Ricky Cha was a fictitious (or was he?) character that appeared in Fat Tire Flyer as a cartoon and filler between articles. He was penned by Anthony Martin and it seems that every cartoon seemed to end with Ricky Cha pronouncing, "Cha Mon" to make everything ok and happily conclude things. Most of the cartoons took place on Mt. Tam or locations right next to WTB's current Mill Valley office, like the 2AM Club seen in the third comic listed in the compilation of comics on Charlie Kelly's amazing website. The 2AM Club, a still standing historic dive bar, sits at the bottom of Mt. Tam, almost acting as the gateway to the road going to the top of Mt. Tam. At least one person currently working at WTB got his start, "catching the bug," hitchhiking to the top of Tam aboard a clunker standing across the street from the 2AM Club. Four blocks down the street from us, the 2AM Club still stands.
So how does Ricky Cha tie to WTB? Well, there are folks working here that can pretty quickly tie themselves to being friends with Tony Martin. Also, Alan Bonds, who assembled and beautifully painted early clunkers and mountain bikes even borrowed the Ricky Cha character to pose as the interviewer in a Dirt Rag interview (check it out HERE) - we have an Alan Bonds painted clunker on display in our showroom (thanks Kraig Smith!) that's my... reach for it... connection there. Plus, Tony Martin even worked for WTB during Corte Madera days so there's yet another connection. Then finally, Ricky Cha helps paint a humorous caricature of the time period that gave rise to mountain biking, and a time period of WTB's origins. Plus, Ricky Cha always be cruisen'.
So when life seems to get too serious, let out a deep breath, and repeat Ricky Cha's mantra, "Cha Mon."
Check out the 6th issue of Fat Tire Flyer where this image appeared HERE on mtnbikehalloffame.com