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People
Mountain biking was created people: the racers, supporters, influencers, entrepreneurs, customers, personalities and not just the builders and brands which most of mtbtimeline focuses upon. The Mt. Biking Hall of Fame honors most who have been significant to the ongoing of story of mountain biking. This section of the timeline will try to visually show the people within timelines and by types or regions, such as early pioneers, racers, etc.
Charlie Kelly, Repack organizer
photo by Wende Cragg mmbhof
Repack
Repack was the moment of genesis for the mountain bike. The group of friends in Marin who timed their downhill runs in the fall of 1976 quickly pulled in friends until the chain reaction of enthusiasm sustained a new industry.
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In 1974 a half-dozen riders went on the first of what has become an annual ride, the Thanksgiving Day Appetite Seminar. The route we chose ended with a trip down Repack, and it was shortly afterward that someone applied the name that has become one of the most famous in mountain biking history. It's not a joke, it's just the truth. One trip down that hill put years of wear onto a coaster brake, and if you did not immediately disassemble it and repack all the bearings with grease, the hub would seize up very shortly afterward. Charlie Kelly, sonic.net/~ckelly
Most of initial Repack riders built their own bikes. They had to, as there was nothing available which could survive the final five minutes. Charlie Kelly, Repack's organizer, ordered the first purpose built mountain bike in 1976 from Craig Mitchell. Joe Breeze, a builder of road frames, and who has won Repack downhills than anyone else, demonstrated his own JBX1 in September, 1977. And everyone had to have one.
This is a gallery of the 13 riders who Charlie Kelly recorded as having three or more timed results in 1976.
Charlie Kelly, Repack organizer, with timers and results sheet, 1979. Tom Ritchey is smiling in blue behind him. Photo by Wende Cragg, mmbhof
The Repack Course Map
mmbhof