Just curious: if you were going away somewhere to ride the trails, what's your first point of call for routes?

Do you:

1) find a book on the area?
2) ask the local authority/forestry commision for any leaflets?
3) go to a 'route exchange' website?
4) use an internet forum and ask individuals for first-hand knowledge?

And what kind of route format/files do you prefer to use? Take an OS map with you or new-fangle GIS nonsense?

OS map and ask here and local club forums?

OS map & explore. Sometimes though, I've wished I hadn't.

OS Map + The Force.

3,5*,4,1,2 (*check website for the area).

OS maps no use here. I use an OSM map on Garmin Vista HCx.

OS map and ask/search on here and look through the route cards I have saved over the years.

Usually just carry a map, though sometimes mrdomino carries his GPS (I don't know how to use one, but I can read a map).

andytherocketeer – pardon my ignorance: OSM? Open Street Map?

Pick area I want to visit
buy OS:50,000 Series paper map and yellow (etc) highlighter ALL marked tracks.(This allows me to tagrget areas and find likely loops of right size for me)
plot on Memory Map (allows much quicker picking uphill road, downhill offroad, start points etc, evaulating hills/effort)
once happy with route move to GPs

I also look for posted routes on t'internet.

My nose mainly, if it is to a well known 'tourist' spot then I do some digging online and ask on forums, if it isn't as well known, I may buy a map but otherwise I just jump on the bike and go explore…

Thurman Merman – yep
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org

and more specifically…
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download
(In my case one of the German maps – not tried the openmtbmap stuff yet)