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Danny Macaskill? While not necessarily 'winning races' he's done a lot to further the awareness of riding mountain bikes to the wider public.
[b][u]The inaugural 12 inductees to the new UK Mountaiin Bike Hall of Fame have been announced[/u]
[/b]
[b]The inaugural members are:[/b]
Jason McRoy,
Barrie Clarke,
Caroline Alexander,
David Baker,
Martyn Salt,
Helen Mortimer,
Tim Flooks,
Steve Peat,
Tracy Moseley,
Rob Warner,
Tim Gould and
Nick Craig.
“These guys are all at the top of the tree in the UK mountain biking world," said Patrick Adams and Jill Greenfield of Pacific Edge Events."
[b]In the run up to today's launch they also said:[/b]
"We have created the UK MTB Hall of Fame as a way of showing [b]respect for everyone in the mountain bike industry, be they riders or people connected in other ways,"[/b] said Patrick Adams, director of Pacific Edge Events".
[b][u]If so, why have a list of initial inductees that is restricted of racers and race organisers?[/u][/b]
[b]Where are the pioneers?[/b] (Not all the early mountain bike pioneers were American)
[b]Where are the mountain bike' engineers, designers and inventors?[/b]
[b]Where are the entrepreneurs and industrialists[/b] who founded the UK mountain bike companies?
[b]The journalists who popularised our sport?[/b]
[b]The advocates of mountain biking[/b] who set up riding centres and worked hard for improved land access, mountain bike friendly trail policies and responsible rider ethics.
[b]The adventurists[/b] who rode the world pushing the boundaries of what can be ridden on a mountain bike and in doing so helped publicise the fledgling sport?
[b]Is this a serious attempt to create a meaningful "Hall of Fame" that tells the story of all areas of UK mountain biking? Or just a poorly thought through publicity stunt for the organisers of Mountain Mayhem? [/b]
Is this a serious attempt to create a meaningful "Hall of Fame" that tells the story of all areas of UK mountain biking? Or just a poorly thought through publicity stunt for the organisers of Mountain Mayhem?
Well you've got to start somewhere. The above are (mostly) names that (most) people will have heard of.
While most MTBers have heard of brands like Orange and MBUK, I'm willing to bet that only the most obsessive will know that Lester Noble and Steve Wade were the two guys behind it way back in 1988 or that Tym Manley was the long term editor of MBUK (along with editing a couple of porn publications...). Having a Hall of Fame where you need to explain who's in it kind of goes against what you're trying to achieve!
Start with 12 well known names now and you can get people talking about it, generate some interest and maybe next year when another 12 names are added there'll be people in there like Rory Hitchins, Lester Noble, Tym Manley.
So [b][u]who[/u][/b] would [u]you[/u] [b]miss out[/b] from [u][b]that[/b][/u] list [i]Graeme[/i] (mudrider)?
Danny Mc Askill
Jo Cardwell
Ashley smith
Jenn Hopkins
WCA
"So who would you miss out from that list...." (Brant)
That's not for me to say. The question is that if this is to be a [u]UK Mountain Bike Racing Hall of Fame[/u] it should be named as such. But it is to be called the "UK Mountain Bike of Fame" then it should also include luminaries from non-racing disciplines.
[b]What is the long term purpose of this particular hall of fame?[/b] Is it to simply list those who are already well known and celebrated? Or could it have a wider role, like the US MTBHoF, in also celebrating people who were not well known but very influential. And in so doing document the entire history of UK mountain biking.