nation for mountain biking, and the city’s new mountain bike park helped hammer it into lead position. According to excerpts from the story:Michigan’s second-largest city will surprise you. For starters, the regional economy is both more diverse and more robust than Detroit’s—and includes everything from furniture (Herman Miller and Steelcase) to health and beauty (Amway) to footwear (Wolverine Worldwide). Plus, despite the state’s overall woes and high unemployment, G.R. is, dare we say, thriving. In 2004, the last year they issued report cards, the International Mountain Biking Association gave Michigan a B+, the same grade as New Mexico, Washington, and Alaska. The in-town mountain-bike park has a pump track (think rollers and berms), a skills area, and a new three-mile loop of singletrack in the works.Read the complete story here.