Crested Butte 40th Year Reunion

[Repack Rider]

Next month marks 40 years since Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Wende Cragg, Mike Castelli and I traveled a thousand miles expecting to see another enclave of proto-mountain bikers. We found nothing of the sort.

Here is my contemporaneous account (http://www.sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/crested_butte.htm), written before I had ever had my work published.

Here is the article in Co-Evolution Quarterly (http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/ckimages/Co_Evo_1978.pdf), the first ever published about the new sport, that led us to believe we had doppelgangers.

I was asked to attend this year's celebration, but the ride was tough enough when I was 40 years younger and raced bicycles, and I declined. So they sent me the airline ticket. Now I have to go, traveling with Joe Breeze and son Tommy.

Some photos of that 1978 event turned up recently, which I had not seen. Here we are at the end of the ride in Aspen, Joe and I wearing Velo Club Tamalpais jerseys, Gary wearing a Team USA jersey.

Check out the sheer useless junk the locals were riding.

[oliver1850]

I remember 1978, but don't recall short stubby Budweisers.

Glad to hear you are going, have fun.

[sfghbiker]

this is great. I hope you have a good time. I would wear that Velo Club Tamalpais jersey if I could fine one. still looks good 40 years on.

[DrSpoke]

I was living in Aspen in 1978 which is where I learned to ride road bikes. But it wasn't until I moved to San Diego in '80 and Specialized made the first Stumpjumper a couple of years later that I discovered mtn bikes. Just a few years too late. Still riding both.

[Repack Rider]

Not going to tell the story here, it's too long and I plan to sell it to a magazine anyway, but last weekend Joe Breeze and I were the sole representatives of the 1978 Crested Butte to Aspen tour to make the 40th anniversary celebration.

Crowd was small, weather and scenery awesome.

[Johnnysmooth]

Great pix and equally good story - reading btw lines.
All from my home haunts - know area well but have done far more backpacking, hiking and back country skiing than mtb

[RFC]

Fantastic photos. Thanks! Are those the Maroon Bells in the background? How do you get through / around them?

[hummus_aquinas]

You rule, CK!!!

[yakstone]

I drank my share of those short stubby Budweiser’s. Crested Butte is still one of the MTB Mecca’s!

[Mikej]

Cool