January 1993:

Otis Guy

Induction Year: 1993
Web Site: www.otisguycycles.com

In 1974 I first started riding 1940s Schwinn "ballooners" bikes with my road racing buddies Joe Breeze and Marc Vendetti. The feeling of freedom those old bikes gave us was breathtaking. We were able to cover distances crisscrossing over Mt. Tamalpais not accessible on foot giving us the feeling of closeness to this precious and beautiful area. The bikes were much more comfortable than our road bikes. Instead of sew up tires they had nice fat tires that rarely flatted.

Anyone who tried out my old Schwinn loved the way it rode and its simplicity. Here was a bike that opened up new ways to explore the outdoors on dirt trails and allowed the rider greater comfort while doing it. This style of bike riding would become a gateway for many to embrace the outdoors and would change cycling worldwide.

The highlight of my thirty plus years of racing on the road and off the road is to have been the only person to have raced the original Repack---the first ever organized mountain bike race (which I also have won ) in 1983 the first Mountain Bike National Championship in 1983 and the first Mountain Bike World Championships in 1990. I have operated Otis Guy Cycles, a cottage industry custom bike frame business, since 1983. Otis Guy Cycles sponsored the first ever cross country racing team riding fully suspended bikes.