Results from 1970's and 1980's mountain bike racing
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Mountain Bike Roots home, MountainBikeRoots.com
Mountain biking events of the early and mid 1980s
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Mountain Bike Roots - the early days of mountain biking
 
Jacquie Phelan, High Sierra Challenge, 1985 Jacquie Phelan, High Sierra Challenge, 1985
  		Mark Michel in Crested Butte, 1985 Mark Michel in Crested Butte, 1985 Mitch Nilsen, NORBA National, Santa Barbara, 1985 NORBA National, Santa Barbara, 1985 (Mitch Nilson in center rear)
 

Mountain Biking - The Early Days
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Bikes were basic, helmets barely provided protection, prizes were meager, and media virtually non-existent. It was the early and mid 1980's. Mountain bike racing was still in its infancy. Racers raced for fun, challenge, and glory, or at least as much glory as the world of early mountain bike racers could provide, not for money or media attention (media? what media?). Many non-racers still rode mountain bikes they had made themselves, in the tradition of the 1970's, crafted from heavy balloon tire cruisers, but racers rode the first generation of commercial mountain bikes. Some were made by bike riders turned bike makers, like Breeze, Cunningham, Fisher, Ibis, Ritchey, and the single speeders' favorite, the Procruiser, while others were made by pioneering traditional bicycle manufacturers such as Specialized and Ross, who sponsored teams and races.

The photographs on this site are from that first generation of mountain bike racing. I have over 2,000 slides from that era, Ektachrome and Kodachrome transparencies taken with Nikons that were as heavy and rugged as the mountain bikes that transported them over so many rough trails. I am now finally sorting through those slides, digitizing them when I have time, and slowly adding them to this site.

You can help! If you have any race results from that era that you could contribute or lend, or if you can tell me the names of any unidentified riders in photos on this site, or if you spot any errors, please contact me. Eventually I hope to include more information about both the events and the riders in them, so anything you can send could be helpful.

In honor of Bob Shaw, who died about 15 years ago, I have created a page with a few photos of him and his wife Jan.

I've published a novel! It is Warrior Brothers, the story of a father and son marooned by their starship's destruction on a primitive world 50 light years from Earth. You can read the first chapter free at the novel's website, www.warriorbrothers.com.

  Gordon Bainbridge My other websites:
    contact me   GordonBainbridge.com
      MarinWebWorks.com
      AvatarPlanet.com
      hawk.frodo.tv
 

This page last modified Sunday Feb 19, 2006 at 11:55am EST
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