The Beginning of CamelBak

(Pic HT: CamelBak, http://www.camelbak.com/Sports-Recreation/About-Us/Our-Story.aspx)

In Performance Bike‘s most recent newsletter, they referenced the beginnings of CamelBak.  I was intrigued, so I followed up and sure enough the beginnings of the hydration pack for CamelBak started with an IV bag and a 1980’s sock.

Bicycle enthusiast, Michael Eidson, is competing in the “Hotter’N Hell 100.” And that’s exactly what it is: a 100-mile road race in the grueling summer heat of Wichita Falls, Texas. Water is vital to surviving the race, and there are few places to refill a water bottle. Eidson, an emergency medical technician by trade, decides to fill an IV bag with water and slip it into a white tube sock. Yes, a tube sock. Then he stuffs the contraption into the back of his bike jersey, throws the thin hose over his shoulder and clamps it with a clothespin.

Read here to learn more.

What Is Mountain Biking?

Sykose.com has provided a nice write up of the history and application of mountain biking.  Although, it only interacts with sources up until 2011 and leaves out more recent developments such as the new XX1 component set and the rise of the Fatbike subculture, this article lays a good foundation of how far mountain biking has come since 1966.

The history of the mountain bike includes contributions from cyclo-cross in Europe and the Roughstuff Fellowship[1] in the UK. The name “mountain bike” first appeared in print in 1966 as “mountain bicycle”. The mountain bike was a modified heavy cruiser bicycle used for freewheeling down mountain trails. The sport became popular in the 1970s in Marin county, California, USA. The 2007 documentary film, Klunkerz: A Film About Mountain Bikes, looks at this period of off-road cycling in detail. However, it was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s that road bicycle companies started to manufacture mountain bicycles using high-tech lightweight materials, such as M4 aluminum. The first mass production mountain bike was the Specialized Stumpjumper, first produced in 1981.[2] Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, mountain biking moved from a little-known sport to a mainstream activity complete with an international racing circuit and a world championship.

Read full article at Sykose.com.

Happy Birthday John Kemp Starley

I am fairly new to biking, but I discovered that today is an important day for the bicycling world.  Thanks Singletrack Magazine for posting this today,

“The Bicycle Association of Great Britain is leading the celebrations for today’s birthday of John Kemp Starley, the creator of the 1885 Safety bicycle which is the archetype for most of today’s bicycles. Born on 14th December 1854, JK Starley’s creation led to an 1890s bicycle boom, with the Rover Safety bicycle exported around the world.” –

The entire article is very enlightening and it is amazing the advancement of the modern bicycle over the last 127 years.  Read a more extensive write up here, http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/jkstarley/ and maybe put the rubber to the ground this weekend in honor of John Kemp Starley.