[Repack Rider]

A friend from waaaay BITD posted these videos on YouTube of the 1980 Crested Butte to Aspen Clunker Tour. At the time there may have been a hundred mountain bikers in the United States, and most had built their own equipment because there was only one company selling mountain bikes and they were ungodly expensive.

You won't see lycra or helmets, mostly jeans and t-shirts and a few Velo Club Tamalpais WOOL jerseys. I'm the guy in the yellow shirt flexing the bicep and later showing the "new" type of bike for the camera. Gary Fisher is the one with the handlebar mustache, and Scot Nicol, who founded Ibis after going on the ride, is the guy juggling while riding. You may want a milk shake after you see the Haagen Dazs girl.

Equipment junkies please note that these people seem to be having as much fun as it is possible to have, while riding bikes that barely work. It ain't the bike, it's the company you ride with.

 

[Ithnu]

Very cool.

 

[rockarollah]

Awesome! Must have been a great time.

We're pretty spoiled by year 2010 bikes eh?

 

[dump]

very cool man, thanks!

 

[mattmatt86]

See Charley Kelly, Gary Fisher, "Murdoch", the guy who did the belch for Jaba the Hutt, and other mountain biking notables

 

[Toshi]

 

[Al C. Oholic]

those leather work gloves look state of the art! are they Fox? i'd like to pick some up.

really as someone of the younger generation of biking, it's amazing to see where it all came from. and the reality of it is, it came from drunk Western State hippies with nothing better to do!

 

[Repack Rider]

the reality of it is, it came from drunk Western State hippies with nothing better to do!

I hope that isn't a problem for you.

 

[drkenan]

This thread of full of so much win.

 

[Skookum]

Fun.

 

[SirChomps-a-Lot]

Is is just me or did some of those clunkers have 64 degree head tube angles?

 

[Toshi]

Is is just me or did some of those clunkers have 64 degree head tube angles?

I was thinking that myself. That and the really wide bars are trends come full circle…

 

[Al C. Oholic]

I hope that isn't a problem for you.

no, i'm just a drunk CSU student with nothing better to do. I didn't wanna be stuck in Gunnison. same thing tho.

 

[owentking]

Thanks Repack Rider. Thats awesome. Its crazy to see CB from the 80's. Lots changed. I'm just down the road in Gunnison. And Al C. Oholic, I am a drunk Western State Hippie alum. And now I'm stuck here. But its a good place to be stuck. Drop me a line if you every head this way.

 

[stosh]

Manimal's future wife!

 

[stosh]

"Be very careful with the nature"

 

[Dartman]

I suddenly want some Hagen Daz.

 

[Skookum]

i wish i still had my first mt. bike. A black Trek Antelope 830 i think. Watching all those people sketch down the hills like that...

Meh i really wouldn't have room for it anyways.

So what does an old school rider do nowadays to pass the time? You still ride your bike?

If you do you should come up and check out what we're doing up in the PNW. We got a good vibe rolling, we're looking for people from all over to come check it out.

Grassroots.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220868&highlight=kettle+fest

http://evergreenmtb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Kettle_Fest

 

[Repack Rider]

So what does an old school rider do nowadays to pass the time? You still ride your bike?

Halfway through my sixties, I have reached that stage in my life that everyone reaches, I suppose...

...When I no longer have to pay for my bikes. I have some nice ones, but I never ride the road bike if I can help it because we have world class, members only, black diamond singletrack that I can ride to from my house in twenty minutes, and hundreds of miles of dirt roads.

Why would I quit now that the bikes are so incredible? Considering that I had to ride for years on rigid frames and funky components, full suspension lets me can take any line over anything and the brakes always work. My FS will climb a tree. Here's the customary ride.

 

[GTscoob]

Thats a great video. I love the quote at the beginning about getting away from the cops, cars, and concrete, was the individual anyone notable?

Thanks for the upload.

 

[zahgurim]

Awesome thread!

 

[Skookum]

Why would I quit now that the bikes are so incredible? Considering that I had to ride for years on rigid frames and funky components, full suspension lets me can take any line over anything and the brakes always work. My FS will climb a tree. Here's the customary ride.

That's what's so cool about mt. biking, and why i'm pretty content to be an advocate for it. Gives me hope that if i don't go fly off a cliff i have plenty of years left of riding in my future.

Anyways cool to hear one of the pioneers keeping on keepin on. i've never been one to pay too much attention to the history. In fact i rode and worked bucking timber off of trail for years with John L before i knew he was pals with some of you guys, and a Norba race winner. Hell i even met and chatted with Wade Simmons for a while, had no clue who he was. Then my pal was laughing at me telling me i had no clue that he was the "Godfather" of Freeride. Well ok...

But anyways it was cool to see him enjoying the ride, and it's good to hear about folk who've been around from the beginning are still out there riding the trails.

i mean it's just not good for the book unless that's part of the ongoing chapters...

Cheers Repack

 

[smoke brakes]

It was nice