Full Cycle: A World Odyssey

Par avion, by mountain bike

Full Cycle:
A World Odyssey

The Endless Summer on mountain bikes. Two filmmakers, a small crew and 900 pounds of gear go looking for the best rides on earth.

Canada, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Wales, Greece, Australia, Tahiti, India and the United States.

Released on VHSSeptember 19, 1995

Running time120 minutes

Directed byMark Schulze

Top honorSilver Hugo, Chicago

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Around the world for the perfect ride

Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney spent two years riding and filming the best mountain bike trails they could find, in nine countries.

They hauled bikes, clothes and video gear through airports, onto trains and into taxis, then up the mountains. The result is a two-hour travel adventure released in 1995, part trail film and part road movie, with an original soundtrack and a few famous friends along the way.

The film’s passport, stamped country by country

CanadaVancouver and Whistler
Costa RicaRiding underwater
SwitzerlandLausanne and Meiringen
WalesCaernarfon
GreeceAthens and Olympus
AustraliaKangaroo Island
TahitiMoorea
IndiaSikkim and Darjeeling
United StatesSan Diego to Hollywood

Who they met on the way

Ot Pi in a yellow jersey balances his trials bike on a boulder below the Acropolis while a Steadicam operator films — Ot Pi hops onto a boulder below the Acropolis in Athens while Dick Crow films on the Steadicam, 1994.

The first underwater mountain bikers

Off the coast of Costa Rica

Their Costa Rica guide, Jason Borner, splashed down off the coast and rode a mountain bike along the sea floor. Watch the clip on YouTube.

Ot Pi

Athens, Greece

A ride through Athens with Ot Pi of Spain, the World Trials Champion.

James Hong and family

The Hollywood Hills

The actor James Hong, his wife and his daughter joined Mark and Patty for a ride. Their ride is the photo at the top of this page.

You’ll also meet three of the people who started the sport: Charles Kelly, Gary Fisher and Jacquie Phelan.

A small crew with a lot of luggage

Only three people made the whole trip: Mark, Patty and one camera operator. A different camera operator joined for each part of the world.

Over two years they shot 75 hours of footage. Their friend Steve Langius edited it into a two-hour, broadcast-quality documentary.

They had help along the way. Several of the countries they visited gave them room and board, along with tips on the best places to film.

900 pounds of bikes, clothing and video gear. In Greece it took two taxis. In Lausanne, the Swiss Tourism Board sent a whole bus.

Mark SchulzeDirector and director of photography. Filmed many of the scenic shots.
Patty MooneyProducer. Rode in front of the camera and ran the production.
Marko EveslageNational Geographic cinematographer. Filmed the U.S., Costa Rica, the South Pacific and India.
Dick CrowCamera and Steadicam across the European locations.
Ralph ChaneyCamera in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.
Jimmy GareriAerial footage over San Diego.
Steve LangiusEditor. Cut 75 hours of footage down to two.

Dick Crow and the Steadicam in Greece

Dick carried the camera on a Steadicam rig so it could glide alongside the riders, from the ruins to the mountain trails.

Dick Crow in a blue shirt operates a Steadicam among the ancient columns at Delphi while Mark Schulze steadies him from behind — Mark Schulze steadies Dick Crow among the ruins at Delphi, Greece, 1994.

Patty Mooney rides past bushes on a mountainside as Dick Crow films her with a Steadicam, snowy peaks behind — Dick Crow follows Patty Mooney near Mount Olympus, 1994.

Ot Pi rides a wheelie onto a rock while Dick Crow films with a Steadicam, tall columns and cypress trees behind — Dick Crow films Ot Pi near the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens, 1994.

Dick Crow walks with a Steadicam ahead of two riders while three Greek guards in traditional uniform march past — Dick Crow leads the riders past the Evzone guards in Athens, 1994.

Dick Crow and Mark Schulze hold their hands up like antlers on either side of a camera on a tripod, mountains behind — Dick Crow and Mark Schulze between takes, Greece, 1994.

Postcards from the road

Canada

Vancouver and Whistler, filmed by Ralph Chaney.

Four riders in bright jerseys pedal a gravel trail between evergreens, a lake and mountains behind — Riding a lakeside trail through the evergreens, Canada, 1994.

Patty Mooney and Ralph Chaney stand on a city sidewalk behind a pile of bike cases, duffels and camera cases — Patty Mooney and Ralph Chaney with part of the 900 pounds of gear, Canada, 1994.

Close view of a carved and painted totem pole with a large green-eyed face, evergreens behind — A totem pole, Canada, 1994.

Switzerland

From Lake Geneva and Lausanne, where the Swiss Tourism Board sent a whole bus, to the waterfalls of Meiringen.

Dozens of waterfalls stream down a dark cliff above a green meadow, with three tiny riders crossing a footbridge at the bottom — Riders cross a footbridge below a wall of waterfalls near Meiringen, 1994.

A castle stands at the edge of a blue lake below steep wooded mountains — Château de Chillon on Lake Geneva, 1994.

Three riders on a narrow road through a green valley, with brown cows grazing on either side — Sharing the road with the cows near Meiringen, 1994.

The crew’s bike cases piled on a Swiss railway baggage cart on a station platform — The bike cases ride a Swiss railways baggage cart in Geneva, 1994.

Fresh snow dusts a steep alpine slope crossed by switchback trails, dark firs below — Fresh snow on the switchback trails, Switzerland, 1994.

Costa Rica

Their guide, Jason Borner, is the rider who took a mountain bike to the sea floor.

Four riders pedal along a sandy beach under tall palm trees, reflected in a still lagoon — Four riders on a palm-lined beach, Costa Rica, 1994.

Patty Mooney in a yellow jersey and white helmet rides a dirt trail through dense tropical leaves — Patty Mooney rides a jungle trail, Costa Rica, 1994.

A man in pink shorts leaps into a green jungle pool below a waterfall while a swimmer with a yellow camera housing films — A leap into the pool below a waterfall at Corcovado, with the camera rolling from the water, 1994.

Costa Rica, 1994.

The bikes strapped to the jeep of Jason Borner, their guide in Costa Rica, 1994.

England

From Chester, and a night in a haunted hotel, to the streets of London.

Patty Mooney and Mark Schulze laugh in headphones at a radio studio desk — A BBC Radio interview, done remotely from a studio in Chester, England.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament beside Westminster Bridge, a red double-decker bus crossing — Big Ben and Westminster Bridge, London.

Two smiling police constables in traditional helmets stand with arms folded outside a shop — Two English bobbies pose for the camera.

An officer in a plumed busby and gold-braided jacket leads a mounted gun team down a city street — A mounted troop of the Royal Horse Artillery rides past the shops in London.

A crowd packs a busy shopping street around a white police van, a giant yellow boot on a shopfront behind — A crowd around a police van on Camden High Street, London.

A river and green fields seen through the arch of an old red sandstone bridge — A river through the arch of an old sandstone bridge.

Wales

Caernarfon and its castle.

The towers of Caernarfon Castle above a harbor full of boats, pink wildflowers in the foreground — Caernarfon Castle over the harbor, Wales.

Two butchers unload sides of meat from a refrigerated truck parked outside a stone building — The butcher’s delivery, from a Welsh meat company’s truck.

Greece

From the streets of Athens to the slopes of Mount Olympus.

Two riders on a trail through a hillside of yellow wildflowers below a snowy peak — Patty and Mark ride through the wildflowers near Mount Olympus, 1994.

Three riders in yellow Full Cycle jerseys sit on their bikes watching guards in traditional uniform — Ot Pi, Mark and Patty watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Athens.

Ot Pi, shirtless and grinning, flexes his arm on a shop-lined street running with rainwater at night — Ot Pi after a sudden rain flooded the streets of the Plaka, Athens, 1994.

Patty Mooney in an ancient-style Greek helmet, hands on hips, outside a leather shop — Patty tries on a helmet outside a shop on Pandrosou Street in Athens.

A white van with bikes on the back rack at an old gas station, mountains behind — Gassing up the van, Greece, 1994.

Mark Schulze grins on the phone inside a lit telephone booth — Mark on the phone in Greece, 1994.

Patty Mooney and Mark Schulze in yellow Full Cycle jerseys smile with their bikes while a TV crew films them — An Athens TV station interviews Patty and Mark, 1994.

Australia

From Adelaide to Kangaroo Island.

Kangaroos bound through tall red grass below rocky hills in low golden light — Kangaroos at golden hour, Australia, 1994.

A cameraman crouches on a rutted dirt trail filming a line of riders coming down through the gum trees — Videotaping the riders on a rutted trail near Adelaide, 1994.

Patty Mooney in a yellow jersey sits on a bed of gum leaves, feeding a grey kangaroo from her hand — Patty feeds a kangaroo, Australia, 1994.

A kangaroo hops across dry grass in front of five riders on a trail through pines — A kangaroo crosses ahead of the riders, Australia, 1994.

Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island, 1994.

A gnarled gum tree branch silhouetted against an orange sunset sky above dark hills — Sunset through the gum trees, Australia, 1994.

A lone gum tree silhouetted against a deep blue dusk sky with a band of orange on the horizon — A lone gum tree at dusk, Australia, 1994.

Tahiti

The South Pacific leg of the trip.

The sun sets over the ocean behind an island, framed by hanging palm fronds — Sunset over the water, Tahiti, 1994.

Riders in helmets rest and work on a bike on a shady rainforest trail beside a sign reading sortie, exit — A trail break in the rainforest, Tahiti, 1994.

The Belvedere lookout on Moorea, 1994.

India

Darjeeling and the hills of Sikkim, in 1993.

Patty Mooney laughs while sitting on one pan of a large rope market scale, weights on the other pan — Patty gets weighed on a market scale in Darjeeling.

Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney stand beside a bust of Mahatma Gandhi surrounded by potted chrysanthemums — Mark and Patty at the statue of Gandhi, Darjeeling.

A smiling young monk in maroon robes stands before a brightly painted altar and a framed portrait of the Gyalwang Drukchen — A young monk in a temple in Sikkim, below a portrait of the Gyalwang Drukchen, 1993.

Mark Schulze holds up a camera lens as a young monk looks through it — Mark shows a young monk the world through a lens.

Patty Mooney and Mark Schulze point and laugh at an elephant painted on a white wall — Patty and Mark meet a painted elephant, Darjeeling.

Patty and the painted elephants, India, 1993.

A crowd gathers in a dirt square between tin-roofed market stalls, hills behind — Market day in Darjeeling.

Two riders in blue speed along a narrow trail across a green hillside — Patty and Mark ride the trails near the Darjeeling tea fields.

The First Mt. Everest Mountain Bike Rally, 1993. See Golden Hour.

Awards

Silver HugoChicago International Film & Video Festival
Silver AwardCharleston International Film Festival
New York Festivals AwardNew York International Festivals
Two Bronze and three Blue RibbonsInternational Cindy Awards
Aegis Award
Crystal Jade Communicator Award
Video Pro Am Award

The soundtrack

Buzz Barnaba wrote the original score, and Archie Thompson plays saxophone over it. The music carries the film from one continent to the next.

Listen on Bandcamp

Stories from the road

Patty Mooney and Mark Schulze outside a tent at Sandakphu in Sikkim, India, 1993

About the film

Format: Travel and adventure documentary
Running time: 120 minutes
Released: September 19, 1995, on VHS
Filmed in: Nine countries over two years
Featuring: James Hong, Ot Pi, Patty Mooney, Mark Schulze
Directed by: Mark Schulze
Produced by: Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney
Edited by: Steve Langius
Studio: New & Unique Videos®

Two ways to see it

Watch it here

Stream the complete two-hour film on this page with a one-time payment. No subscription.

Unlock the full film for $5

License footage from the trip

Footage from the Full Cycle trip is in our stock footage library: trails, cities and landscapes in nine countries, filmed in the early 1990s.

Ask about licensing

Browse the stock footage library.

See the rest of the series on the Mountain Biking & Bicycling Films page, including Golden Hour: First Mt. Everest Mountain Bike Rally. Patty Mooney and Mark Schulze are San Diego filmmakers and the co-founders of New & Unique Videos, making independent films since 1985.

Full Cycle: A World Odyssey