Once upon a time there was no such thing as mountain bikes. Yes, many people rode all sorts of bikes off road, some even modified their machines into true all terrain machines, but it took a bunch of Bay Area hippies to create mountain biking as a bona fide sub culture, with a brand new type of racing, (downhill off road time trials), an underground ethos and truly radical and beautiful bikes that evolved from mechanical experiments with old clunkers into handbuild masterpieces by Gary Breeze and Tom Richey.
That story is told in full in the film Klunkerz youtube.com/watch?v=0sjRCzRrPac and one of the main characters is the one and only Gary Fisher. mmbhof.org/gary-fisher
Gary’s story has been told many times, although there are so many ideas and memories buzzing round his head at any one time, it is a bit different each time, like looking at a different side of a gem and seeing many reflections.
Very exciting news for us is a new book by Gary called ‘Being Gary Fisher (and the Bicycle Revolution) is out 01/11/20 and Gary takes us through it’s conception, creative process and most importantly, where we can buy it! trekbikes.com
For this week’s pod, we didn’t want to cover old ground that you’ve heard before, but rather draw on Gary’s roots with the Grateful Dead, Ken Kesey and Jefferson Airplane and his early days of road racing right through to what drives and inspires him now. At a time when the humble bicycle could really change the world (again) Gary, as ever has many words of wisdom, humour and kindness for us.
So whether you like to shred a black run, bike pack over mongolia, race an eMTB or even groove on 1960s psychedelic light shows, Gary has helped define your life as he has mine. Enjoy the ride.
For the first time this week’s pod also has its own playlist, because for us the 60s children really were the greatest generation. open.spotify.com/playlist/2IRomebwJKFW11Pw88txe4
.png)
Cycle Systems Online