Charlie Kelly was the first man to build and ride a mountain bike, in Marin County, California 1974. He went on to organise the Repack downhill races for ten years, making mountain biking the most exciting cycling craze, first of the Bay area, then of California and finally the world. With his partner, Gary Fisher, Charlie set up the MountainBike Company which gave the machine its name, interested Japanese engineering companies to make equipment especially for mountain bikers and produced beautiful looking bikes, which inspired the first mass-produced MTBs. The founding fathers of mountain biking are fascinating to riders the world over. Beginning in flower power San Francisco and involving bands like the Grateful Dead, the story retains the power of that once in a generation period of change. Tym Manley, editor of Privateer magazine, brings the key players together to discover how the mountain bike scene developed in the US. Through interviews with the main protagonists in the scene Tym builds a fascinating picture of how it all started, how it developed, and where we are now. Lavishly illustrated with fantastic archive material - from the original flyers to photographs from the private collections of the key players, this is a must read for any fan of mountain biking.

Author Biography

Tym Manley is Editor of Privateer magazine. Contributors include Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, Charlie Cunningham, Jacqui Phelan, Joe Breeze, Joe Murray, Koski Brothers, Mike Sinyard, Tom Ritchey and photos and archive material from Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, Wende Cragg and Billy Savage.