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History of Mountain Biking
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' bikes. 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 authority 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 started during the 1970s in California, USA. Mount Tamalpais, better known as Mt. Tam, is widely considered as the origin of Mountain Biking. Often hailed founding fathers of Mountain Biking such as Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Charlie Cunningham, Keith Bontrager, and Tom Ritchey converted cruisers and balloon-tire bicycles into human-powered machines that are capable of passing through all kinds of road conditions. The first breeds of mountain bikers were purely down hillers. They would ferry their bikes up a mountain with a truck and race downhill. They used coaster brakes in order to slow down from the descent. However, these old-styled brakes would heat up during descents in which they would have to be repacked with grease before going through another descent. This breaking mechanism was later replaced with cantilever brakes which were a lot lighter and much stronger. Simultaneously, riders felt that they had to bike up the hills or mountains in order to appreciate riding the descent, thus the birth of multi-speed bikes with shifters and gear in order to aid riders ride up the hills and mountains.
Much has changed since the 1970s. Popularity has grown and companies have taken steps in order to address this concern. Now, specific components for Mountain Bikes have been developed to provide better Mountain Biking performance. One can get a full suspension Mountain Bike with disc brakes cheaper than a road Bike of the same caliber. The rising number of professional racers help fuel the development of Mountain Bike technology. As the level of competition rises, the level of the performance of the bike will also increase, ensuring amateur level riders the technology of race ready machines at an affordable price?
During the early 90s, champions such as John Tomac and Ned Overend dominated the Mountain Biking scene. In 1996, the first Mountain Biking event at the Atlanta Olympics was held. This was won by Bart Jan Brentjens of The Netherlands. In 1995, the first Extreme Games were held in various cities around the United States. One of the events was Downhill Mountain Biking. In 1997, the Winter X-Games was conceived, of course with a Mountain Biking event as well.
Compared to other Outdoor Activities, Mountain Biking is a fairly new sport and recreational activity. From the 1970s, many aspects of Mountain Biking have developed and improved as people discover other styles of riding their Mountain Bikes. In addition, hundreds of different kinds and types of gear and equipment are available in the market today in order to cater the needs of thousands of enthusiasts. This inevitable evolution paved the way for mountain bikers to enjoy Mountain Biking better and for a lot of people to try this breathtaking sport.
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