Easter 2005 will be the 25th anniversary of the first MTB
event in the UK. The first Summit Meeting took place on the
Easter bank holiday in 1985. Tim Gartside and Phil Westerby,
who ran the National Off Road Bicycle Association (UK) and
MTB Centre, invited a group of enthusiasts and jounalist to
Llanwrtyd Wells, home of the centre and the Man v Horse
race. The purpose was to launch their national series, the
Fat Tyre Five, to talk to Gordon Green about getting
mountain bikes into the Man v Horse for the first time and
to appear on the BBC's Good Morning Britain.
Among the people there were all-round cycling guru Richard
Ballantine, his fellow mountain bike enthusiasts from Covent
Garden Cycles, the staff Bicycle Action and Bicycle
magazines, Drew Lawson from Muddy Fox and Gordon Green,
organiser of the Man v Horse.
Overbury's, the Bristol shop which, along with a handful of
others including Bike UK and Two Wheels Good in Leeds helped
pioneer the sport in those early days. Friend Wood, Tim
Greenland, Mike Newon and Matt Mills were all sponsored by
Overbury's at some point.
At the time, Overbury's had a typical rag-tag bunch of
dedicated mountain bike fanatics working for them -- Dennis
Hill, Crhis Taton, Steve Divine and Sugi -- people who had
been bitten by the off-road bug and were prepared to put up
with the derision of 'real cyclists' who couln't cope with
fat tyre bikes.
In honor of the 25th anniversary of the event, Gordon Green
is holding a reunion event on Easter Weekend 2005. We are
hoping that any/all of the original participants will be
able to attend. And needless to say we are looking for
sponsorship at Green Events.
Please contact Gareth Rowlands at Green Events: www.greeen-
events.co.uk