In the 1960s and ’70s, a countercultural movement drew a new generation of pioneers to the West. Suddenly, ski bums, scofflaws, draft dodgers and hippie homesteaders were joining the miners and hardscrabble farmers of mountain towns like Crested Butte, Colorado. Looking for a way to navigate both the Pontiac-bedeviling potholes in town as well as the dirt roads leading into the mountains, a small crew of Crested Butte transplants began building handmade off-road-ready bikes.
They used a hodgepodge of vintage parts, in particular from World War II-era Schwinn bicycles. The group called itself the Grubstake Gang (named after a favorite watering hole), and they rejoiced when their heavy cruisers, outfitted with fat tires, proved capable of handling the punishing unpaved roads into and out of town. In September 1976, 15 cyclists attempted a seemingly impossible feat: riding these “klunkers” over 12,700-foot Pearl Pass to Aspen.
The next day, just two riders rolled into Aspen; the steep Colorado stones of the 38-mile road had destroyed all the other klunkers. Around the same time, a group of teenagers in California’s Marin County—they called themselves the Larkspur Canyon Gang—were tinkering and racing their own garage-built bikes down the steep roads of Mount Tamalpais, north of San Francisco. In October 1976, the Larkspur Canyon Gang held what’s widely considered the first timed mountain bike race at Mount Tam.
It was called the Repack, so named because the hub-based brakes on cruiser bikes would overheat on steep slopes, and riders had to replace (or repack) the smoked-off axle grease between runs. Alan Bonds, a member of the Canyon Gang, won that first race, and the following year, another member, Joe Breeze, created the first purpose-made mountain bike, the Breezer 1, a prototype of which is now housed in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The first Breezer wed a durable steel-alloy frame with strong components that could withstand the rigors of off-road riding, including steel rims, cantilever brakes and repurposed motorcycle brake levers.
In 1978, the Larkspur Canyon Gang made a pilgrimage to Crested Butte for the Pearl Pass Tour. The California and Colorado crews quickly bonded over the pleasures and perils of the sport, and though both Crested Butte and Marin County claim to be the birthplace of mountain biking, the rivalry is an amicable one. Three of the greatest mountain-bike masters in history Greg Minnaar of South Africa is one of the greatest downhill racers ever, taking his first championship in 2001.
Minnaar has snagged four elite UCI Downhill World Championship titles and won a whopping 22 World Cup downhill races. Hans Rey of Switzerland is a pioneer who helped popularize mountain biking worldwide through spectacular trials riding, technical stunts and adventure expeditions. Brandon Semenuk of Canada is one of the defining figures of modern freeride mountain biking, known for his daringly enormous jumps and head-spinning technical tricks, at the Red Bull Rampage race and beyond.
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