1990 Durango Worlds Revisited

Via a link posted off RetroBIKE, pointing towards MountainBike Action - a great series of articles written by Zapata Espinoza - reflecting on the 1990 UCI World Championship held in Durango, Colorado. A great look back into the early days of mountain biking, with Ned Overend and Greg Herbold assisting for the retro ride.

I started riding mountain bikes in 1984 and have watched the sport progress to where it sits today. In a lot of ways, the '90s were the heyday of mountain bike racing. It was a great time of colorful riders, increasing sponsorship dollars, media attention, and rapidly changing technology - especially in the suspension arena. Was it better back then? Sounding like cranky old guy, yeah, in some ways it was.

I was also involved with motorcycle motocross during the '70s and it was a similar vibe. This "thing" was just past the infant stage, starting to blow up and get really cool. Both scenes had an overflow of interesting folks and developing technology. I'm really glad I was part of both worlds and have some great memories from each front.

If you were riding mountain bikes during that era and/or were a race fan, you'll enjoy the stories and pictures. If all of this was before your time aboard two wheels hitting dirt, you may get a kick (or laugh) out of what mountain bike technology was about in 1990. Pic above as example: Don Myrah on the Fat Chance, rocking the toe straps and Campy gear. Almost brings a tear to my old school eyes for many reasons.

Link to 1st article here. 2nd article here. 3rd article here. 4th article here. 5th article here.

Enjoy. No need to live in the past, but certainly fun to visit occasionally.