For today's "Retro Wednesday" blog post, a little history about the first Real Underwater Mountain Bikers (including me.)
Back in May 2006, Scuba Diving Magazine published the above article about a dive master in South Caicos who was cruising too close to the end of a pier on his mountain bike when he fell in. "Surprisingly he was able to stay on his bike and ride it on the sandy bottom." And thus he had "concocted" the new "extreme sport" of "underwater mountain biking."When I saw the article, I knew I had to set the record straight, as my posse and I had been the first to ride mountain bikes underwater. 20 feet under, to be exact, off the west coast of Costa Rica in 1994, fully 11 years before this guy, Gerald Charles, claimed to do it in 2005.
Here's the letter I wrote to Scuba Diving Magazine which they never published:
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Dear SDM,
My partner, Mark Schulze, and I were both intrigued by Martin Pepper’s story (in your May 2006 issue) about how Gerald Charles, a 32-year-old dive instructor in South Caicos had “conceived” the idea of underwater mountain biking after he’d fallen off the pier and found himself pedaling underwater on his bike.
Au contraire, the idea was first conceived by the intrepid mountain-bike team of Mark Schulze, Jason Borner and myself (Patty Mooney) over chips, salsa and beers one balmy evening at a tacoria in Costa Rica in January 1994. Mark and I were amidst an around-the-world video adventure with mountain bikes; Jason was our Costa Rican guide. We were discussing what we could do that would cast Costa Rica in an awesome light. The answer was to combine two of its most popular recreational activities: mountain biking and scuba diving.
The following week, we chartered a dive boat to take us to a site called Tres Sombreros, and covered the sequence on video from the boat as well as with a Hi-8 underwater camera. Jason, Mark and I took turns riding on a “sacrificial bike” 20 feet underwater on the sandy, rocky bottom (no coral). The underwater mountain biking adventure appears in our video, “Full Cycle: A World Odyssey” which garnered fifteen international awards. Over the last decade, stock-footage clips of our underwater mountain biking “jamboree” have appeared on Real TV, a Nintendo commercial and several corporate videos.
Just wanted to set the record straight on who the true pioneers of this “fledgling sport” really are. It was a one-time occasion, a farce, really; we didn’t think it was a good idea to regale it as a sport as it would be too easy for less-than-responsible divers to wreak havoc on the oceanic environment.
My partner, Mark Schulze, and I were both intrigued by Martin Pepper’s story (in your May 2006 issue) about how Gerald Charles, a 32-year-old dive instructor in South Caicos had “conceived” the idea of underwater mountain biking after he’d fallen off the pier and found himself pedaling underwater on his bike.
Au contraire, the idea was first conceived by the intrepid mountain-bike team of Mark Schulze, Jason Borner and myself (Patty Mooney) over chips, salsa and beers one balmy evening at a tacoria in Costa Rica in January 1994. Mark and I were amidst an around-the-world video adventure with mountain bikes; Jason was our Costa Rican guide. We were discussing what we could do that would cast Costa Rica in an awesome light. The answer was to combine two of its most popular recreational activities: mountain biking and scuba diving.
The following week, we chartered a dive boat to take us to a site called Tres Sombreros, and covered the sequence on video from the boat as well as with a Hi-8 underwater camera. Jason, Mark and I took turns riding on a “sacrificial bike” 20 feet underwater on the sandy, rocky bottom (no coral). The underwater mountain biking adventure appears in our video, “Full Cycle: A World Odyssey” which garnered fifteen international awards. Over the last decade, stock-footage clips of our underwater mountain biking “jamboree” have appeared on Real TV, a Nintendo commercial and several corporate videos.
Just wanted to set the record straight on who the true pioneers of this “fledgling sport” really are. It was a one-time occasion, a farce, really; we didn’t think it was a good idea to regale it as a sport as it would be too easy for less-than-responsible divers to wreak havoc on the oceanic environment.
Sincerely yours,
Patty Mooney & Mark Schulze
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Jason Borner, just before his underwater mountain biking experience. Actual underwater sequence can be seen on "Full Cycle: A World Odyssey" documentary trailer:
3 comments:
And here I was thinking I was all heroic for being the first to face plant off a mountain bike into the biggest mudhole of the season back at my local trail, in 1998. Hmm, I'm an amateur! Very cool, although my aquatic adventures on bikes have been usually been accidental.
Thank you for the follow on Irish Gumbo, I appreciate another traveler on the train!
Peace,
IG
Patty, Good for you for writing in to the magazine to let them know you originated the "sport"! Too bad they didn't have the decency to add your letter to their next issue of the magazine. How exciting you did this! I smile just thinking of you on your bike and having so much fun :)
Christy
Well done (your letter to the magazine), and Kudos to you for your bike acquatic performance!
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