I would like to nominate George Theobald for induction into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. George has devoted most his adult life to mountain biking. His first off-road bicycle was a “Klunker” that he worked on and painted himself in camo and rode on the back trails around Whiskeytown Lake in northern California. He entered the first Whiskeytown Downhill Race in 1980 and actively competed for over ten years as anovice , expert, then as a professional. His first sponsor was Mtn. Goat. He joined NORBA and USCF and was moved to class 2 by USCF for the 1986 season after several years of successful racing with consistent results in the top ranks of the field. I have provided results from many of the races.
He finished 3rd behind Joe Murrayand Ned Overend for the Pacific States Series in 1985 and 6th at the Nationals held in Santa Barbara. He joined the Marin Racing Team for the 1986 season and raced for them for two years consistently finishing in the top three. In 1987 he was ranked number one in the country. In 1988 he joined the KHS Racing Team and went to work for the company as a sales representative covering an area from Mammoth Lakes to Reno, to Tahoe, down to Fresno, Stockton,Sacramento, Davis and all points north. He has now been with KHS for nineteen years. During the past nineteen years George has first raced, then helped develop the KHS Team and added his input to the development of the KHS Mountain Bicycle, helped organize and sponsor numerous events and has continued to ride his own Mountain Bike in the back country around Lake Tahoe where he has lived most of his adult life and in the hills of Marin where he still feels so at home. He also raced for and represents Specialized Components.
George was inducted into the Shasta County Sports Hall of Fame in the year 2000 for his mountain biking and for his skiing. He competed in freestyleskiing for 8 years and was on the United States World Cup Freestyle Team in1982-83 finishing 11th in combined events in the World Rankings (ballet, moguls, inverted aerials). During this time period he was one of the stars inthe movie “Hot Dog”, playing the part of Slasher. which has become something of a cult movie for skiers and plays on television every winter.
During his career, George competed in more than one hundred races. I feel that George has earned a place in the Hall of Fame as a pioneer in the sport, as a top ranked competitor and as a long term participant and promoter of Mountain Biking.
Nomination Submitted by Michael C. Barone
