So Long, Charlie

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The cycling world, and the mountain biking community, lost a legend a couple days ago when Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Charlie Cunningham succumbed to injuries suffered during an accident on a bike ride with his wife, fellow MTBHOF’er Jacquie Phelan. He was 77. Born in Fairfax, CA, he was one of the riders present at Mt. Tamalpais, the birthplace of the sport; Cunningham is credited as being one of the inventors of mountain biking, and he made several key contributions to the activity: Cunningham invented tubular-style fork crowns; the now-standard 135mm lower-dish rear wheels; and came up with the linear spring that became standard on most V-brakes. He was also the cofounder of WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes - I once had a WTB saddle that I loved. I rode it until it finally started falling apart.) Cunningham raced mountain bikes professionally, as well as functioning as a custom aluminum bike frame builder (his bikes, according to Wikipedia, could cost six times as much as a comparable custom steel frame, but were also guaranteed for life.) If you’ve ever ridden a mountain bike, Charlie Cunningham was one of the people that made that activity possible. So long, Charlie. Thank you for providing me with decades of fun! Link: Charlie and Jacquie’s video postcard to a sick friend: