mountain biking traces its roots back to the 1800's, when bicycles of the day were modified by the united states military to carry supplies over hostile terrain. the famous infantry unit, known as the buffalo soldiers, biked from missoula, montana to yellowstone national park and back - the test was very successful.

mountain biking did not really take off as a recreational outlet until much later -  in 1951 a french bicycle club modified their bicycles to handle dirt and terrain much in the same way today's mountain bikes do - this is some of the first documentation of official mountain biking.