ABOUT
First came the road race. It became the rage of the late 1800s, after the invention of the bicycle and before the invention of the car. Then came track racing. It was part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, even though it looks space-age in its truly modern form. Then came mountain biking.
Mountain biking debuted in the Games in 1996 at Atlanta. The sport was about 40 years old then, if you date it back to the university student who first stripped down his bicycle, converted it and headed for the hills in 1953. The sport was just 20 years old, though, if you date it back to the first organised competition outside San Francisco.
The members of the Velo Club Mount Tamalpais generally receive the credit for establishing mountain biking as a sport. They invented the Repack Downhill race, held regularly between 1976 and 1979 just across the famed Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The races attracted riders from near and far, and the media soon followed.
It was a cool sport, a fringe sport. By 1990, it had turned into a truly professional sport, complete with World Championships. Now, it came back at the Atlanta 1996 Games.
COMPETITION
Cross-country sees the riders riding over what is usually a very hilly, sometimes mountainous course, usually on natural terrain. They may need to manoeuvre over trees, branches, rocks and streams.
Men race between 40 and 50 kilometres, and women cover 30 to 40km. The exact distances are decided the night before the race, when officials ponder the weather conditions and aim for an optimum finishing time of two hours and 15 minutes for the top man, two hours for the top woman. The course is set so men complete six to seven laps and women race five to six.
First came the road race. It became the rage of the late 1800s, after the invention of the bicycle and before the invention of the car. Then came track racing. It was part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, even though it looks space-age in its truly modern form. Then came mountain biking.
Mountain biking debuted in the Games in 1996 at Atlanta. The sport was about 40 years old then, if you date it back to the university student who first stripped down his bicycle, converted it and headed for the hills in 1953. The sport was just 20 years old, though, if you date it back to the first organised competition outside San Francisco.
The members of the Velo Club Mount Tamalpais generally receive the credit for establishing mountain biking as a sport. They invented the Repack Downhill race, held regularly between 1976 and 1979 just across the famed Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. The races attracted riders from near and far, and the media soon followed.
It was a cool sport, a fringe sport. By 1990, it had turned into a truly professional sport, complete with World Championships. Now, it came back at the Atlanta 1996 Games.
COMPETITION
Cross-country sees the riders riding over what is usually a very hilly, sometimes mountainous course, usually on natural terrain. They may need to manoeuvre over trees, branches, rocks and streams.
Men race between 40 and 50 kilometres, and women cover 30 to 40km. The exact distances are decided the night before the race, when officials ponder the weather conditions and aim for an optimum finishing time of two hours and 15 minutes for the top man, two hours for the top woman. The course is set so men complete six to seven laps and women race five to six.
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