Intro to Mountain Bike History
The first edition of Post Ride
Introducing Post Ride
Welcome to the first edition of Post Ride—a newsletter dedicated to documenting the sport and celebrating the culture of mountain biking. We wish to share the best insights, commentary, and media in the mountain bike world. Each weekly edition will include brief discussion of a select topic followed by a few links to various forms of media content. This week’s topic: mountain bike history.
Mountain Bike History
History can never be told in just one one way. There are too many events to fit into one single narrative. There are many claims as to who invented the sport of mountain biking. The debate is fun but not useful for much else. Rather, it’s important to recognize that there were many significant events happening in roughly the same time period. Californians were holding the first races down Repack in Marin. Coloradoans were touring over Pearl Pass near Crested Butte. Canadians pioneered the style of freeriding by building stunts in the forests on the North Shore of Vancouver. All of this, plus more, influenced the way we ride today.
Every now and then I become intensely focused on digging through the internet to find videos and articles that document the history of mountain biking. It’s cool to go out riding and remember that you are experiencing the same euphoria that they did back in the infancy of the sport. No one thought they were building a new sport or industry, but look where we are now.
Below are some excellent resources to learn about the early days and spread the historical stoke.
Mountain Biking - Rocky Mountain PBS — Colorado’s PBS network produced this documentary about the history of mountain biking. Being a Colorado based production, it focuses a lot on Crested Butte but covers the Repack history as well. Learn about the first tours over Pearl Pass, to the creation of Crested Butte Bike Week and the development of Crested Butte’s world class trail system. This is a nice objective look at the sport and its history.
Original Repack Footage — This television segment from Repack in Marin is from the late 70’s. Gotta love the fashion choices and hippy vibes.
History of the North Shore — This detailed look at the history of freeriding on the North Shore of Vancouver made me absolutely itching to go ride some Canadian skinnies.
Frank the Welder Interview — This is a lengthy yet extremely insightful interview with Frank Wadelton a.k.a. Frank The Welder. Frank is one of the OG bike builders in the game. He welded for Yeti back when they were located in Durango, and he now works independently on the East Coast. Vital MTB has been releasing some killer interviews on their podcast, The Inside Line, lately.
2001 World Cup DH — Awesome throwback footage of world cup downhill and dual slalom racing at Purgatory Resort near Durango. Rumor has it that Purgatory is going to build a DH track and host elite level racing again. Time will tell…
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