Tom Ritchey

Tom Ritchey (born 1956) is a master bicycle frame builder, designer, welder and founder of Ritchey Design. Like many of mountain biking's founding fathers, he is also an accomplished road and mountain bicycle racer in his own right.

Early pioneering years

Tom was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1988. Tom has been producing bikes for his own company, Ritchey Design Inc., and for other bicycle companies since the late 1970’s. The majority of the bikes were mountain bikes; however, he has produced many road and cyclo-cross bicycle frames. The majority of his frames have been constructed from high quality steel alloy tubing; however, he has produced frames made using tubing of aluminum and titanium alloys and frames made using both carbon tubes and titanium tubes. .

Tom began his notoriety in the bicycle world welding frames for Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelley's MountainBikes company. After that concern went its separate way, he created his own frame and bike component company: Ritchey. Ritchey bike frames have always been known for their ultra-light weight and aggressive racing-oriented designs. Tom is also known as an early innovator of designs: for example he was making threadless headsets years before other companies patented the design and began manufacturing such designs.

Current production

Tom Ritchey no longer makes a full line of frames, but he continues to be a leading innovator in bicycle design and engineering. One of his most notable recent designs is the [http://ritcheylogic.com/web/Ritchey~Logic/Ritchey~Site/web/EN/main/breakaway/20793.html Break-Away Bike] , a line of racing-quality road and cyclocross bikes that separate into two halves so that they can be packed in a standard suitcase for ease of travel. Since most airlines charge up to $150 each way to take a bike on a plane, this is a very enticing feature to those who travel often!

Tom is known for his trademark 'handlebar' mustache, his close relationships with racers who've represented his company (particularly [http://www.frischi.ch/main.htm Thomas Frischknecht] , 2005 marathon world champion, who's ridden for TR for decades) and his friendly demeanor.

Project Rwanda

In December 2005, Tom and his friend [http://www.bikeradar.com Gary Boulanger] were invited to tour Rwanda by bicycle. They were asked if they were interested in developing a grass-roots racing team, opening a bicycle assembly factory, designing a transportation/cargo-hauling bicycle, and establishing a mountain bike safari touring company. Three months later, Tom sent his friend Jared Miller to Rwanda to explore these possibilities, and [http://www.projectrwanda.org Project Rwanda] was born. [http://www.projectrwanda.org/images/WBC-logo.gif]

On September 16, 2006, the first annual [http://www.projectrwanda.org/classic.php Rwandan Wooden Bike Classic] was held in the village of Karongi. More than 3,000 Rwandans filled the Karongi Stadium and lined the streets to watch the country's first mountain bike race. North American Tour de France pioneers [http://www.projectrwanda.org/RAAM06.htm Jock Boyer] and [http://www.stiedacycling.com/ Alex Stieda] raced alongside Ritchey. Plans are in the works to deliver the first 1,000 cargo-hauling bicycle to the country's largest coffee-grower's co-op, led by Dr. Timothy Schilling.

Ritchey continued to help Project Rwanda by participating in Ride 4 Rwanda, a fundraising event held in Santa Barbara, CA, on February 2nd 2008. Ritchey joined over 100 participants, many of whom were students and faculty of Santa Barbara Middle School, in a coastal bike ride to raise funding for bike parts and mechanical support for Rwandan coffee workers. Ritchey and Santa Barbara Middle School continue to share their passion for using bicyles as a tool for growth through Project Rwanda. Ritchey was instrumental in helping the non-profit organization Bikes to Rwanda assistance and essential technical help [ Bikes to Rwanda Official Website [http://www.bikestorwanda.org] ]

Project Rwanda is currently partnered with [http://www.therideforrwanda.org The Ride for Rwanda.] A cross-country ride being completed in the summer of 2008. Six riders will cycle from Seattle, Washington to New York, New York. They include Jason Burkholder, Greg Christian, Leighton Cusack, CJ Eckman, Alex Manion, and Luke Tubergen. The fundraiser has a goal of raising $40,000.00 for Project Rwanda.

Quotes

* "My bike is my office"
*"Hey you OK? Do you need to use my bike?"

References

External links

* [http://www.ritcheylogic.com/ Ritchey Bicycle Components]
* [http://www.completesite.com/mbhof/page.cfm?memberid=27 His page on the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.]
* [http://www.projectrwanda.org Project Rwanda]
* [http://www.oldmountainbikes.com/ritchey/ A short history of Tom Ritchey's frames on Old Mountain Bikes.]
* [http://projectrwanda.org/Latest/Tom-Ritchey-Pedaling-Home.php An interview with Tom Ritchey, where he discusses Rwanda, faith, and (of course) bicycles.]