As the years roll on, so mountain biking develops more and more history. It’s still quite a young sport/pastime/hobby/leisure activity, but depending on which version of events you subscribe to it’s at least thirty years since things kicked off in a recognisable fashion and interest in matters old-school has never been higher – witness the alarming prices that old tyres reach on eBay…

Now the historic MTB scene has reached another milestone, with the announcement of the first Old World MTB Championships, a global gathering for retro fans and their bikes. Apparently anything before 1995 is deemed to be “early” – presumably there was a meeting or something.

The venue will be Bergen, near Schoorl in the Netherlands – not a notably mountainous location, but the organisers promise “a time-warp, fun-packed weekend of challenges, retro bike shows and quality riding,” and certainly you don’t necessarily need hills for that. Besides, events like this are very much “who cares wins” when it comes to the venue – the Dutch wanted a retro event enough to make it happen, after all.

Events will include XC racing, a “Dutch trials” competition (we’re not sure how Dutch trials differs from regular trials – possibly the obstacles are all made from stacked cheeses), a retro bike (and, perhaps more alarmingly, fashion) show, BBQs and more.

The whole shooting match is sponsored by the very fine www.retrobike.co.uk, will be held on 4/5 September 2009 and has a further-details-containing website at www.owmtbc.org.