Just shows despite all the latest wizzardry it's still just messing about the woods .Like last weekend's get together with PP and the gang .Like minded people not taking themselves TOO seriously , hanging out together , taking the piss out of each together , making new friends it's all excellent stuff .(Wish Mr Ritchey would start making frames again though !)
If it would just stop raining and the sun came out could get my Kona Aha out for a spin as a tribute to the old Schwinn's .
I dunno, I watched Klunkers with an ever increasing sense of rising bile TBH, the whole "we invented mountain biking" thing just gets my goat a bit, they may well have coined the term, but folk have been razzing about in the woods since bikes were invented...
Grrrrr
Yeah i know .When we were kids in the late 60s we used to watch scrambling on Grandstand then go out and rip around on umsuitable 5 speed road bikes with cow horns .But someone had to make the leap and make something more suitable.
Tom Ritchey... Gary Fisher... Joe Breeze... nickc...
If you like Klunkerz check out www.owmtbc.org - Kelly, Breeze, Fisher and Cunningham are 'feeling' it and we'll be in NorCal in 2011......
Hey Nic,
In Klunkerz I was really trying to show that no one 'invented' the mountain bike. If you thought Klunkerz was saying that about anyone in particular, you missed the point. Examining the efforts of the Buffalo Soldiers of 1896, Annie Londonderry going around the globe in 1897, the Italian infantry of WWI going over the Alps, the VCCP of the early 1950s outside of Paris, and others, shows that all of these people were, essentially, mountain biking. Every person over a certain age says they were doing it first. I get emails and photos every week from people regarding this. I just wanted to bring to light some of the contributions of the lesser-known, and well-known, guys in NorCal just pushed it further. They really did refine the machines to increase what was possible. Just try to build one of the old klunkerz and see how labor intensive it really was. It took a lot of skills to make one of the old, multi-gear machines. The Morrow Dirt Club, The Larkspur Canyon Gang, Prof. John Finley Scott, etc. all had a hand in that evolution. The guys up North shared their ideas, so they were able to do more research and development than what would have been possible by any single 'inventor'. They reached a critical mass, so it was able to catch on across the country, and eventually, the world. They do deserve credit for this, IMHO. That's why I invested years of my life and a great deal of cash to make the film. I did all the research on the folks that had come before, but it just wasn't possible to put it all together in one movie. Perhaps someone will make another movie looking at all these elements. It will have to be someone passionate about cycling, who is willing to put in the time and the money, since there's no way to cover the costs on projects of this nature, they are simply 'labors of love'. There isn't a bicycle company in the world that would help fund a project of this nature. It doesn't make sense for any of them, since it doesn't really enhance their 'brands'. If someone ever does make that project, I'll be the first in line to see it. Thanks for all the support on my project and I hope to run into you out in the woods sometime.
Ride on,
Billy
Ride on
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I didn't really enjoy it much the first time but I watched it again the other week and liked it. You need to be in a conducive viewing mood I think
Top post Billy, many thanks for all your efforts and documenting a fascinating time - the guys in your film certainly bought the enjoyment and excitement of offroad riding to a wide audience and without them where would we all be now? Possibly not discussing it all on the internet!
We have it looping in the shop floor at the moment. I still find myself stood watching it for 5-10 minutes when I should doing something else!
I still can't get over how fast they were downhilling on what is a pile of C*#p compared to todays bikes! When Gary was over for our Fisher weekend we took him round a few local trails and despite him never seeing some of the rocky twisty stuff we took him down he dropped us all!
Top film. Maybe a bit much but I have it saved on my iphone.....
Matthew.
man i will have to buy klunkerz on dvd(along with "on any sunday")if i can get them!!!
Available at CRC http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=23904
Watched it on BT vision only cost £0.89 realy enjoyed ,wonder how far they would have got if the lived in a country where it never stops raining .
thanks big ted!!!
BT Vision, eh? So there giving it away for L0.89? So I get half of half. What's L0.22 in dollars? I guess it doesn't matter, I'll never see it anyway:).
"Drink light...roll HEAVY!"
The Morrow Dirt Club
klunkerbill were you the guy that sent me the VERY limited MDC T Shirt ?Still wear with pride as your rep this side of the pond.
