Klunkerz - The origin of Mountain Biking
Charlie Kelly is a legend who helped create the sport of Mountain Biking.
Charlie Kelly and his buddies essentially created the sport of Mountain Biking in Marin County in the 1970’s, exploring the hills on modified beach cruisers they called “Klunkerz”. They would descend one particular fire road that was so steep that the coaster brake would burn up the grease in the hub and they would have to repack them with grease. They named this fire road “Repack” and Charlie would later go on to promote the “Repack Downhill Race”. Charlie would eventually go into business with Gary Fisher and Tom Ritchey and develop the concept of the modern mountain bike along with Joe Breeze.
Witnessing a Klunkerz race is an adrenaline rush and you must be careful where you stand! Riders have only a coaster brake to slow down, so every turn carries the potential for calamity. The lack of suspension can turn a shallow rut into a rut-roh moment. One can imagine the fire road at Spider Mountain is a little bit like “Repack” was in the 1970’s - steep and loose with a few sharp corners and a little bit of exposure here and there, and plenty of spectators to heckle you.
The Team Trail Party Klunkerz race was created in 2022 to pay tribute to Jerri Sterling’s late husband Kyle who was crazy about Klunkerz and considered Charlie Kelly his hero. Jeremiah Work learned she wanted to organize an event and offered to help make it a reality, so Jerri reached out to Charlie himself who was excited about the chance to be there. Tommy Breeze (son of Joe Breeze) would join in the fun as well, and one of the best weekends in Spider Mountain history was born! Thankfully, Jeremiah realized this was something amazing and brought it back for 2023, coupled with the traditional DH race.
I registered for the downhill race but my priority for the day was to shoot as many riders as possible from all categories, particularly the Klunkerz race. Time management was going to be critical since I would need to anticipate when my race run window would be and get the camera packed away and back up the lift before I missed it. Beginner categories went first down a stage that consisted of “Recluse” and “Venom”. I rushed to set up just before the exit of Recluse, and right after a little rock ledge that comes after a turn. This is a section that can be tricky and loose and so naturally you slow through here a little which would help with getting consistently sharp photos. It was an overcast day which was a huge win in terms of light under the canopy. I found a little spot on the side of the trail, behind an ash juniper on the sloped hillside and positioned myself so that I could take advantage of the terrain in the foreground. All my hurry made it feel like forever until the first rider came through while my mind raced to check settings on the camera and make sure everything was right.
Gavin Gray with his dad Garett close behind on “Recluse”
Eventually a steady stream of riders of different age groups came ripping through at different speeds, picking different lines, rolling or sending the ledge in front of me, some of them with their parents riding behind them filling the role of cheerleader and coach at the same time. The battle cries of “pedal pedal pedal”, “yeah dude”, and “yew” echoed from above and below where I sat which was pretty heartwarming. I stayed here until my Spidey sense told me the beginner and kids categories were done, so I hopped on the bike and rode off to my next spot at Sticky Icky for about an hour of shooting.
That’s me! - Snapped by the awesome Jordan Long on “Sticky Icky”
Now it was time for my own race run. I stashed the camera, grabbed my chip, and made it up the lift just in time. This would be my most confident run down Sticky Icky ever, even though it was only my second quickest. I was probably a little slower through sections that are usually flat out in because I was so focused on keeping everything else clean. You win some you lose some, but I can’t be disappointed, the time might tell one story, but the other is how you feel about the run and it felt freakin’ great!
I got my timing chip turned in, grabbed the camera, and got ready for the event I was most excited about: KLUNKERZ! I started at the top of the mountain and got a bunch of photos of the Pig Pen Boys race team in their matching coveralls, and a few other riders who were properly dressed. Charlie was up here looking at the bikes and Jeremiah was taking care of last-minute timing preparations for the race. The fire road just under the lift before a sharp corner was where most spectators would be, and also the place where the most crashing would happen. By the time I rode down there a handful of photographers with the same idea had already picked a spot, so I opted to shoot from around the corner which wound up working well.
The time trial race was up first, and I decided to focus on video clips to make a little edit of this white knuckled riot. You could hear the skidding, and even comments like “Jesus Christ oh my god” and “aw shit my handlebars are crooked”! I had to hide my excitement when one particular rider lost control right in front of me and did a soft tumble into the grass on the side of the trail. As he rode off, I filmed the back of his shirt which said “Klunkerz never die”. Damn right!
Some friends were hiking up the fire road and invited me to head back up to the top with them for the mass start race, which was the right call since it gave me an opportunity to get a few clips of riders running to their bikes like it was the 24 Hours of LeMans. Charlie was the one to signal the race start, which was incredibly special to witness.
I left for Austin and returned home at about 6:30 for some rest, then began the process of editing everything at around midnight, finishing up at 8am on Sunday. I shot a little over 1800 photos and eventually posted just under 600. I have even more respect now for photographers like Jordan Long and Tyler Green who shoot the full day and have massive galleries and do it over and over again often traveling out of state. I enjoyed the challenge of racing and shooting, perhaps because having more to focus on gave me less time to worry about things like crashing, or getting quality practice laps in and as a result the day felt calmer.
I am hoping Team Trail Party continues with the format of Klunkers + DH next year, since it has quickly become a fan favorite and I think it is neat to combine the origin of MTB with the modern version that it has evolved into, and to realize that regardless of the speed or technology involved, riding a bike downhill has always been a riot.
