A Historical Look
At Bike Butler

During its 19 years, Bike Butler has held a bunch of MTB festivals, multi-sport events, trail runs, and cross-country races. Since starting with the cross-country, dual slalom, and uphill in 1989, Bike Butler expanded its cycling festivals to include time trials, criteriums, stock-bike-trials, downhills, relays, children’s stage races, clinics, off-road foot races, duathlons, wheelchair stage races, and off-road triathlons. Following is the event history of Bike Butler (as well as we can recall):

1989 2 festivals.
1990 4 festivals including first state championship/stage race.
1991 3 festivals including 2 two-day stage races.
1992 5 festivals including first Intercollegiate Championship and the first Southeastern Mountain Bike Championship.
1993 5 festivals including first KY points series, first National Off-Road Wheelchair Stage Race Championship (highlighted in “Sports Illustrated”), the first NCCA Midwestern Championship, KY’s first off-road duathlon, KY’s first stage race for children (4 to 12).
1994 5 festivals including KY’s first Off-road Triathlon, KY’s first JR points series, the Midwest Collegiate Championship, KY’s first trail run, and the first International Clydesdale Championship.
1995 5 festivals including KY’s first Jr Slalom championship (highlighted on ESPN2), first MTB-Kayak Triathlon (highlighted on ESPN2), and an 8-Hour Relay (including a category for Police-in-Uniform).
1996 National Collegiate Championship (First east of Colorado and highlighted on ESPN2). Plus, 5 other races.
1997 5 festivals including the 8th annual Kentucky State Championship.
1998 5 festivals
1999 5 events including an AMBC
2000 4 events including an off-road triathlon for teams
2001 4 events including an XTERRA points series event.
2002 4 events including an XTERRA points series event.
2003 4 events including an XTERRA points series event, the 10th General Butler Off-Road Triathlon.
2004 4 events including a Nissan XTERRA points series event, i.e., the 11th General Butler Off-Road Triathlon. This annual event may well be the oldest series of ORTs in the world, according to the Nat'l Race Director of Xterra.2003 4 events including an XTERRA points series event, the 10th General Butler Off-Road Triathlon.
2005 The 16th-annual Mud, Sweat & Gears! A Nissan XTERRA points series event, i.e., the 12th General Butler Off-Road. (This annual event may well be the oldest series of ORTs in the solar system).
2006 The 17th-annual Mud, Sweat & Gears! A Nissan XTERRA points series event, i.e., the 13th General Butler Off-Road (This annual event may well be the oldest series of ORTs in the galaxy). The 13th-annual International Clydesdale Championship.

But what really makes Bike Butler festivals fun has to be the people. This historical collage of Butler folks is the photographic art of Michael Martin.

The Kentucky Mountain Bike Association (KyMBA) grew out of a group of mountain bikers known in the late '80s and early '90s as The Kentucky Trailmen. Some of these forefathers of KyMBA attended the first Butler event, and subsequently volunteered to help develop the trails at Butler. And they're still helping improve the trail system.

A Historical Look At Bike Butler

A Historical Look
At Bike Butler