Address: 1966 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax, CA 94930 - The Museum is open 11am - 5pm, Thursday through Sunday.

The Cupertino Riders

The Cupertino RidersThe Morrow Dirt Club was a band of early day mountain bikers from Cupertino, California, 50 miles south of Marin County. it was over 20 years ago at a Marin county, cycle-cross race, December 1, 1974, that these fellows were noticed by the pioneer Marinites.

The Cupertino riders showed up at the starting line on old Schwinns with multi-speeds, thumbshift-operated derailleurs, and motorcycle lever-operated drum brakes. It was the first time that hall of famer Charlie Kelly had ever seen derailleurs grafted to ballooners. there at the base of Mt. Tamalpais the morrow dirt club pollinated the still one-speed Marin fat-tire scene. then they vanished!

After Joe Breeze and Charlie Kelly’s many attempts to find these men, they re-surfaced by chance in 1994. A mason was working on a house foundation for another hall of famer, Tom Ritchey, and noticed Tom’s more than casual interest in mountain bikes. He mentioned that he knew the first person who put derailleurs on fat tire bikes. Tom, thinking he meant Gary Fisher, didn’t think much of it. The following year, a man named Russ Mahon sent Tom Ritchey a big envelope. In it were press clippings and photos of Mahon and his buddies at the infamous 1974 cyclo-cross race as well as some interesting correspondence. Tom immediately called Joe Breeze who was able to help him piece the puzzle together.

The Morrow Dirt Club was created in 1972 as a way for Russ and friends to explore the off-roads of their coastal mountains and partake in exhilarating downhills. It never grew beyond the original ten participants in the Cupertino area. The ringleader was Russ Mahon, followed closely by Carter Cox. the others were Bernie Mahon, Tom Cox, Steve Mallet, Bill Hanna, Joe Prater, Greg True, Tim Secrest, and Kathy Mahon.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Explore Other Inductees

Tarek Rasouli

A pioneer of freeride, Tarek Rasouli has garnered global influence on the sport of mountain biking akin to 2010 Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductees “The Froriders”—Richie Schley, Wade Simmons and Brett Tippie. ...

Hans Rey

Hans “No Way” Rey aka Hansjörg was born 4 June 1966 in Kenzingen/Germany. Rey is a pioneer in mountain bike trials and extreme mountain biking also known as Freeride / “Freeriding“. Rey began riding in the late 70s. Since 1987, ...

Mark Slate

Web Site: www.wtb.com A Brief Autobiography Related to Bicycles – by Mark Slate Off-road cycling began for me in 1971 on the fire protection roads of Mount Tamalpais. Several fast, steep descents on a Schwinn Ten Speed at the ragged ...

Zapata Espinoza

Zapata Espinoza, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz, worked for LA Weekly Magazine in the mid 1980s, writing articles on local politics. In 1985, he began working for Hi-Torque Publications, initially on its Motocross Action magazine. From 1986 to 1993, ...

Dean Crandall

DEAN CRANDALL is a pioneer in officiating at mountain bike races and helped develop the rules and regulations for the USCF, NORBA, the World Mountain Bike Championships and the UCI. Dean has served as a member of the USCF Board ...

Robert Gregorio

“Bicycle Bob” Gregorio I first met Bob in 1979 at the Four Faces bike shop in Durango, Colorado. At that time I was a student at FLC and an aspiring roadie. Bob and a fellow named Forrest Yelverton, who would ...