Mountain biking first began in the 1800s when cyclists rode their bicycles on dirt trails. In 1900 a man named Max Hirschberg rode his bicycle from Dawson City up the frozen Yukon River to the gold fields of Nome to make his fortune. The sport of Mountain Biking started on Mt. Tamalpais north of San Francisco in the 1970s when riders adapted their Schwinns for downhill racing on dirt trails.