The "Finding" of Mountain Bike Ultimate
By Dave Freed - MBU Historian and Head of the Rules Committee
Finding? Yes - - the story of six pioneers who found how to have fun on
mountain bikes while throwing a disc of plastic. It was a drizzly, dreary fall
day in 1990. The six pioneers (Dave Freed, Chris Hallgren,
Lee Doyle, Jack Maxwell, Jim G. and Jim Cromie)
gathered (where?) to assemble into a 2-car caravan. The destination: Lynn
Woods, MA, almost an hour's ride to the north side of
When we arrived at the parking lot and informed the other car of our idea... they were psyched and curious. Can such a game be fun? Are the six of us up to the challenge of creating the hottest sport of the next century? Let's find out - and we did. That first game was a true learning experience, but a lot of fun. Trying to take both your own speed as well as the receiver's speed into account when making the throw was a new and interesting experience (especially if you are throwing backwards). We experimented with standing pickups, scoops, stall counts, throws and other new rules. We threw it around a bunch, and discovered that it was a blast, even with primitive skill level and lack of rules.
Over the next few months [and now years] our game and the rules developed to make Mountain Bike Ultimate the trend setting sport that it is today.
- Dave
The game has evolved and the word of MBU has spread across the globe thanks
to the wonder of the internet and the sometimes wild sometimes mild marketing
machine known only as