Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Stop by and have a beer on us!Inductees in six categories were chosen by ballot this summer. They include: Michael Kelley, famous for his advocacy work in the San Fran Area, Jacob Heilbron, as the industry representative, Journalism Inductees, East Coasters Maurice and Elaine Tierney, Brian Skinner was chosen in the pioneers category, Laird Knight won the most votes for his work in race promotion and rounding out the group is Vail racer Mike Kloser.

Kelley is honored for his years of dedication to keeping trails open, first with the Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay (BTCEB), followed up shortly by his help in the creation of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) an organization in which he served as Vice President for many years.

Jacob "Jake the Snake" Heilbron, has been and continues to be an integral part of the Canadian and international bicycle industry. Since introducing the first mountain bikes (Ritchey) to Canada in 1980 from his retail bike shop in Vancouver, West Point Bicycles, and founding Rocky Mountain Bicycles in 1981, Jake's industry presence has been large. In 1988, he partnered with Dan Gerhard to create a company that's still kickin' ass today, Kona Bikes.

Mountain Bike Journalism would not be the same without Elaine and Maurice Tierney. They founded Dirt Rag Magazine in 1989 to promote and document mountain bike culture, following in the footsteps of Charlie Kelly's Fat Tire Flyer. Issue #1 was a 16 page black and white magazine, folded in the center and passed around to friends and at events. Ninety-something issues later, the magazine is distributed world wide to the hardest of hardcore mountain bikers.

The Pioneer category has its own color commentary in the form of Brian Skinner. Brian's story could take up a page in itself, so lets just say we're covered with this pioneer, from early race promotion and innovation to product development for companies like Shimano, Answer, and Onza.

Laird Knight started promoting events in 1984 with one of the sports oldest continuing race series called the "Canaan Mountain Series". Knight is best known for his Granny Gear Production company which has single handedly brought the phenomenon of 24 Hour Mountain Bike racing to the world. Thousands of individuals who otherwise would not entertain the idea of racing find these events fun, adding to the increasing popularity of this type of event.

Mike Kloser is one of the most versatile, longevity prone, successful racers of our sport. While not a household name, Mike accomplished most of his successes across the pond in the hardest fought arena, the European World Cup. Currently he is a champion in the Adventure Race Series where he has posted many top finishes . His complete biography, as well as all this years inductees and the other 78 individual and group inductees , can be found on the World Wide Web at www.mtnbikehalloffame.com.