European Motorcycle Scrambling in the 1950's

The first motorcycles made their appearance in the late 1800's, and people probably started racing them almost immediately.  But it was 1950's "scrambling" races in Europe that sparked similar riding events in the U.S., and eventually the birth of motocross.  By the late 60's, races were huge events in California and other places, and the sport grew through the 1970's, and spawned Supercross, the stadium-friendly version of motocross.  Like all the action sports, motocross evolved and morphed into many different variations and types of racing and trick riding.  Along with surfing, motocross was the root sport of nearly all action sports. 

The scenes of off road riders in Europe in the 1950's, much like the Waikiki surfers 50 years earlier, started something that continues to ripple through society today.  Again, a relatively small scene of people started something that turned into several different activities, sports, industries, and countless numbers of businesses in the decades since.