Edmund ("Ned") Overend (born 20 August 1955) is an American former professional cross-country mountain bike racer. He is a six-time

NORBA Norba, an ancient town of Latium (''Adjectum''), Italy. It is situated 1 mile northwest of the modern town of Norma, on the western edge of the Volscian Mountains or Monti Lepini. The town is perched above a precipitous cliff with a splendid v ...

cross-country mountain bike national champion who became the first-ever cross-country world champion by winning the inaugural UCI Mountain Bike World Championship in 1990. Overend was inducted into the

Mountain Bike Hall of Fame The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame (MBHOF) was founded in 1988 to chronicle the history of mountain biking. Formerly located in Crested Butte, Colorado, it relocated to Fairfax, California in 2014 and became part of the Marin Museum of Bicycling. S ...

in 1990 and into the

United States Bicycling Hall of Fame The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, located in Davis, California, is a private 501c3 non-profit organization formed to preserve and promote the sport of cycling. The organization was founded in 1986 in Somerville, New Jersey and has inducte ...

in 2001.

Cycling career

The son of a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

diplomat, Overend was born in

Taipei, Taiwan Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

and raised in Ethiopia and Iran. He attended high school in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and was involved in

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

racing. Overend moved to Durango, Colorado in the early 1980s where he first became involved in cycling by entering Durango’s Iron Horse Classic, a 47-mile road race with 6,700 feet of climbing along a narrow gauge railroad. From road racing, he eventually moved on to

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

racing, where his previous motocross experience combined with his physical fitness from road racing made him an exceptional competitor. Overend was hired to race for the

Schwinn The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manuf ...

factory racing team in 1984 and won two consecutive NORBA Mountain Biking National Championships for the team in 1986 and 1987. He then signed a contract to race for Specialized Bicycles and went on to win the NORBA Mountain Biking National Championship in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992. At the age of 40, Overend made an attempt to qualify for the United States Olympic team to compete in the inaugural Olympic Cross-Country Mountain Biking competition in the 1996 Olympic Games in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He needed to finish the qualifier race in fourth place to qualify for the Olympic team alongside

Tinker Juarez David "Tinker" Juarez (born March 4, 1961) is an American former professional BMX and cross-country mountain bike racer. His prime competitive years in BMX were from 1978 to 1984 and in mountain bike racing 1986 to 2005. Since late 2005, he has ...

but, one and a half miles from the finish line, he suffered a flat tire and finished in eighth place. 1989 ned overend tinker juarez palm springs Photo by Patty Mooney

1989 ned overend tinker juarez palm springs Photo by Patty Mooney

Even though he retired from professional mountain bike competition in 1996, he continued competing in endurance competitions, winning the

XTERRA Triathlon XTERRA is a series of cross triathlon races, i.e. three-sport races which include swimming, mountain biking, and trail running. The XTERRA Global Tour is owned and produced by XTERRA Sports Limited. The XTERRA race series is the best-known seri ...

in 1998 and 1999 and competing in regular road

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

s. He won the U.S. National Winter Triathlon Championship in 2000 and the UCI Masters Cyclo-cross World Championship in 2012. In 2015, Overend won the first-ever U.S.

Fat Bike A fatbike (also called fat bike, fat tire, fat-tire bike, or snow bike) is an off-road bicycle with oversized tires, typically or larger and rims or wider, designed for low ground pressure to allow riding on soft, unstable terrain, such as sno ...

championship. During his professional mountain biking career, Overend earned the

nicknames A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Deadly Nedly" and "The Lung", because he was very difficult to beat and for his exceptional aerobic endurance at altitude (especially so for a man of his age), respectively. He is the current captain of the Specialized Cross Country Team. Overend appeared in "the world's first mountain biking video, aptly named, The Great Mountain Biking Video released in 1988 by New & Unique Videos of San Diego, California."A World Odyssey: Searching for the World's Best Mountain Biking," by Dan Gindling, Bicycling San Diego, Winter 1994 Overend also appears in competition sequences of "The Sun Valley Mountain Bike Challenge," a video chronicle of that year's NORBA Championships also released in 1988. Ned Overend 1987 Photo by Patty Mooney

He also appeared in a mountain-bike race video entitled "Battle At Durango: The First-Ever World Mountain Biking Championships" videotaped in Durango, Colorado in 1990, and released by New & Unique Videos in 1991.

Major achievements

''Incomplete list'' * UCI World Mountain Biking Champion (Gold, 1990; Bronze 1991) *

National Mountain Biking Champion (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992) * NORBA National Point Series Champion (1987) * XTERRA World Champion (1998, 1999, 2nd 1997) * National Winter Triathlon Champion (2000) * National XTERRA Series Champion (2001, 2002) * UCI Masters Cyclocross World Champion en 55-59(2012) * Colorado Road Champion (2004) * Road Apple Rally Champion (2004, 2009) * Bob Cook Memorial Mount Evans Hill Climb (1st, 1985–1986; 2nd, 2006; 4th, 2005; 5th, 2008; 2nd, 2010) *

Mount Washington Auto Road The Mount Washington Auto Road—originally the Mount Washington Carriage Road—is a toll road in southern Coos County, New Hampshire that extends from New Hampshire Route 16 in Green's Grant, just north of Pinkham Notch, westward across Pink ...

Bicycle Hillclimb (1st 2011; 2nd, 2006, 2009) * Teva Mountain Games Hillclimb (1st, 2007) * USA National Fat Bike Champion 2015

References

External links

Ned Overend at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame

Ned Overend at the U.S Bicycling Hall of Fame

Cyclenews.com interview, August 18, 2005

Bikeradar.com
interview with Gary Boulanger, August 23, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Overend, Ned 1955 births Living people Sportspeople from Taipei People from Durango, Colorado American male cyclists Cross-country mountain bikers UCI Mountain Bike World Champions (men) San Diego State University alumni American mountain bikers Cyclists from Colorado