A Brief History of Mint Sauce
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Mint Sauce first appeared to the world in March 1988, and was published in the now defunct Bicycle Action magazine. In 1989 Mint moved to Mountain Biking UK, where he has graced the pages ever since. He was originally due to be called Marin but this was changed due to obvious confusion with certain big american bicycle manufacturers. His second name Sugworth is taken form the name of a farm that Jo Burt used to cycle past.
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Mint was first published as a full page cartoon in Bicycle Action in November 1989, starred as a cloud in his first full page strip for MBUK in December 1990 and finally rode into colour in March 1992 in full lambing season. From this point onwards the strip quickly evolved from a series of jokes to an ongoing soap opera of love, loss and endless cake stops.
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Jo Burt stunned the mountain biking community in June 1993 by apparently killing Mint off in a bloody and violent end.
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In his time Mint has acted as a test rider for MBUK (The Trek 9500, Summer 1992), went all Delia with his Winter Special cookery masterclass in 1992 and also taught the two Martins how to Bunny Hop in September 1995.
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Jo Burt also provided a series of cartoons for the Mountain Biking club newsletter in 1998-1989, and there is the odd 'hint of Mint' in several of the cartoons published.. He has provided other cartoons for MBUK, including the 'Neil The mechanic' series. He also provided a cartoon for MBUK's sister publication, 'What Mountain Bike'.
Mint Sauce merchandise remains rare and hasn't been available for the past few years. The exceptions to this are the Mint Sauce Free Ride shirt and mousemats available at cyclejersey.com and the top tube sticker available from indibike.com. In the past T Shirts, two mugs and a a couple of cycling shirts have been available. There have also been numerous MBUK giveways over the years, including a keyring, stickers, postcards, beer mats, three posters and best of all, socks. Mint Sauce calendars were published in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998.
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A 48 page celebration of the tenth anniversary of Mint Sauce was published in 1998, under the title 'The Eternal Reek of Damp Wool'. An article 'The Origins of Mint Sauce' was published in the summer 1994 edition of MBUK, and a Jo Burt 'Minterview' was included in the Christmas 1991 edition of the magazine.
The first Mint Said Cartoon (March 1988):
