As of 2007, the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame has inducted 100 individuals and 4 groups who have made major contributions to mountain biking. Six more are being inducted in 2008: Steve Blick, John Finley Scott, Bob Girvin, Philip Keyes, Brain Lobes and Nat Ross.
They will be inducted September 24 during a ceremony held at Interbike in Las Vegas.
For our first installment in A Look At the 2008 Mountain Bike Hall of Famer's, we bring you Steve Blick in the words of the MBHOF:
It seems that everyone in mountain biking knows Steve Blick. He is there in the race course parking lot, making sure riders are hooked up with the latest and greatest eyewear and gear from Oakley.
Blick’s there when your tear-off didn’t tear off and you needed a clean windshield for the final.
Blick’s there with a big “O” umbrella at the finish line when the cats-and-dogs are coming down.
Blick’s there at the hotel, making sure even the poorest privateer gets a burger and fries after coming in 49th in the Super D.
Oakley’s mountain bike go-to-guy, Steve Blick has been here, there and everywhere in the world of mountain biking. That’s his job, but it’s also his life.
He jumped on a bike in the 70s and he’s still pumping. He rode BMX in the Bay Area way back then and graduated to a paper route. Got on a mountain bike when Dave Vanderspek told him “this is a new way to get rad on the dirt.”
He sorted mail in the Curb Dogs office and got his first bike shop gig at Desert Cyclery in Rancho Mirage. Thanks to a timely introduction from friend Steve Boehmke, Blick started doing R&D riding with various groups, including Shimano’s SKUNK development group.
After that it was the still-legendary CVC in Castro Valley, then he got his big foot in the industry door at Marin, where he learned the art of cool from Marla Streb. Bob Hadley saw that the tow-headed youth had potential and brought him to GT, where he began taking the message of mountain biking to the masses.
Three years later, after a change of management and direction, he landed at the O.C. fortress of Oakley, where he was tested mightily to see if he was fit to succeed the renown Steph Mac in 2000.
Since that time, Blick has been a force within the fortress, championing such developments as Radar eyewear, Racing Jacket eyewear, Factory glove, MTB shoes and technical clothing that looks like fashion but wears like armor.
Deep down, Steve Blick sees the world through a rider’s eyes. That’s because he loves the bike and lives to ride. A Minjin Warrior and associate of the super-elite Laguna Rads, Blick can hang with the best.
You know it: Blick’s been there for you. Now he's in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.