Gary Fisher is a dreamer, an innovator and the consummate bicycle promoter. I met with him last week at his home in San Anselmo, CA, in Marin County across the bay from San Francisco. We sat on his patio, sipped French press coffee and spoke for over an hour about the history of mountain biking, his involvement with Trek, and the part he plays in the evolution of the sport.

Fisher’s small ranch style house is tucked back among tall bamboo and palms in a quiet neighborhood where the houses are close and so are the neighbors. People greet each other and visitors with an honest “hello,” and a friendly wave.

Several bikes were parked near the front door. The Fisher Sugar 292 with a Maverick dual crown fork was nicely muddy indicating some recent trail riding. But of particular interest was the attached trailer for his 2-year old son, Miles who often accompanies dad on trail rides. The trailer is made by a German manufacturer and sports a Rock Shock for 7 inches of travel (here’s the link http://www.tout-terrain.de). There is a Klein with an extended back end for hauling up to 8 grocery bags, and a Villager, a plush commuter bike made by Trek for the European market. It’s full suspension and smooth tires soak up the road vibration (http://villigerbikes.ch/2005/index.php, the automatic shimano group is on “smover”). A couple of large bags are big enough to carry a load of groceries. But what makes this bike really cool is the electronic shifting. The SRAM derailleurs are connected not by cables, but by wires, and shift automatically depending on your cadence and speed.

After the interview we went for a ride around San Anselmo, the town where Gary Fisher grew up. Miles was in the trailer, I rode the Villager and the three of us saw the sights, his high school, the coffee shop where we got a latte and Miles got a “fluffy,” and the bike shop where we stopped to fix a pedal on the Villager and Gary helped some customers inflate the tires on their home brew single-speed, black and yellow hodge-podge. While his business is all about new bikes, Fisher is gratified by the marvelous ways that people cobble together the piles of old bike parts. As he pumped their tires and chatted, I had to wonder if they knew the impact he has had on the bicycling industry.

Gary Fisher likes to think of bicycle innovations that no one is asking for. This has resulted in several technological improvements to the mountain bike since it’s inception in the mid-‘70’s. Fisher is responsible for fitting heavy duty brakes on a beach cruiser to make it a better downhill racer. He coined the term “mountain bike,” and worked with Tom Richey to develop the first frames designed specifically for the new sport.

But Fisher is thinking more these days about how bicycles can affect the American lifestyle. More bikes and bicycle access can lead to less traffic congestion, less pollution and better fitness. He and his wife rarely drive their car, especially when just commuting around town. In a town like San Anselmo, it’s often far easier to ride their bikes with Miles in the trailer to run errands, stop for a coffee and a “fluffy,” and carry 8 to 10 bags of groceries home from the grocery store. The bike-centric lifestyle is common in European countries where Trek manufacturers bikes like the Villager specifically for that reason.

He recognizes that it’s a hard message to sell in the automobile-centric American market where bicycling is viewed as a hobby, or a workout, rather than a mode of transportation. Bike routes and paths in most American cities are usually disconnected loops that offer few opportunities to get from point A to point B. And urban sprawl with access primarily car makes it more difficult for commuters to ride a bike even if they wanted to.

Still, Gary Fisher dreams up the biking stuff that nobody asks for. Like an enclosed bike path that could be installed in urban area on the roofs between high-rise office buildings. The clear plastic tube would be light weight and non-polluting. Two tubes could run side by side, to provide one-way traffic in each direction and a fan could be installed to provide a constant tailwind. In a city like San Francisco, the tube could have a slight decline, so the rider could coast from the city to Marin County.

Watch the Gary Fisher interview on the next episode of TrailTapes Mountain Bike TV.