I would like to nominate John Kirkpatrick for both his pioneering roots and his promotional work in the early stages of the commercialization of the mountain bike and the sport of mountain bike racing.
John worked for Ross Bicycles from 1981 until 1987 as their director of advertising. He was part of the product development group that introduced one of the first American-made production mountain bikes, the Ross “Force One”. This bike was first introduced at the premier Interbike in October of 1982.
In 1983, John coordinated the creation of the “Ross Indians”. They were the first professional factory sponsored mountain bike race team, complete with paid riders, uniforms and the semblance of a support staff.
In 1984, John organized a major East Coast bicycle race in Wendell State Forest. This race brought in an international brand sponsor, Swatch Watches. The race featured cross-country, downhill and time trial events. The first year’s race was won by Joe Murray. John repeated the event in 1985, with John Tomac winning triumphantly.
Kirkpatrick developed an ad campaign around mountain bikes. In the December 1982 issue of Bicycling Magazine, John ran a two-page, centerfold spread featuring mountain bikes. He was also a renowned photographer. John created many widely produced and distributed mountain bike posters while at Ross. His first poster was dispersed during the 1982 Interbike show. More than 5,000 of these posters were given out to Ross dealers and bike shops across the country. For many, this poster may have been the first example of a mountain bike’s potential and what was to come. Kirkpatrick continued to use posters and advertising to show the mountain bike as both a lifestyle and a performance bike.
Somewhat forgotten, John’s memory in the sport has faded. It is our hopes that he will be honored for his contributions posthumously as he past away many years ago.
Nomination by Pat Cunnane
