A Glimpse into the Beginning of Mountain Biking- the Klunkerz of Marin County, California

• Posted on 10 July 2025

Charlie Kelly and his buddies essentially created the sport of Mountain Biking in Marin County in the 1970’s, exploring the hills on modified beach cruisers they called “Klunkerz”. They would descend one particular fire road that was so steep that the coaster brake would burn up the grease in the hub and they would have to repack them with grease. They named this fire road “Repack” and Charlie would later go on to promote the “Repack Downhill Race”. Charlie would eventually go into business with Gary Fisher and Tom Ritchey and develop the concept of the modern mountain bike along with Joe Breeze.

It is a cool, clear morning in Northern California, but the five young men are sweating profusely as they push strangely modified bicycles up the steep hill. They are discussing the dirt road surface, which resembles a moonscape more than it does a road, and as they push their machines one or another will kick a rock to one side or fill a small depression with dirt.

These young men belong to the same breed that skis down cliffs, jumps out of airplanes, or rides skateboards down Everest; they have developed their own unique athletic challenge, a race which is known only to a few dozen locals and is referred to as "Repack." The road they are on is the racecourse.

After 35 minutes of hard climbing, scrambling and pushing, the five reach the top of the hill, where the road they are on intersects another rarely used fire road. There they are met by another fifteen or so riders, including a couple of high-energy ladies, who have taken a route only slightly easier to the top. The road becomes a tangled jumble of modified machinery as riders pile their bikes around the intersection.

Most of the crowd are in their twenties, but there are a few teenagers and one bearded individual who claims to be fifty, although no one believes him. All are wearing heavy shirts and pants and most are wearing leather gloves and vibram soled boots.

There seems to be a little method to this madness, however, as one of the group drags a very well-thumbed notebook out of a backpack along with a pair of electronic stopwatches. This notebook is the heart of the race, since it contains all previous race results as well as the phone numbers of all the local riders. (Races are not scheduled; they are held only when the cosmic alignment is right.) Names are taken and numbers are assigned according to experience. First time riders and those with slow previous times are numbered first and the fastest are numbered last; each rider is then assigned a starting time, which is duly noted. A copy of the list is made and the watches are started simultaneously. One copy of the list and one of the watches is given to a scruffy looking "official timer" who then jumps on his machine and vanishes downhill. 

For the next ten minutes or so the adrenaline content of the air increases noticeably as riders eat oranges, make minor adjustments, and talk excitedly among themselves. Finally the first name on the list is called and a nervous young man wheels up to the starting line, which is scraped across the road in the dirt. This is his first time down the course and he spends his last few seconds at the top asking questions about the course and not listening to the answers. 

"Ten seconds...five seconds." The novice is so anxious that he applies full power a little early; however the starter has a firm grip on the rear wheel and releases it as he says, "Go!" The novice is thrown off-balance by his early start and wobbles for the first few yards before finding the throttle and disappearing over the first rise. 

"While the Repack race seems to define the essence of clunking, it is completely unique and is only one facet of the sport. Most Clunker riders are interested primarily in riding, rather than racing. In Northern California there is ample hill country, laced with fire roads and trails which are as good as freeways to Clunker riders. This is where the Clunker comes into its own, for these are not just downhill machines. Super-low gears enable a strong rider to climb most hills, and the true enthusiast sees nothing wrong with spending an hour pushing his bike up a steep hill in order to come flying down. The Clunker allows the rider to penetrate deeply into the hills, away from cars and most hikers. The ability to travel at 10-15 mph in total silence in rough country makes the Clunker the most effective backwoods transportation yet invented. It can be ridden on the narrowest hiking trails or carried if necessary over any obstacle.

The sport that is going on here may never catch on with the American public, and its originators couldn't care less. They are here to get off. The bicycles in use are as unique as the sport; they are usually old Schwinns, although a few other rugged species are included. Highly modified, most are five- or ten-speeds with front and rear drum brakes, motorcycle brake levers, motocross bars, and the biggest knobby tires available. A few reactionaries still cling to their one or two speed coaster brake machines, but drum brakes and ten speeds seem to be the wave of the future. The machines are referred to as Clunkers, Bombers or Cruisers, depending on the owner's local affiliation, and there are probably not more than a few hundred of the advanced models in California." - Charlie Kelly, 1979

It started innocuously enough. A motorcyclist turned bikie discovered the old dirt road west of Fairfax, Marin County, in the early ‘70s. He and his buddies would ride or push their 1930s or ‘40s ballooners to the top of the ridge for the downhill thrill. The road plummeted 1300 feet in less than 2.1 miles. On the twisting, sometimes precipitous decent, the bikes’ antiquated hub coaster brakes would get so hot that the grease would vaporize. After a run or two, the hub had to be repacked with new grease (thus the term “Repack”).

Repack Road had been a popular downhill for a couple or three years, but whenever you get a bunch of competitive types together, someone is going to claim they are the fastest. And eventually people will want proof. With Alan Bonds’ encouragement, Fred Wolf and Charlie Kelly founded Repack, the race. They decided on a time-trial format, got a Navy chronometer and an alarm clock set a date and spread the word locally.

On October 21, 1976, ten local riders showed up to test their mettle. When the dust had cleared Alan Bonds was declared the victor. He was the only one who hadn’t crashed.

The race became a magnet for riders from all around the Mt Tamalpais area. So eager were they to compare handling skills on the treacherous course, the first nine Repack races were held on the average of one a week.

Racers and spectators would meet in downtown Fairfax, CA. Many would load their bikes into the back of waiting trucks for a lift up a paved road to the 1000-foot level. From there they road their bikes on dirt the last 2 miles, climbing the remaining 500 feet.

The start line was on an open ridge on the east face of Pine Mountain, with expansive views of Mt. Tam, Marin and San Francisco Bay. In this inspiring setting, riders chatted about the past week’s or month’s new bike discoveries and developments.

Riders were sent off individually at two-minute intervals. To build suspense, the fastest riders from previous races would go last. As the pack at the top dwindled, a hush would fall over the remaining riders waiting for their start.

"I for one, with about ten minutes to go, would seek solitude to visualize the courses’ many turns and adjust the pressure of my old UniRoyal Knobby tires to suit the conditions. I had fitted my 45-pound Schwinn Excelsior with 26 x 7 (vintage one-inch pitch) gearing.

Once on the start line Charlie Kelly, timer in hand, would hold my rear wheel until the last second. I’d lunge forward, driving all my weight on the pedals to produce enough momentum to help me muscle the tall gear over a slight rise 5o yards out. From there it was all downhill and speed.

The road is littered with in-line gullies, blind and off-camber turns, and the occasional cluster of head-size rocks. Knowing the road beyond each turn was key. I had made mental notes of landmarks such as geology, flora, and past mistakes. Among the latter were Danger “X” and Breeze Tree (whose moniker wasn’t earned as harshly as Vendetti’s Face)." - Joe Breeze

The course rolls quickly down the ridge to the steep final face, which has a series of four switchbacks. These steep sharp turns, especially Camera Corner, would be lined with spectators. Then it’s a final straightaway; another blind turn, across the finish line, and into a big Franz Klammer slide.

While race times were calculated, the throng would exchange stories of the day’s near misses, and chat more about the bikes.

The rain begins to fall on the seeds; a sport, mountain biking, is born. Repack was a crucial event in the development of mountain biking. Here for the first time, Mt Tamalpais Bikers were all drawn together on a regular basis to share their stories and share their ideas about the new bike. This cross-pollination of ideas spurred the bike’s evolution and solidified the sport.

Racing generated new excitement and an event to focus on. Racer and reporter Owen Mulholland spread the word out of Marin with his story “California bikies are mountainside surfing, in VeloNews, February 10, 1978.” Then in January 1979, San Francisco’s KPIX-TV shot a segment for its “Evening Magazine” show, (can be seen at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame’s Museum in Crested Butte), which aired around the country on CBS affiliates. In 1979, Charlie Kelly published a story in Outside Magazine. The word was out.

In all there were 24 Repack Races. Twenty-two of them were held from 1976 to 1979, mostly in the fall as the road-race season wound down.

"We had a pretty good run. After working out the bugs in our timing system over the first few races, I promoted five or six races each year, with prizes and posters for the last couple of years, and no entry fees. Despite the facts that all the local off-roaders knew about the race and that several of the racers were firefighters, the authorities never caught on, and we never had to deal with any sort of official presence interfering with the races. There were a lot of cuts and bruises and probably a few concussions because helmets were not required and hardly ever used, but the worst injury I remember seeing was a broken arm, fortunately not mine.

An entire generation of mountain bikers has grown up and worn out several bikes since those days, and few of them ever had the opportunity to ride a coaster-brake bike in the kind of scary terrain that we learned our skills on. There is simply no comparison between modern suspended bikes with hydraulic brakes and multiple gears, and the patched together, coaster-brake one-speeds that first conquered Repack. Now when I ride the same roads on modern equipment, it astonishes me that I survived all the rides I took on coaster brake bikes. Some of these hills are challenging enough even on modern dual-suspension bikes." - Charlie Kelly

There were also annual Klunker Awards Banquets to honor the year’s Repack winners. Among the winners were Gary Fisher, who posted the fastest time at 4:22. Joe Breeze had the second fastest time at 4:24 and the most wins, 10. Wende Cragg was the fastest woman with a 5:27. Otis Guy was awarded Fastest Fireman at 4:25. Alan Bonds’ dog Ariel got the prize for Fastest Dog.

After 1979, Repack’s organizers and racers focused increasingly on their own businesses, many of which focused on the new bikes. Mountain bikes were becoming lighter and more versatile. Emphasis shifted from downhill to cross-country exploration.

The last two Repack races, in 1983 and 1984, were a bit for old time’s sake. Scheduled in conjunction with the fledging NORBA National race circuit, they gave riders from outside the Bay Area a crack at the legendary course. Some of the sport’s first Pro riders raced in those final two Repacks.

After the 1984 race, Marin County land and water managers made it clear that Repack, the race, could be no more. There was little resistance; the race’s time had come and gone.

A list of Repack participants reads like a Who’s Who of mountain bike innovators and racers in California. Besides the oft named Marin County riders, there were Tom Ritchey (1979), Mike Sinyard (1983), Brian Skinner, Dan Hanebrink, Mike Jordan, David Wonderly, Joe Sloup, Jim Harlow, Steve Boehmke and Jimmy Deaton (winner in ‘83 and ‘84). Jammin’ Jimmy went on to a successful Pro career. Fairfax-born downhill ace Myles Rockwell was only 12 years old in 1984.

Twenty years almost to the day of the first Repack race mountain biking was included in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The Repack Downhill, vertical skateboarding and BMX all began at roughly the same time, the mid-seventies, and these California expressions of exuberance are the origin of what are now called Extreme Sports, leading to the "X-Games." 

Tom, Joe, Gary and the two Charlies.

Whether five of these guys–Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly, and Charlie Cunningham–took welding torches to their bikes to put them back together or to downhill-proof them for safer future riding is an open question. What is clear is that, step-by-step, they created an entirely new type of bicycle with these introductions from the motorcycle world:

- Strengthening the frame by making it even more triangular and reinforced in the joints.

- Strengthening the top of the fork by having it pass completely through the frame and connect to the stem.

- Adding a second brake, with a new design that could still work while very hot and be air cooled (disc brakes).

- Building springs into the front fork to absorb vibrations and shock impacts.

- Adding lower gearing for climbing back up hills.

This new style of bike needed a name of its own, and in a typically non-sensical way that seemed like a good idea at the time, these guys called them “clunkers” or “klunkers”. Charlie Kelly started the “Repack Downhill Clunker” race series down Mt Tam, with prizes and increasing hordes of new downhillers who eventually didn’t have to repack their smoking hubs anymore because the grease wasn’t burning off since the advent of disc brakes.

This was a new sport where denim was cooler than Spandex. All those new riders needed new bikes, and a cottage industry was born.

- Tom Ritchey, who later invented the more famous and portable Richey breakaway bike, was among the first to ramp up with the Ritchey 1.

- Joe Cunningham developed the first wide-tire drop-bar bikes for gravel use in 1978. (If only there were a slick marketing name for such a bike…)

- Charlie Kelly and Gary Fisher teamed up to sell their new bikes as MountainBikes, but that name went generic so quickly that they changed the name to Kelly-Fisher Mountain Bikes.

The big Kahunas step in (mostly successfully).

It wasn’t long before Specialized became the first mass-produced mountain bike that perfectly captured the aura of the moment in their broad-market advertising for the StumpJumper: “It’s not just a new bicycle. It’s a whole new sport.”

With the right name, the category took off by 1986, Trek and Cannondale had jumped on board in a big way, and millions of mountain bikes were being sold around the world. In the US, mountain bikes were outselling road bikes, even after the US road cycling craze of the 70’s.

MTB innovation continues.

Today, while the road bike world increasingly focuses just on reducing grams and tracking watts, the world of mountain biking continues to be a hotbed of innovation, including full suspension, dropper posts, streamlined gearing, flat resistance and more.

"Invention is the mother of necessity. The groundbreakers who revolutionized the sport of cycling unwittingly tapped into a deep-seated need to connect with the great outdoors. A human powered, portable means of escaping into the wild for quiet moments of reflection or a hearty workout, the mountain bike transformed our perception of possibilities. “Away from the cars, cops and concrete” was our credo for years, employed in all our ventures. The stunning environment of the Bay Area was a focal point in our attraction to explore further, and venture we did. North, south, east, west. Our travels were well documented on film and to this day testify to the unique embodiment of a culture generated by a childlike fascination with the simple joy of soaring, physically and emotionally. It was all doable, and we did it." - Wende Cragg

In our opinion? Get out there and ride whatever bike you have and rip it up.