| People use bicycles for many different reasons. | | | | into existence, it has become easier to build a bike |
| They are a great means of transport for getting | | | | that is capable of withstanding everything a rough |
| to and from work, you can fit your shopping into | | | | off road terrain has to throw at it. Stronger |
| the baskets available to attach to the front, and | | | | lighter frames and better gears have made |
| they provide a wonderful way to travel when on | | | | mountain biking easier for more people to |
| holiday and exploring different areas. People have | | | | attempt. The history of mountain biking shows |
| always ridden off road as well as on it, but the | | | | that the earliest riders began to adapt their bikes |
| history of mountain biking really begins more than | | | | to get the best from those downhill runs and |
| thirty years ago, in the 1970's. Modern bike | | | | routes, and so the mountain bikes that we know |
| designs have made the sport more accessible to | | | | today began to evolve. At the time, the only |
| more people, and the history of mountain biking | | | | type of bicycle you could buy was intended to be |
| certainly shows it is now even more popular than | | | | ridden on the road. Although people did ride off |
| ever. But although mountain biking is now enjoyed | | | | road it wasn't popular enough to warrant a bike |
| all over the world, it began life in California, | | | | designed specifically for that use. But the bikers in |
| America. A group of cycle enthusiasts decided to | | | | California changed all that. The history of mountain |
| try out some downhill runs on bikes that would | | | | biking began with them, and they began to rethink |
| now seem antiquated to many of us. The dirt | | | | the way that bicycles were made in order to |
| tracks were much the same as many mountain | | | | create a design that could handle all the obstacles |
| bike race courses today, but the bikes have | | | | and conditions the off road trails could throw at it. |
| changed considerably over the intervening years. | | | | So the next time you grab hold of your own |
| Those races became famous, and before long | | | | mountain bike and go for a ride - perhaps across |
| similar races were taking place along tracks at | | | | a muddy field, or down a steep slippery slope on |
| locations in many different countries. As new | | | | those knobbly tires - you should think of the |
| materials and ways of building bikes have come | | | | pioneers of the 1970's. |