Our sport is full of legends from the past who have made an impact on what we call mountain biking today, from the racers who attached number plates to the front of their bikes and helped to inspire a generation of young talent, to the shredders who changed our perception of what's possible on two wheels without throwing down against their peers or the clock. And we can't not mention the fathers of our sport, the people who took a bicycle that was never intended to be ridden hard on dirt trails and transformed it into a machine that could not only tackle the challenges of the day, but also kick off more than thirty years of development that lead to the current wonder-bikes that we're blessed with. Think of the stories from those early years of exploring concepts and pushing the limits of a sport that really didn't have any preconceived notions of what is the right direction to take, or accounts from the trenches of World Cup and national level racing when both of those settings were more Wild West showdowns than highly organized events.
However you slice it, it's fair to say that the list of our sport's VIPs is a long one, and that there is always going to be a luminary that gets left off regardless of how many old issues of MBA you browse to jog your memory. With that in mind, the list below is really only the smallest cross-section of mountain biking's legends, and any that aren't on it haven't been left off for any other reason than a bad memory or lack of knowledge. Feel like someone important is missing? Put their name in the comment section and explain why they're your number one pick of someone to go for a lap with.
Instead of just asking who we want to ride with why don't you and PinkBike make a ride happen? A contest of sort that the winners would ride with there choice of mountain bike legend......Just saying. Could be a huge fund raiser for one of PB's charities. Have winners from multiple countries and they would ride there local trails...Just throwing it out there.
That and I always wanted to hang with the boys from the show "Drop In". When they were filming that show I was always waiting for them to make it to Ontario, but only Dylan would come and do a few random bike events and showcase the trials stuff. There's definitely lots not on the list above that could easily be added. So many.
great pic of me leading Josh Bender, my buddy Rob and Kona Klump rider Joe Schwartz down Garbanzo Zone in Whistler
ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb3197180/p4pb3197180.jpg
great pic of Wade Simmons at our freeride bike park in Esher, Surrey where we spent hours sessioning all the woodwork backwards as well as forwards, and sideways!
ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb437121/p4pb437121.jpg
also had the pleasure of riding with Robbie Bourdon, Shaums March, Geoff Gulevich, Darren Butler and a good number of other pro's over the years including some very fast racers both in gravity and cross country
the one thing all these guys had in common is that they were super friendly, and just stoked on riding the trails, and this is a rare commodity as many "legends" or "stars" of other sports are not accessible.
But where are the other "legends"?
Jason McRoy???? Rob warner??? Ey?
ZB, do you even really know your MTB legends? I'm blown away that you didn't put Zink on the list. Maybe he's not old enough yet. "Blown away" does not mean "disappointed", by the way. Still, I'd rather see him up there than Cryin' Brian Lopes.
Can't imagine Super T is any older than Zink, or that he stuck around long enough to be considered legendary, but I voted for him 'cuz dude was a baws. Every once in a while I wonder to myself "WTF ever happed to Super T Klassen?" Mister "you shouldn't stop riding your bike just because you got booze, girls & cars." Where the f*ck you go son?
I'd love to have a street session with that guy once, he's been my inspiration for riding bikes since I was a kid.
I had the pleasure to also have awesome sessions with riders like Adam Hauck, Carter Holland, Anson Wellington, Matt Jamieson, the guys from The Rise and many more. Such good times. Need to go back to the States this summer for more awesome sessions!
Good on you a-r-c for saying what needed saying. Saved me the trouble, even though I kinda did elsewhere before I read this. :/
Tomac, Overend, Furtado, Juarez and Peaty. Peaty spanning the ages.
Tomac would win the XC and the DH.
www.ridebig.com/adventures.php
A piss up ride? Tippie. (me, not him, but being with him is like being drunk)
A 'how do I train' ride? Tomac. Then I'd go ride moto with him and ride a KTM to piss off the kid.
A history ride? Gary Fisher or any of those guys that started it all, just to say thanks.
Having spent the day with Wade, my poll choice is therefore torn between CG and Peaty.
satn (6 hours ago)
Tippie for Mayor!! Better yet make him a Canuck Hockey player so we can get to the playoffs!
oh yeah Hans Rey too.. and H-ball for the Americans...
And by the way i think LEGEND means riding in the early days aka 90 when modern day mountain biking became big!
That's why no Sam Hill, no Claw or so...
Simmons/Tippie/Schley/Vanderham/Chausson/Gracia/Shandro/Tomac
Argh...too many to choose just one
satn (6 hours ago)
Tippie for Mayor!! Better yet make him a Canuck Hockey player so we can get to the playoffs!
It was a fun day.
Nathan Rennie
Chris Kovarik
John Kirkaldie
Niko Vink
Philip Polk
Jared Graves
Jerome Clementz
Rene Wildhaber
Hans Rey
Julian & Remy Absalon
Misser bros
Lacondeguay bros
Bearclaw
Mikael Pascal
Cadel Evans
Nino Schurter
Gunn Rita Dahl
Eatough, English, Gordon, Bontjer.
even the Athertons :0
satn (6 hours ago)
Tippie for Mayor!! Better yet make him a Canuck Hockey player so we can get to the playoffs!
on my side I have taken the chairlift with Nico V.. A good start .
satn (6 hours ago)
Tippie for Mayor!! Better yet make him a Canuck Hockey player so we can get to the playoffs!
satn (6 hours ago)
Tippie for Mayor!! Better yet make him a Canuck Hockey player so we can get to the playoffs!
BUt yeah, what about Sam U Al Hill man?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l94TcPUIfgs
www.youtube.com/watch?v=na9ZZ4ZjVa8
How about the big dog, Danny Macaskill...
And of course, Aaron Chase, Jeff Lenosky, Brandon Semenuk, Sam Pilgrim,
Hell, even Von Williams, Randy Spangler, Bobby Root
Damn, this legends thing could get a bit intense
but I'd say Bearclaw and Aaron Chase were pretty influential in the Freeride/Slopestyle scene~ I suppose that's the thing, the sport has become so diverse these days, it's hard to cram all the different branches in