October 21 of this year marks the 35th anniversary of the day I and a half-dozen friends gathered at the top of a steep hill that we called "Repack" to settle once and for all time who was the fastest dirt downhiller in the world.
As it turned out, the question was never settled, because now it is asked many times each week in locations all over the world.
On these anniversary days there is always a small gathering at the site, and I expect there will be one this year.
While Marin County gets considerable credit for introducing mountain biking to the world, it is far from correct to suggest that the mountain bike was invented here. People rode bikes on dirt as soon as there were bikes, and no doubt a few of them raced downhill, but left no record of their competition. Many others had already come up with the idea of putting derailleur gears onto balloon-tire bicycles long before anyone in Marin County did.
What was "invented" in Marin was the SPORT of mountain biking, and the sport itself developed the bikes we have today. That sport started on that day, and the everything we now call mountain biking can be traced in an unbroken line directly to that event.
As it turned out, the question was never settled, because now it is asked many times each week in locations all over the world.
On these anniversary days there is always a small gathering at the site, and I expect there will be one this year.
While Marin County gets considerable credit for introducing mountain biking to the world, it is far from correct to suggest that the mountain bike was invented here. People rode bikes on dirt as soon as there were bikes, and no doubt a few of them raced downhill, but left no record of their competition. Many others had already come up with the idea of putting derailleur gears onto balloon-tire bicycles long before anyone in Marin County did.
What was "invented" in Marin was the SPORT of mountain biking, and the sport itself developed the bikes we have today. That sport started on that day, and the everything we now call mountain biking can be traced in an unbroken line directly to that event.
