Happy birthday mountain bikers!

On 21st October 1976 a bunch of riders in Marin County CA raced against the clock down the Pine Mountain fire road towards Fairfax. The route had been christened “Repack” because all the braking evaporated the grease from their coaster brakes, which then had to be repacked. This day is regarded as day one of what we now call mountain biking, though back then it was usually called klunking. Alan Bond won the race but a few days later they were back for another go. The picture at the top is Charlie Kelly showing how it should be done, he organised the races. I had the privilege of hearing him speak in a bar in Chorley around a year ago.