Reason 3: The Work of Dave Minor Et al

There are just so many unsung heroes of mountain biking. Dave Minor is one of those. In 1994 I had the experience of working as a BLM volunteer in the Sand Flats Recreation Area (which includes Moab's Slick Rock). By that time Dave had passed away and I worked with Alex Van Hemert. I never met Dave, but his legacy had a massive impact on me. Dave was the recreation coordinator for the BLM at Moab. His pioneering work on recreational facilities around Moab, had a formative impact on the development of mountain biking. Porcupine Rim, Jackass Canyon and all the other trails in the area bring back so many memories from the time I spent there. I learnt a lot at Moab and tried to emulate that work in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. There has been some success, but, nothing as spectacular as the legacy left by guys such as Dave Minor and Alex. Maybe the Specialized Trail Crew can give me another bite at trying to build on the work of these pioneers, through new trail development in South Africa. Everybody refers to people such as Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher and Tom Ritchey as being the fathers of mountain biking. I think they’re wrong, because there are so many mountain biking heroes. The real heroes are the ones who have tirelessly and unselfishly donated massive amounts of time in establishing the thousands of miles of cycle paths and trails throughout the world. Those are the real heroes and we need to be building on their work and providing more support mechanisms for them! Mountain biking is not about the racer boy heroes. The future of the sport is really about the trail builders!