Mountain Biking (Mountain bicycling) is a form of cycling which uses very sturdy bicycles with (usually) straight handlebars and wide tires. Mountain biking takes place off-road. It encompasses both competetive racing and purely recreational cycling. The remainder of this article focusses principally on the sporting (i.e. racing) side of this activity.
This sport originated in the United States, where young men left common roads or defined cyclocross circles and tried to travel on wild off-road ways especially through real nature. Although the first thing to say about mountain bike racing is that it need not take place on a mountain (a range of terrain, from remote alps to city parks) for common biking mountain countries and special bikes are preferred.

The start of this sport is situated near to the end of 1970s when the first special bikes were constructed. The first mountain bike (MTB) was produced probably by Gary Fisher in 1979. His motto was (and is): "All work and no game is no good".

Significant departure of mountain biking from established traditions in cycle racing is its focus on equipment, material and design. A marketplace fascination with technology played an integral role in the rapid growth of the mountain bike industry, and the race circuit always provides an ideal testing ground for new products. Therefore there are a large number of bike producers e.g. Gary Fisher, Trek, Cannondale, Scott, Giant, Schwinn and Specialized.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) recognised this sport relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Purgatory, Colorado. The first mountain biking world cup series took place in 1991. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents - Europe and North America - and was sponsored by Grundig. In 1992, the Grundig-UCI world cup circuit expanded to ten races, and remained a trans-Atlantic series. Cross-country racing was the only world cup sport at this time, then in 1993 a six-event downhill world cup was introduced. In 1996, cross country mountainbiking events were added to the Olympic Games

In 1988 the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame was founded, to chronicle the history of mountain biking, and to recognize the individuals and groups that have contributed significantly to this sport.

There are several basic kinds of race:

Cross-country - (XC) cross-country racing is held on a circuit, normally 6-8 km around. It is a massed-start race and riders are not permitted any external mechanical assistance. This means they have to carry their own means of making any repairs that may be necessary. The result of this rule has been to increase the durability of products available on the open market, as well as to the sports elite.
Downhill - (DH) downhill racing is a time trial event. Riders start at intervals that can vary from 30 seconds to three minutes-depending on the stage of the competition - and the rider with the lowest time wins.
Dual Slalom - (DS) this ski-inspired event pits two riders against each other on the same course, and the first across the line wins. The contest has a knock-out format. It can be set-up as two identical tracks side-by-side with the same jumps and berms, with a rider on each track.
Four Cross - (4X) inspired by the dual-slalom format and by BMX racing, this event pits 4 riders on the same course from starting gates to finish. There can only be one winner per event, so the races can quickly eliminate riders making the progression faster for a day's events. This is the reason it was chosen as the race-format to replace Dual-Slalom by NORBA, the US National race authority.

A Family Biking Adventure on Angel Island
By Kathy Krebs-Dean
Copyright 2003, all rights reserved

"Does the island look like an angel? Is that why they call it Angel Island?," my daughter Zoë, age 7, eagerly asks as we roll our bikes off the ferry. No one in our party of nine, all of us long-term Bay Area residents, knows the answers to these questions, so we set off to find out, adding an educational dimension to our two-family bike adventure.

We find a park ranger ready to field questions and assist visitors. We soon learn that Angel Island is named after the Catholic feast day for Our Lady of the Angels, which coincided with the arrival of Spanish Naval Lt. Juan Manuel de Ayala in August, 1775. He was on a mission to develop descriptions of the bay for other Spanish ship captains.

With this piece of history cleared up, we are ready to climb upwards from Ayala Cove in the direction of the Angel Island Immigration Station, the processing and detainment center for hundreds of thousands of immigrants ­ mostly Chinese, but also Japanese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Russian, and Australian ­ from 1882 to 1943. Along with Camp Manzanar, where many Japanese Americans were interned during World War II, the immigration station is one of only two Asian-American historical sites registered as national historic landmarks, a status it obtained only four years ago.

Touring the Island by Bike with Children

The initial ascent is challenging, especially for novice bicyclists like our children.
Alice, age 6, defeats all odds, muscling her way up the hill with a heavy, one-speed, pink sparkly bike, as Frieda, her mother, wisely rides nearby with words of encouragement. With relief, I watch as Zoë also hammers her way up the steep grade, struggling, yet deftly using the "granny gears" on her mountain bike. Knowing that she is going to make it, I concentrate on making it to the top with 1-year-old Piper strapped in a bike seat behind me. The baby throws my center of gravity off a bit, but I manage.

Meanwhile, the preschoolers, Hunter and Julian, both age 4, are gliding along, supremely content, unaware of the huge caloric expenditures taking place around them. Julian rides in a bike trailer behind his dad, Erik. Hunter is "motoring" along, attached to his dad Mark's bike on a tag-along (a.k.a. trail-a-bike) ­ a small bicycle that mounts to the back of a larger adult bike, allowing children to travel anywhere an adult goes, not as mere passengers, but as active pedaling participants.

At the top, we eagerly drink water and take a moment to rest and reflect. Climbing 200 feet is a momentous event, especially for Alice and Zoë. Angel Island is a hilly, grass- and forest-covered island, its elevation peaking at 750 feet on the top of Mount Livermore. We stay on the main five-mile loop, riding a gentle, paved roller coaster of ups and downs. We pass curious remnants of old abandoned buildings and catch spectacular blue-sky-framed views of the Bay, the Bay Bridge, the San Francisco skyline, Tiburon, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

At the top of another short, but steep, climb, we rest near Point Blunt at an overlook with a picture postcard view of the Golden Gate Bridge. There we meet Jan Zlotnick of Sebastopol, a veteran Angel Island biker, who is bringing Quincy, age 7, for his first ride on the island. Like Hunter, Quincy is riding in style on a tag-along.

The Zlotnicks are joined by Daphne and Sophia Beletsis (age 8) of Santa Rosa and Jeanette Lebell of Sebastopol. Their party has arrived from the opposite direction. Zlotnick, having done the ride many times before, feels it's easier on children to start off from the marina in a westerly route.

After exchanging information about other family-friendly off-road biking adventures in the Bay Area, we move on, searching for a great picnic spot. We find a solitary picnic table near Battery Drew next to what we think is a coyote bush with several furry black, orange, and white caterpillars crawling around, much to Hunter and Julian's delight.

Fully recharged, we move onward toward Camp Reynolds where a cannon is about to be blasted. We scurry down the gravel hill, passing a tree that is home to a curious raccoon. We meet up with a small group of other visitors who have gathered around. From a volunteer cannoneer dressed in a blue, turn-of-the-century Army uniform, we learn that Camp Reynolds was established in 1863 by the federal government, serving as an ammunitions battery, infantry camp, detention camp, and debarkation and discharge point for American troops. My husband Mark and six other men and boys volunteer to fire the cannon at the appropriate time as a squad.

Sensing that we have taken our children to their physical limits, we bypass many side trips ­ historical points of interest and beaches ­ that we will save for another day, and end on a high note, with smiles.

Similarly, Lucy Gigli and Dan Wood have opted to call it a day after riding up to the Immigration Station, where their children, Marisa, age 4, and Lorenzo, age 15 months, began feeling fussy. Behind them, their mountain bikes are sprawled on the ground. Attached are ideal pieces of equipment for this type of bike ride with young children: a lightweight bike trailer and a toddler bike seat.

Gigli is the founder of BikeAlameda, a nonprofit established in 1999 to advocate for safer roads for bicyclists and to encourage the use of bikes for transportation. Practicing what she preaches, the Gigli-Wood family rode their bikes from their home to the Blue and Gold Ferry terminal in Alameda. The ferry was great for children and easy to do with bicycles, they tell us.

I ask Gigli what advice she would give to other parents interested in taking this trip. She says, "You need to be in good shape and bring lots of water." Surprisingly, the island does have water fountains at points along the perimeter route, but, as Gigli suggests, it is best to have your own water handy.

Attractions at Ayala Cove

Back at Ayala Cove, we head for the Cove Café, where the selection of sandwiches, salads, and barbequed meats looks appetizing, but not what any of us crave after the hot, sweaty ride down the hill. Instead we opt for ice-cold beverages and Popsicles™. We rest our tired legs. Other families are relaxing on the nearby lawn; some are swimming in the cove and playing on the sandy beach.

I wander over to the Visitors' Center, which contains a small exhibit on Angel Island. In the back room, I am joined by Zoë and Hunter, and we catch a few minutes of Carved in Silence, a short documentary about the lives of thousands of Chinese who came through Angel Island's Immigration Station.

We listen to heartbreaking stories of Chinese immigrants who waited at the station for months or years, only to be sent back to China without ever placing a foot on mainland soil. They were subjected to exhaustive interrogations, humiliating physical examinations, and unprecedented discriminatory laws that sought to outlaw them.

The documentary's title refers to the forlorn poetry inscribed on the walls of barracks where immigrant hopesfuls were housed. For most of them, the island was a living hell on earth, rather than a place graced by angels.

Ferries and Jellies

We pull ourselves away from the film and rush to the ferry, which is docking. On the short ride back to Tiburon, we stand at the railing on the upper deck. Jellyfish float past like white, underwater parachute ghosts in the wake of the ferry, much to the enjoyment of Zoë and Alice. They count dozens of jellies.

We pass through the Raccoon Straits, where Coast Miwok once fished for salmon during annual spawning runs. They navigated in tule boats (lightweight reed canoes) from mainland Marin to Angel Island, where they hunted deer, ducks, seals, sea lions, and sea otters and gathered acorns, buckeyes, and seeds.

I find Capt. David Houghton deftly steering the ferry back to Tiburon, a 15-minute ride, and ask him about traveling to Angel Island in October. He tells me that the weather is usually still good that time of year, with little chance of fog. Dressing in layers, though, is advisable.
He also recommends, "Get here early. The ferry leaves on time." The Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry holds 400 people and about 80 bikes, enough that they rarely turn anyone away ­ as long as people are not late.
Back on dry land, we wheel our bikes onto the Tiburon dock. Our families are triumphant, for we logistically pulled off the ride, with toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children along. We make a mental note to upgrade Alice's heavy, steel 20-inch bike to a 24-inch, multi-gear-driven one for the next biking excursion. We will also bring a spare inner tube and a patch kit in case of a flat, which luckily wasn't an issue this time.

In the end, although we faced some challenging climbs, biking Angel Island made it possible for us cover more ground. We learned more about Angel Island's layered history, from the Coast Miwok to the Spanish, the U.S. military presence, and the Chinese immigrants whose fates were determined there. Best of all, we experienced the thrill and freedom of riding our bicycles in what is certainly one of the Bay Area's most scenic places.

Kathy Krebs-Dean, M.A., is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer, applied anthropologist, and mother of three children, Piper, age 1, Hunter, 4, and Zoë, 7. She specializes in family-centered adventures.

Autumn Family Biking Destinations

By Kathy Krebs-Dean
Copyright 2003, all rights reserved

Autumn is the perfect time to get into gear and enjoy some family bike riding. Here are some "tried and true" scenic and nature rides suggested by local biking experts and by parents.

Scenic Views
The San Francisco Bay Trail, Point Isabel to Miller/Knox Point, Richmond.

Like Angel Island, this is a stunning scenic ride, providing incredible views of the San Francisco skyline, Mt. Tamalpais, and the Golden Gate Bridge, but it is flat, requiring little technical skill. This section of the Bay Trail is vehicle-free. Lucy Gigli, founder and executive director of BikeAlameda, suggests starting out at Richmond's Point Isabel (take the Central Avenue exit off Hwy. I-80), near the famed dog park, where you and your kids will be treated to the sight of dogs of every size and shape. (The dogs are fenced off from the adjacent Bay Trail where you will be riding.) This is an "out and back" ride, so you choose the distance that is right for your family. If you go as far as the Shimada Friendship Park, that is about two miles. There is a restroom at the park.

If you are a bit more adventurous, like Bill Sparks of Berkeley's Missing Link Bicycle Store, the father of two young children, you can begin this ride at Aquatic Park in Berkeley. Park along Bolivar Drive between Addison and Bancroft and head north on Bolivar Drive. You will cross the newly built I-80 pedestrian and bicycle bridge as you head toward the marina. Cross University Avenue near the Sea Breeze Café (a great place to pick up some snacks and cold drinks). You will follow a nicely paved bike path along I-80 East until you get to Gilman Avenue. At Gilman, where the Golden Gate Fields race track is locatd, you'll ride west along the street, passing in front of the race track and through its parking lot. Watch out for cars and other traffic. There is a short climb. The view of the Golden Gate Bridge is awesome here.

Follow this route toward the Albany Bulb and follow the sidewalk heading east toward the I-80/580 interchange in Albany. At the interchange, stay to the left along the sidewalk. This will lead you along the shoreline, around the USPS Main Bulk Mail Center, to Point Isabel. To obtain a trail map, contact the ABAG (Assn. of Bay Area Governments) website, www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/baytrail, or call (510) 464-7900. The relatively new Aquatic Park playground in Berkeley is a delightful place to end this journey.

Inspiration Point, Berkeley.

Here's another family-friendly trail offering spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline. This paved trail is a bit more technical than the San Francisco Bay Trail because it does have some moderate hills and descents. It is a of favorite Berkeley mother Frieda Richenbach, whose 6-year old daughter, Alice, has done the ride with both a one-speed and a multi-gear bike.

Inspiration Point is high up on Tilden Park's Wildcat Canyon Road. Free parking is available at the entrance, but on weekends, the lot fills up quickly, so get there early. Contact the East Bay Regional Park District at (510) 562-PARK for more information, or see http://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden.htm.

Nature and Water Rides
Lafayette Reservoir, Lafayette.

Oak woodlands are featured on this paved, 2.7-mile EBMUD trail that loops around the Lafayette Reservoir. The trail has a couple of moderately challenging climbs and descents and some blind curves, so ride with caution, as the trail is also used by hikers, joggers, and parents pushing children in strollers. Terry Licalsi, senior ranger-naturalist, suggests that you bring exact change for parking: $5 for the pay machine, or quarters for the parking meter ($2 for two hours). There is a rustic children's play area with nearby picnic tables. Please note that biking is limited to Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday mornings from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The Lafayette Recreation Area is located off Highway 24, a mile from the Lafayette BART station. For more information, call (925) 284-9669 or visit the EBMUD website at http://www.ebmud.gov/

Lake Lagunitas, Fairfax.

Although the initial climb from the parking lot may seem daunting, this short ascent-about 75 to 100 yards-is as difficult as it gets. At the top, you will find a relatively flat fire road that loops around Lake Lagunitas. This peaceful ride has three small creeks shaded by redwoogroves and oak woodlands. It is recommended by Marlynn Price, the founder and director of Trips for Kids, a nonprofit organization that organizes mountain biking adventures for socially and economically disadvantaged youth (www.tripsforkids.org).

While the route is 99 percent "rideable," there are a couple of areas where children and parents may want to walk their bikes. Kacy May, watershed supervisor for 28 years, advises walking bikes along the east side of the dam, where there is a set of 20 rock stairs, and also up the step at the creek bridges. This trail is not suitable for bike trailers. The trail is part of the Marin Municipal Water District; trail maps are available at the Sky Oaks Ranger Station, (415) 459-5267. Parking is $5; bring the exact amount. The park is open from 7 a.m. until sunset.

Wine Country Ride
Joe Rodota Trail, Sebastopol. This 2.8-mile paved trail runs along an abandoned railroad line, taking you through vineyards and apple orchards, making it an ideal place for an autumn ride. It is located between the cities of Santa Rosa and Sebastopol and is a segment of the West County Trail. You can access it off Highway 12 on Merced Avenue or Petaluma Avenue in Sebastopol.

This route is recommended by Jan Zlotnic, Sebastopol resident and father of Quincy, age 7. Jan and Quincy do the ride using a tag-along trailer bike. There are no restrooms available. Be sure to bring lots of water. Parking is available on Merced Avenue or in the town of Sebastopol, next to the trail head located off Petaluma Avenue. For more information, log onto www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_rodta.htm, or call (707) 823-7262 or 565-2041.

Kathy Krebs-Dean, M.A., is a San Francisco Bay Area-based writer, applied anthropologist, and mother of three children, Piper, age 1, Hunter, 4, and Zoë, 7. She specializes in family-centered adventures.
Safety Tips and Other Useful Advice
Children tend to drift across to the middle or left side of the path when they are first learning how to ride on bike paths. Remind them to stay to the right and to pull completely over to the shoulder when stopping.
Teach your children to call out or ring a bell when passing other cyclists, pedestrians, roller bladders, etc.
Pack water and snacks for every person.
Every child (including passengers) under age 18 is required to wear a helmet. Berkeley residents can obtain free helmets from the City of Berkeley Health & Human Services Department, 2344 Sixth St.; call (510) 981-5356 for more information.

In the words of Walt Custer, a lifelong cyclist and one of the original Marin County mountain biking innovators of 1970s, "Don't push children. Be flexible about the length of the ride. Leave them with happy memories." Custer has spent decades introducing cycling to scores of people, guiding them to find the joy of cycling and to share it with others. He is a father and an active volunteer with the Bay Area's Trips for