The Original Goers
No Dabs, 3/5/24
When we are riding, we likely seldom think about the people who made the trail. Some of that trail-making history is rogue, people crafting trails and then maybe later asking for forgiveness. Today, that mentality is still alive, good or bad, or maybe somewhere in between.
Looking forward, we cannot lose sight of what is in the past. Of course, there are lessons learned, but also there are celebrations. Wherever those celebrations fall on the timeline, there are people hootin’ and hollerin’ and having a good time.
The OG’s are the ones I’m celebrating while thinking of those celebrations. There were people who looked at a bike and looked at a trail and said, let’s go there and do that. There were people who looked and saw no trail and said, let’s build one for bikes.
Despite the historians saying that those things first happened in northern California or central Colorado, with regard to the birth of mountain biking, I’ll argue that people have been riding bikes on trails and making trails for bikes all over the globe for quite a while, whether it be for recreation or getting to the fields to do work via pedaling two wheels down a pathway.
What makes it mountain biking?
In 2024, everyone has a say. Looking back, though, we need to simply give a little thanks and show appreciation for the OG’s, the Original Goers.
“Goers,” you ask?
Yep, as in, “one who goes.”
What we call mountain biking today certainly has commonalities with yesterday, but as we know, it has also vastly changed. The OG’s, the way I see it, had a vision, one that was about exploration and wandering and having fun, along with testing one’s mettle.
As winter rolls into spring and the light lingers longer into the night, let us remind ourselves of that “spirit” of yesteryore. It is not dead, yet.
No Dabs is a monthly column by James Murren that celebrates our mountain biking community and lifestyle.
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