When Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney married on their mountain bikes in the Cuyamacas 1987, little did they realize that their “children” would turn out to be a set of award-winning, educational videos on mountain biking.
“The Great Mountain Biking Video” (1988) was the first video ever produced on mountain biking. It details the nuts, bolts and passions of the sport: how to select a bike, how and where to ride, trail repair how-tos, and even a rider’s responsibility to the land and other recreationists. Billboard praised “The Great Mountain Biking Video” as “A fine introduction to the exciting world of mountain biking” and suggested that “Anyone interested in taking up this activity would be advised to view this program beforehand.”
Although the sport of mountain biking is relatively young, it has accrued a bit of history that is of importance to aficionados. I have therefore pulled the following interview out of my “lock box.” I now share with you, dear readers, the story of how Cross Country Mountain Biking came to be an Olympic sport.
Each new ride fills me with a terror, one notch above a simple adrenaline rush. And this feeling is not quelled until maybe a mile into the ride when I know that the trail is within my ability. By then I’m committed to finishing it. Looking up from the grounds of the Welcome Ceremony to the switchback trail that would take us 5,000 feet and 23 miles up to Sandakphu, my heart stuttered. It looked incredibly steep! The foot racers gathered, a gun cracked, and they were off. We mountain bikers then lined up. The soft life of high tea and pampering fell away as soon as the starting gun sounded and seven of us crawled up the trail, followed by the “video jeep” containing our equipment.
Your bike takes some punishment on the trails, so it is essential to keep it well maintained to avoid something breaking at a critical moment. Check everything before you set off, including brakes, tires, gears and the chain set. A bike that is properly looked after will not just keep you safer, it will also be more enjoyable to ride and save you money in the long run.
