For as long as anyone can remember, riding a bike has been a part of everyone’s childhood. Remember the first time you tried one; it felt like a mountain of an accomplishment. Now that you have the power and limbs for an improved type of cycling, that mountain is now a part of it. It’s a whole different kind of adventure as you traverse challenging trails and breeze through sublime and captivating nature reserves. But where does this popular sport come from? Who are the individuals that have been attributed to the popularity of the sport? Here are 10 facts to captivate your interest.
- The history of this extreme sport dates back to 1970 in California, United States. It was on Mount Tamalpais that he left that mark of being the origin of mountain biking. The founding fathers of the sport were considered to be Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Keith Bontrager, Charlie Cunningham, and Tom Ritchie. Using coaster brakes on converted cruisers, the first prototype mountain bikes were designed for downhill riding. Meaning they never rode their bikes uphill, they had to haul them to the starting point and ride them downhill. These 5 people had to improvise a lot, things like installing balloon tires that could take on any road condition and repacking the makeshift coaster brakes with grease because they had a tendency to overheat. Later these 5 founding fathers further developed the bikes and opened a shop.
- Bart Jen Brentjens from the Netherlands won the first mountain bike event at the Atlanta Olympics.
- The different variations of the sport are; cross country, winter downhill, freeride, endurance and extreme. These different disciplines of mountain biking provide a wide variety and possibilities to adapt an activity to the specific adventure and adrenaline requirements of the cyclists.
- In 1995, downhill was introduced to the first Extreme Games.
- In 1997, during the Winter X-Games, it was also one of the featured extreme sports.
- Braking in this sport requires the use of your head. No, you don’t really “use your head” per se. It means that braking is a skill that is developed through adequate knowledge of the techniques that apply to the art of stopping safely, and braking to avoid crashes and other possible risk scenarios.
- The International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA). A non-profit organization that was formed in 1988 is an advocate for the improvement and preservation of bike trails around the world. To date, IMBA is affiliated with associations around the world, with Australia being one of the ones with the largest number of memberships. IBMA educates on trail care, trail construction and planning. It has been one of the most trusted sources for trail recreation.
- The world’s highest trans-Himalayan mountain biking race takes place on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, which has an elevation of 17,160 feet.
- The longest mountain bike race in the world was a trip from Canada to Mexico. 2,700 miles above the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains.
- Sam Hill, an Australian professional mountain biker (downhill racing) is the youngest Australian to win a world championship title. He won his first championship title at the age of 16 and came third at the Vail World Championships in 2001.