Lifestyling on a MTBike

Common understanding has it that innovations are developed by some geek in a garage or a highly funded R&D team from a big corporate that has an understanding of what the consumer wants. Not so in the case of mountain biking! The mountain bike (MTB) as we know it today is an innovation that derived from the user or consumer. In the 1980’s a small group of cyclists in northern California wanted to take their bikes off-road. The traditional drop-handlebar road bike was not suitable, nor was ‘Dad’s’ bike with its raised bars. So these cyclists decided to put together the lighter frame of a road bike and its gearing system with the more upright position of raised bars and the brake system of a motorbike to form what was known for years as a ‘klunker’. This innovation was ignored by the traditional bike manufacturers for many years, and it was only about five years later that they took up this innovation in what now represents about 65-70% of the bike market in America!

Similarly, it took teenagers to discover the real value of text messaging and social networking to explode the mobile telephone technology, and Wikipedia to reveal the potential of collaboration on the internet.

MTBiking has a history deeply embedded in both collaboration and innovation that is driven by the user. Yes there has been an impact by commercialization and the formal acceptance of MTBiking as a recognized international sport form, but its true strength lies in those cyclists that love the lifestyle that it embraces. Thousands of kilometers of track have been opened worldwide by MTBiking enthusiasts for common usage and enjoyment. We here in Namibia are no different, and it is the work of a small group of cyclists that have opened trails in Windhoek, Swakopmund. Omaruru and elsewhere that allow off-road enthusiasts the opportunity to enjoy MTBiking to its fullest extent.

As we enjoy our outdoor interests let us not forget those people, and give them our full support and cooperation in securing access for our mutual benefit.