Marin Museum of Bicycling and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, Fairfax

This is an incredible little museum! It's amazing the range of bikes they have, from penny farthings to modern racers, road, track, and, of course, mountain. The staff are a delight and are treasure troves of bike lore, in some cases having been the innovators and record breakers. It's also wonderful to see the way they support their own. Mountain bike pioneer Charlie Cunningham had a severe accident several years ago. The Museum hosted a charity auction in his benefit, bringing together many Hall of Famers.

This was the first time I had been to the museum, and wasn't sure what to expect. There's ample free parking, and it's at a great location. I was greeted by a very pleasant woman, paid the reasonable price for admission, and began to look around at the numerous bicycles. There is the option for a group tour, but since I've been involved in cycling for over 35 years I chose to look around on my own. The collection of bicycles was vast, and displayed the technical advances over the years. There is a combination of road and mountain bikes on display. It seemed that there was more emphasis on mountain bikes which is logical because the creators of the museum were some of the original founders of the mountain bike. The best experience for me was that the woman who greeted me is the wife of Joe Breeze. In addition, Joe Breeze was there at the time I visited the museum. During the years that I raced both road and mountain bikes I had the opportunity to ride with the group of riders that created the mountain bike. I had ridden with Joe Breeze quite a few times, so I went up to introduce myself. We ended up talking for over an hour. It brought back so many great memories, and I got caught up on how all the other riders were doing. The feeling I got was that the people that started the museum love cycling, and enjoy interacting with the people that come to visit. The museum is expanding, and there will be more bicycles to see in the near future. I highly recommend going and learning about the history of cycling, and seeing how bicycles have advanced over the years.