Throwback Thursdays: Moab First Descents, Mountain Bike, and More TV

The Trail Boss himself, shredding previously unridden lines aboard his American Breezer possibly in 1988 during the Canyonlands Fat Tire Festival on Moab's Slickrock.

WTB's extended family of early mountain bikers spreads far - planning a road trip, better yet a ride trip, is always easier when you've got a free floor to crash on.  Somehow, money spent at the gas pump doesn't seem as steep knowing that once there, cash can be saved for beer rather than bed.

Hank Barlow, an original Marin local, mountain biker and friend of WTB, had moved to Moab from Crested Butte after founding Mountain Bike Magazine with his wife Kimberly Schappert.  Hank, along with the Canyonlands Fat Tire Festival, made for a perfect excuse for the WTB crew to venture out from Marin.

Marin and Moab crew headed out to shred, late 80's Moab in the Team Vehicle.

Hank had helped put Moab on the map through peppering original issues of Mountain Bike Magazine with stunning, near martian looking landscape shots.  The siren song had sounded, it was time to make the pilgrimage.  The crew came out and it didn't take too many trips before Matt Hebberd, WTB's original employee after its founders, bought Rim Tours with Kirstin Peterson, the duo still own and operate the amazing guide service today.  Rim Cyclery, founded by Robin and Bill Groff, had first started renting mountain bikes in Moab in 1984 and had given birth to Rim Tours.  Moab wouldn't be the same were it not for the Groff's early efforts, the defunct mining town blossomed.

Ready to shred the martian landscape.

Marin in late 80's Moab, WTB Team vehicle.  Today WTB's got racers and riders spread across the globe, giving feedback and testing products - this isn't a new tradition, it's heritage.  Check out more about Moab's history and the Groffs HERE.