Every year, the Marin Museum of Bicycling and the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame (MBHOF) inducts a handful of mountain bikers for their contributions to the sport. They include athletes, entrepreneurs, and advocates. This year, the MBHOF has inducted a new group of people, some we may know by name, and others we may know by what they’ve created.
The MBHOF said this is kind of the point, and including folks like Dafydd Davis, inducted last year, alongside popular riders like Julien Absalon and Rachel Atherton, is part of the organization’s mission.
“Addressing it (the diverse picks) underscores the mission of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, and speaks to some important changes we made to the selection process starting last year in order to ensure that we don’t overlook men and women whose contributions and influence far exceeded their notoriety.”
The MBHOF doesn’t include public voting to determine nominees, and now relies on a selection committee. The picks also include people who have worked behind the spotlight, rather than just the most famous mountain bikers. The MBHOF’s committee includes: Otis Guy, a 1993 inductee and pioneer MTB builder; Steve Blick, a 2008 inductee, athlete, and long-time industry veteran; Richard Cunningham, a 1995 inductee, MTB builder, designer, and journalist; Zapata Espinoza, the first MTB journalist inductee; Glen Jacobs, a 2015 inductee and World Cup, Olympic, and EWS course designer; Anka Martin, an athlete, advocate, and owner of Soul Trails; and Hans Rey, a HOF inductee and freeride pioneer.
This year, they didn’t have an induction ceremony, but the organization said that they’ll be back on October 7, 8, and 9 next year and will include the 2020 and 2021 inductees along with the 2022 inductees.
2021 Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Inductees
Rachel Atherton
Most people know Rachel Atherton if they’ve watched World Cup downhill at any point in the past several years. Atherton had a perfect season in 2016, winning seven of seven rounds, and has been challenging any and every promising female World Cup newcomer. Atherton is also a co-founder of Atherton Bikes, along with her brothers Gee and Dan.
Atherton battled with some injuries the past few years and has taken the 2021 season off since she was pregnant, and has invested more time in Atherton Bikes and Dyfi Bike Park. She’s a passionate advocate for women in mountain biking.
For her full story and accolades, visit the MBHOF page.
Darren Berrecloth
Darren Berrecloth, or Bearclaw, was an original freerider and freeride pioneer. Berrecloth grew up in North Vancouver, along with other freeride pioneers where the style of riding originated from. As time went on, Berrecloth became an icon for freeriding, starring in several films and competing regularly in the FMBA World Tour and Red Bull Rampage.
The MBHOF also notes that Berrecloth “created a successful business model for acquiring sponsors, expanding into video productions, and leveraging social media – a legacy that offered a road map for aspiring freeriders.” The rider also judges competitions, designs courses, and now has a video production company documenting freeride.
For his full story and accolades, visit the MBHOF page.
Radek Burkat
Radek Burkat emigrated from Poland to Canada, found mountain biking, and became a computer systems engineer. He didn’t know many other mountain bikers around that time in the late 90s, so he created a website, Pinkbike, to bring riders who wanted to document their trails, bikes, and riding.
Eventually, that website has grown into a mountain bike media behemoth bringing tens of millions of people to Pinkbike and his mapping app, Trailforks. Radek sold both Pinkbike and Trailforks to Outside this year at age 57.
For his full story and accolades, visit the MBHOF page.
Dave Cullinan
Dave Cullinan is another inductee who many might not be familiar with, but his story is inspiring. Cullinan started racing dual slalom and downhill in the late 80s, taking home several NORBA titles.
At a practice run at the 1993 World Champs in Metabief, France, Cullinan unknowingly tore his aorta, says MBHOF. Months later, he had to have an emergency open-heart surgery. He went back and forth between medical appointments and races and kept competing with his heart condition. Many in the industry credit him for helping drive the evolution in mountain bike technology.
For his full story and accolades, visit the MBHOF page.
Dave Kelly and Rob McSkimming
Dave Kelly and Rob McSkimming were responsible for some of the first trails at the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, which Whistler Blackcomb eventually adopted and grew into the most notable lift-served bike park in the world. The park, MBHOF argues, has catalyzed mountain bike tourism and lift-served riding, became a hotbed for mountain bike culture, history, and athletes, and spun off trail building businesses like Gravity Logic and some of the biggest mountain bike competitions like Crankworx.
For their full story and accolades, visit the MBHOF page.
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