Redlands, California is far from being a new mountain bike destination, but to stay a mountain bike destination, a city must evolve and stay current with trends in trail building and mountain bike culture. To earn an IMBA Ride Center tag next to your city’s name, it takes even more than just having a good trail network and a brewpub down the road.
In the 90s, Craig Kundig ran his popular Revenge of the Jedi downhill race just outside of Redlands, California in Loma Linda and drew people from all over Southern California to come out, spend a few bucks racing, grab a medal, and head home. Kundig owns Cyclery USA, one of the Inland Empire’s most well-known, and longstanding bike shops.
Accessibility and making the race fun was key for Kundig, and Bob Hadley. Both were mountain bike racers and race organizers for some time, before they started the race series in Loma Linda, They charged $10 for folks to line up, spend their legs for an hour and a half, and then do it again the weekend after. The idea worked for them for a while, until interests from developers and home owners conflicted with the race.
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