Lee cougan

There was a moment, in the early 1970s, when a handful of reckless dreamers decided that the confines of asphalt roads were limited them in their quest for thrills in the saddle.

They wanted to create off-road vehicles to immerse themselves in nature and experience its rugged beauty. They set about modifying old “cruiser” bikes with better brakes, motocross handlebars, and wider tires to hit the fire roads of California. These bicycles were called “klunkers”, and “to klunk” also became the verb that indicated the activity of mountain biking, which did not yet exist.