The history of Mountain Biking begins in the mid 1970's when the sport of bicycling was rapidly developing. During this time a few biking 'freaks' in the state of California didn't just turn a hobby and a number of innovative improvements into a profession with their new 'fat tire' bike. Instead they set in motion a worldwide boom.
It was here in the late 60's where the culture in San Francisco was the high point of town. Gary Fisher, a bicycle racer (who was moving his light show from one city to another), and his partner Carles Kelly, (roadie of the rock group, 'Sons of Champlin') were some of the first people to grow tired of the hectic life with traffic in the city. Soon, they moved out to Marin County where life was manageable yet close to nature too. It was here in Marin that they met Joe Breeze, and the 'Clunkers'.
During the year of 1976, Kelly and Fisher, with Joe Breeze and Tom Ritchey, organized and steadily increased the amount of races that were held at the 3 mile long Cascade Fire Trail near Fairfax. Riders from all over the city soon joined the fun. Every rider would start at different intervals with one thing on their mind. They all wanted to own one of the 'Clunkers' and break the 2.9 mile dirt track record that had a vertical drop of over 1600 feet. They soon adopted the motto of Hell's Angels - "Ride to live and live to ride."
There was only one problem though. Even the amazing Schwin Excelsor wasn't able to hold the extreme fun of these races. While Breeze and Fisher continued finding new ways to improve the technology, it was Kelly who saw to it that the new races were scheduled Californian-style and built around Marin County. The number of participants did increase the media attention, but the local authorities protested that is was impossible to comply with the insurance requirements. Because of this the last race was held in 84'. Biking guru turned manufacturer, Gary Fisher, still holds the record today with 4 minutes and 22 seconds.
| MOUNTAIN BIKING | HISTORY | PART & COMPONENTS | TRAILS | MOUNTAIN BIKING SLANG | RACES & RACERS | HOME | LINKS | FEEDBACK | GUESTBOOK |
