“It was the kind of town that could buck you off like an unbroken horse. The kind of Wild West that made false fronts out of more civilized towns.” – Freehub Magazine
It feels like mountain biking has several different origin stories, depending on the location you look into. I’ve seen claims that the sport began in Canada, Montana, California, and, of course, Colorado. No matter the story, it always feels like a group of outsiders, outlaws, or whatever you want to call them, pushing the suspensionless frames as far as possible, trying to find what it would take to make them fall apart.
The story of mountain biking’s origins in Crested Butte certainly seems to fit the general vibe of the town. While I won’t claim to know much about the place (I’ve never actually been there), in my mind, at least, it remains as one of the few hardcore western towns to still exist, almost in a mythical sense. This story, fortunately, exists in both a video form and in a written form, so if you prefer to read, you can click here. Otherwise, this short documentary is an incredible look into the past.
Image Credit: Freehub Magazine on YouTube