Don't Miss The Ceremony! Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Announces Inductees

It’s official! The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame has announced the “Class of 2016” – five individuals will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame on October 1 at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California.

Earlier this year, the MBHOF Nominating Committee chose eight candidates from numerous submitted nominations. Members of the MBHOF Members voted to elect four inductees from this final eight. On July 19, four days after voting closed, MBHOF nominee Jeff Archer was killed by a motorist while crossing the street in Statesville. The Nominating Committee and Marin Museum of Bicycling board have chosen to honor Jeff’s life-contribution to mountain biking by adding him to the inductee class of 2016.

The MBHOF induction ceremonies will be held in Fairfax for the first time. It kicks off with an evening reception at the Marin Museum of Bicycling, Friday, September 30. The next day, Mountain Bike Hall of Famers will lead rides on and around Mt Tamalpais, birthplace of the sport. The induction ceremony will take place the evening of October 1, with a dinner at the Marin Museum of Bicycling. Tickets and a specific schedule of events will be on the Marin Museum of Bicycling website.

The inductee-elects are:

Matt Fritzinger, founder of U.S. high school mountain bike racing
Missy Giove, one of mountain bike racing’s first mainstream female superstars
Hank Barlow, founder of Mountain Bike Magazine in 1985
Roman Urbina, godfather of multi-day MTB races and La Ruta de los Conquistadores
Jeff Archer, founder of Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology (MOMBAT)

Matt Fritzinger founded the NorCal High School Cycling League in 2001 and the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) in 2009. His efforts have resulted in nearly 10,000 student-athletes and 3,500 coaches participating in interscholastic mountain bike racing in 2016. The numbers are anticipated to double by 2020. Through Matt’s vision, passion and tireless work, U.S. mountain biking is experiencing the largest resurgence in its history. Mountain bike racing is now a recognized, national interscholastic sport.

Missy Giove was one of mountain-bike racing’s first mainstream female superstars. She is the all-time leader in National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) downhill wins with 14, and is fourth on the World Cup list with 11. Giove’s other accomplishments include three overall NORBA downhill crowns, two World Cup overall wins, and the 1994 world championship title. Missy won an X Games Gold in Dual Slalom in 2000.

Hank Barlow launched Mountain Bike Magazine in June 1985. It was the first full-color publication to reach wide distribution and offer off-road enthusiasts the same level of reporting that existed for road riders, covering the rapidly evolving world of bikes, components, races and places to ride, including a place hardly anyone had heard of: Moab, Utah. Environmental advocacy, inclusiveness and responsible trail use were among Hank’s recurring themes.

Roman Urbina founded Costa Rica’s “La Ruta de los Conquistadores” in 1992, establishing the multi-day-race genre — and it was a doozy. “La Ruta” is often referred to as the “The World’s Toughest Mountain Bike Race.” Multi-day mountain bike racing is now a major element in mountain biking worldwide.

Jeff Archer founded the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology (MOMBAT) in 2005. Housed at First Flight Bicycles, his bicycle retail store in Statesville, NC, the museum includes more than 400 vintage bikes and thousands of parts, accessories, and literature pages accumulated over the better part of three decades. The collection is augmented by the MOMBAT.org website, which provides history and specifications of the bikes, plus photos and written details of other notable mountain bikes that have passed through the shop over the years. It is one of the most comprehensive collections of its type in the world.

MBHOF Background

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame & Museum was founded in 1988 in Crested Butte, Colorado. Ten mountain biking pioneers were inducted in the charter year. Since then, three to seven mountain bike legends from around the world have been selected annually. The rich history of the sport of mountain biking, many significant early fat-tire bikes, memorabilia and stories of Hall of Fame inductees are housed in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, now located at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California.