Jobst Brandt "Ride Bike!" Book Tour

Join us at Rapha San Francisco on Oct. 4, 2023 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for an evening with the publishers of "Ride Bike!" a book about the life of Bay Area gravel riding pioneer Jobst Brandt. We will show a slideshow of images from the book and you will hear stories from Tom Ritchey along with Brandt's friends and family. You will also have the opportunity to purchase a copy fo the book, with proceeds going to the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), a cause that Jobst supported. We will have complimentary drinks and snacks for attendees. Please reserve a ticket for the event here.

A bit about the book: Years before mountain bikes or gravel bikes existed, Jobst Brandt (1935-2015) took bicycles to places they’d never been before. Best known for writing The Bicycle Wheel, the maverick California engineer pioneered dirt riding and lightweight touring. His legendary “Jobst rides” took Bay Area racers including Tom Ritchey, Gary Fisher and Eric Heiden over dirt roads and landslides in the Santa Cruz mountains and the Sierras, and he maintained a love affair with the Alps, touring 2,000 miles across Europe’s mountain passes for almost 50 years. As he pushed riders and bicycles beyond traditional limits, Jobst turned towards improving bicycle technology. With Palo Alto Bicycles, he founded Avocet and introduced innovations such as treadless tires, the bicycle computer, and touring shoes, while his mentoring of a young Tom Ritchey influenced the birth of mountain biking. Told through stunning archive photos, documents, and in-depth interviews, JOBST BRANDT RIDE BIKE! is an unconventional biography of a man whose passion, intellect, and sense of adventure changed the way we ride bikes today. It will introduce him to a wider audience and establish his place in cycling history.