THE RADAVIST Camera Corner – Wende Cregg and The Birth of Mountain Biking

A rare collection of photographs capturing the early days of MTB

There was a photographer who was present at the birth of what would later become known as MTB, when the vehicle was still called Klunker.

A legendary photographer in the history of bicycling, who captured the early days of MTB with her NIKON Nikomat FTNWende Cragg / Wende Cragg.

Her vast photo archive, mainly called Rolling Dinosaur Archive, is now available as a photo book under the supervision of THE RADAVIST.

Many of the photos are presumed to have been taken with reversal film, and the colors are excellent. The atmosphere of the 70s, the bike assemblies, and their clothes. This freedom without rules and challenging spirit is an important moment in the history of bicycles, and depicts MTB culture as a cultural consequence of the counterculture that emerged in the U.S. in the 60s.

Once again, the bicycle is a vehicle of freedom, and this book sets an example of that freedom.

Wende Gragg is said to have bought the camera at this time as a hobby, and was probably an amateur photographer at the time, but as a photographer, it is a great achievement just to have been present at this moment in time, and we are able to access the photos in this way. This work makes us realize the importance of the photographic medium, as we are able to feel the atmosphere and the mood of the time by accessing the images in this way.

This book is of course recommended for those who love bicycles, and in particular, it is only in books that we can see the ideas of assembly in those days so vividly.

For those who like American cultural fashion, this book is also a valuable resource to see the fashion style of life-size outdoorsmen of the 70s, not just a magazine (fiction).

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Hardcover / 208 pages, full color
Size: approx. 25cm x 26cm
Photos: Fujifilm Fine Raster Print
Printing: offset printing in Canada