06/09/2026
Timothy Howard Mountford
1946 – 2026
Today we celebrate the life of Timothy Howard Mountford — beloved father, grandfather, uncle, brother, and coach, and a pioneer of American cycling. He passed away peacefully on June 8th 2026, at the age of 80, surrounded by family and friends, after a short battle with cancer.
Tim was born in 1946 in California’s San Fernando Valley. His love of the bicycle began with a gift from his older brother, Stan Mountford, who handed him his first bike and, with it, a lifelong sense of possibility. What started as boyhood rides up to the Hollywood sign would go on to carry Tim around the world.
Still a senior at North Hollywood High School, Tim earned a place on the U.S. Olympic team and raced the tandem sprint alongside Jack Disney at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He returned home and, ever the entrepreneur, founded his own cycling magazine — but his racing was far from finished. Four years later he qualified again, finishing 10th in the individual sprint at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Over a twelve-year international career, Tim became one of the most versatile and fearless sprinters America had produced. He won a bronze medal in the 10-mile at the 1967 Pan American Games and dominated the men’s sprint at the U.S. National Championships, taking gold in 1969, silver in 1968, and bronze in both 1966 and 1967. He represented the United States at the World Championships, rode for professional teams across Europe and North America — among them the Dutch Seiko Watch and Canada Dry squads, TI-Raleigh, and Shimano USA — and competed in nearly every discipline the sport offered: track sprints and omniums, criteriums, Madisons, and motor-paced races. His great passion was the grueling winter Six-Day races, where he started sixteen events between 1971 and 1974, often teamed with fellow American Jack Simes — more Six-Days than any American rider since the sport’s heyday in the 1940s.
When his racing days ended, Tim poured that same fire into developing others. In 1978 he became the first coach of the first U.S. Olympic Training Center, then located at Squaw Valley. He went on to open three bicycle stores in Silicon Valley through the 1980s and ’90s, sponsored triathlon and BMX teams, and mentored countless young riders and employees — many of whom carried his lessons, and his high standards, for the rest of their lives. In 2017, his contributions to the sport were honored with induction into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame.
Tim brought that same athlete’s heart home to his family. While his children were young he served as a Scoutmaster, a soccer coach, and a youth leader in his church. As they grew, he remained their steady coach in life — championing their businesses, their relationships, and their dreams with the same belief he had once placed in his own.
Tim is survived by his son Bruce Jepsen; his daughter Paige Johnston; his daughter Melissa Mountford Catalano; his son Matthew Mountford; and his eight grandchildren.
His legacy lives not only in his championships and records, but in the love, the laughter, the humor, and the irrepressible spirit he brought to everyone fortunate enough to ride alongside him.
Announcements will be made shortly for a Celebration of Life.
