My first mountain bike was a Fisher mountain bike. I got a wholesale deal Gary Fisher mountain bikes because my mother was dating the bookkeeper. (It was just

My first mountain bike was a Fisher mountain bike. I got a wholesale deal Gary Fisher mountain bikes because my mother was dating the bookkeeper. (It was just called Marin Mountian bikes back then.) Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly decides to build mountain bikes. This was in 1979? Well both were roommates, who loved bicycles, and loved the outdoors Both got started on old Schwinn frames tricked out with knobby tires, and such. They used an old WW2 truck to take a bunch of guys up Mount Tamalpais, and other Fairfax mountains. The main trail down Mt. Tam was called Repac. Why? Because they needed to regrese the rear bearings after a decent. Well the roommates decided to build mountain bikes, and formed a company. Both were liberal, and were I guess called hippies back then. Neither knew if people would even like moutan biking. Gary had some money. Charlie was the fabricator, and inventor. Both had their strong points, but Charlie was the talent. By the eithties, the business was not thriving. I used to walk by it in high school, and was suprised it was still operating. I loved my mountian green bike though. One day Charlie decided to leave the business. He just left. I believe their was a fight? Charlie was never about money. Fisher stayed, and a bit later sold the business to a huge bike company. Fisher is now a multimillionaire. It was luck. It was just the right time, and he stuck it out. My point in telling this story us don't walk out on any new business. Don't walk unless you really don't care about money. Charlie was not about the green. I have always admired the way he lived his life. Mountian biking was started in Fairfax Ca, by about a 12 guys who loved to ride. I tell this story because Charlie always gets left out of mountian biking history. Again--Charlie was the talent.