Stories
The day Kimberley invented mountain biking, almost

February 5 , 2002
© Darrell Noakes

I was reminded the other day of the time mountain biking nearly got invented, not in California, but in Kimberley, British Columbia.

During the summer of 1976, I was working underground at the Sullivan Mine, the world's largest lead and zinc mine. In those days, even general labourers in the mine, "muckers" as we were called, could make reasonably good coin. The job provided the income, and ample motivation, to return to school for another year.

To the local citizens, Kimberley had always been a steady and faithful provider. The mine had operated since 1909. If there were people who could remember a time before the mine, they were strangers to the high school students and recent graduates who saw unbounded opportunity and prosperity in the machinery and workings that overlooked the city.

It came as quite a shock to many residents, the day the company called a town meeting and announced that the good times were coming to an end. There was enough ore to sustain the mine for another 30 years at most, probably more like 25, the way mechanization was progressing, company officials said.

To the young people in town, 25 years was more than a lifetime away. Anyone old enough to have grandchildren knew better. The company's announcement sparked in them a resolve to save Kimberley from the fate of other mining towns.

Meanwhile, in southern California, folks like Gary Fisher, Joe Breeze and Tom Ritchey had other things on their minds. A new style of cycling was evloving. Everyone wanted to take their bikes off the road, and drive them hard down mountainsides. The 10-speeds popular at the time weren't up to the task. Riders adapted old, heavy, balloon-tired, coaster-brake-equipped clunkers. They were no more reliable than the road bikes, but they were cheap and plentiful. The more the bikes broke, the more they were adapted to handle the demands of off-road riding. A year or two later, people would start making a new type of bicycle specially designed for the new sport.

Back in Kimberley, civic leaders and company officials were organizing town meetings, seeking ideas from the public. At one meeting, someone suggested turning the small, rustic ski hill into a full-fledged resort. Someone else said, let's make it year-round. The idea of a four-season resort got people excited, and the meeting progressed with a lively discussion of the area's tourism potential.

Then a teenager got up and said, let's take people up the lifts with bikes in summer and let them ride down. The room fell silent. It must have taken a moment for the suggestion to register in people's minds. They thought about it. The question, unspoken, was obvious to everyone except the teenager: why on earth would anyone want to do that? The idea was politely dismissed and the previous discussion resumed.

Sometimes, I wonder what happened to that kid. I like to think he runs mountain bike tours somewhere.

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